A digital sculpture shifts and flows before your eyes. You can touch it and it responds, but you cannot feel it. This is one among a series of virtual algorithmic sculptures that was presented to audiences at the exhibition Intangible at the art gallery in the Center for New Media Culture in Riga (RIXC), Latvia, featuring work by Carl Emil Carlsen, with sound design by Anna Fišere. The technology at play here presents an ironic return to nature; to the physical, natural dimension we long to interact with, even as we are pulled further into our shared digital modernity. The digital medium simultaneously allows the audience to interact with Carlsen’s sculptures, which are easy to imagine as elements of a larger, imaginary world, but also prevent us from truly feeling that world. Put plainly, Carlsen has rather ingeniously found a way to both fascinate his audiences with cutting-edge new media technology and to remind them of what they are missing out on by standing indoors with a headset on.

Carlsen is a Danish new media artist and designer based in Copenhagen, who focuses on interactivity at the threshold of physical and virtual reality (VR). His art utilises generative algorithms, along with augmented reality (AR) and VR technologies, and often involves collaboration with musicians as well. Carlsen’s work has been featured at the Ars Electronica Festival and Click Festival, among other respected venues for practices at the intersection of art and technology. Fišere is a Latvian composer who works across opera, choir music, solo instrumental work, sound installation design and more, and prefers to approach sound as a living, breathing organism that possesses a musical form, in the same way that we are shaped by flesh and bone.

Intangible is the result of Carlsen’s participation in RIXC's two-month-long residency programme, which falls under the European Media Art Residency Platform (EMAP). Carlsen and Fišere joined STIR to discuss this fascinating new media art project.

Intangible is not only compelling for what it achieves, but is equally noteworthy for what it omits; namely, haptic perception, or the ability to "feel" Carlsen's fluid, virtual sculptures. One wonders if he consciously set out to subvert the wider AR and VR space, which the Danish artist confirms, saying: "The virtual phenomena featured in Intangible are designed to invoke sensations outside or in between our areas of experiential knowledge. Rather than attempting to simulate physically accurate material behaviours, the aim is to create plausible materials that respond in unfamiliar ways and undergo unexpected developments. As you point out, the lack of haptic feedback further amplifies this strange sensation of the immaterial."

Carlsen believes that his work, when approached with an open mind, can invoke a kind of curiosity and playfulness that is not unlike that of a child experiencing something new. The digital artist finds this exploratory state fascinating and tells STIR that it offers audiences a rare moment to engage with an entity in a way that they normally would not be able to.

The project’s press materials say that Fišere’s work seeks to "collide disciplined rationality and scientific research with feminine intuition and sensitive plasticity". One wonders how Intangible's blend of electronic and acoustic sounds articulates these states, and how they relate to the project's virtual sculptures, which can be interacted with, and yet remain just out of touch. The sound artist responds to these questions, explaining that she sees intuition as a fluid, plastic state and ties it to her acoustic palette of sounds.

Meanwhile, her electronic elements are meant to signify a structured, rational dimension. Fišere attempted to create a dialogue between these two states, and the result is a warm, flowing soundscape that is punctuated by electronic hums and chirrups. "My goal was to forge a tightly connected world between acoustic and electronic sounds, alongside Carl’s beautiful objects, creating a unified organism where each element complements the other seamlessly," Fišere says. She has certainly succeeded in this regard, as in totality the sound work for Intangible feels as though it is the ambience within the kind of alien environment that Carlsen’s sculptures might be natural fauna.

Carlsen adds to her explanation, saying, “There are several conceptually kindred dualities to point at in the work, like virtual and physical, immaterial and material, digital and organic, scientific and intuitive. Even though the virtual sculptures are algorithmically generated and entirely artificial, they do have a natural feel to them. And even though the algorithms seek inspiration from nature, the goal is not to replicate nature, but rather construct something out of this world.” He believes that the combination of synthetic and acoustic sounds in Fišere's composition further emphasises the fascinating dualities that make up Intangible.

It remains to be seen what direction Carlsen and Fišere will direct their practices in the future, however it will be fascinating to see a greater emphasis from them on the “less is more” approach towards cutting-edge digital art technologies, as was the case with Intangible.

'Intangible' was on view at RIXC Gallery from October 5 till November 17, 2023.