with Félix Luque Sánchez

Audience: Students in the first year of mechanical product design, industrial boiler making and automotive painting at the Lycée Émulation dieppoise (Dieppe).

Venue: Dieppe, Seine-Maritime.

This project arose from the desire of the Lycée Émulation dieppoise to work with the Centre photographique in order to combine the disciplines taught with contemporary creation. In view of the richness of the workshops and the architecture of the lycée, it seemed relevant to make a proposal that would allow us to tackle volume, to open up to the digital arts, to the techniques to which they are related, and to add photography to them. After some consideration of automation, the appropriation of virtual reality in student learning and the rich variety of machines and tools available, we chose an artist who combines sculpture and digital arts: Félix Luque Sánchez, a Spanish artist based in Brussels.

Félix Luque Sánchez was welcomed for two weeks in the machining and bodywork workshops of the Lycée Émulation dieppoise in order to meet teachers and students and create two sculptural works inspired by contemporary technological imagination.

After a presentation of his approach exploring our relationship with technology, the contemporary challenges of the development of artificial intelligence and automation, Félix Luque Sánchez combined his imagination with the know-how of the students in training. Two sculptures were created, inspired by the industrial forms used in machining and mechanics, the scale of which was amplified in order to transform them into benches. The edges were also redesigned to create two surprising fractal wall sculptures. All stages of production (technical drawing, laser cutting, folding, polishing, welding and painting) were photographed by the artist to document this residency. The first sculpture has joined a series of works by Félix Luque Sánchez and will be exhibited throughout Europe, while the second has been installed in the school hall.

Time frame: Sixty hours of workshops with the pupils, February 2025.

Restitution: The sculpture produced by the pupils is exhibited in the school hall, accompanied by photographs retracing its production.

Sponsors: ‘Jumelages-résidences d’artistes’ organised by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Normandy, with the participation of the Lycée Émulation dieppoise.