That’s how I got to know Memo, but as soon as I dug deeper into his work, I found other brilliant pieces like Deep Meditations, with which he invites you – as the name says – to meditate. It’s a constant reflection about perceptions, proving that what you see and the meaning you give to it might not be the same to anyone else. And that’s the wonderful thing about the project. I can’t forget Nimiia Cétiï either – a deep learning (Artificial Intelligence) collaboration with Jenna Sutela (leader of the project) and Damien Henry (from Google Arts & Culture) in which they gave voice to bacteria, transforming the movements and spatial configurations into sounds and symbols. It’s a connection with a world beyond our consciousness, a conversation with non-speaking entities.
Memo Akten was in Belgium to present Body Paint, an interactive installation that explores the creative and expressive power of human bodies through non-verbal communication. There he was, in a room of the École Sainte Marie, preparing his piece for the opening of Kikk Festival on the next day. Sitting down together, we discussed everything from merging spirituality and science, AI ethics, his beginnings as an engineer-turned-artist and what keeps him going.