Miguel Chevalier, a pioneer of digital art and a leading figure in immersive environments, is taking part in Illuminate Adelaide 2026 as Luminary Artist in Residence with three installations that create a dialogue between science, technology and visual poetry. In this interview, he reflects on this landmark invitation to Australia — a first for him — and on the creation of Digital Abyss, The Origin of the World and Pixel Waves, three complementary works that explore the dynamics of life, from the ocean depths to data flows, passing through the cellular origins of life. He also discusses the evolution of his practice since the 1980s, his enduring interest in generative systems, and his close collaboration with composer Jacopo Baboni Schilingi, in which image and sound interact in real time to create truly immersive experiences. Read our interview with Miguel Chevalier below.
Miguel, you’ve been chosen as Luminary Artist in Residence for Illuminate Adelaide 2026 . What does that mean for you?
It is a great honour for me that Illuminate Adelaide has placed its trust in me and invited me to participate in its 2026 edition. I have always considered art as a universal language capable of creating bridges between cultures, technologies, and imaginations. Being invited to such an innovative festival, which places light, new technologies, and immersive experiences at the heart of its programme, represents a wonderful opportunity to share my artistic work with Australian audiences and to explore new creative territories through the spaces offered to me.
I have always considered art as a universal language capable of creating bridges between cultures, technologies, and imaginations.
How did you discover ‘Illuminate Adelaide’ and how did you come to be involved?
I was introduced to the festival through its co-founders and artistic directors, Lee Cumberlidge and Rachael Azzopardi, who discovered my work through several exhibitions in Paris, notably Pixels at the Grand Palais Immersif and Digital Abysses at the Musée en Herbe. They invited me to imagine three projects for Illuminate Adelaide. From this encounter emerged an ambitious collaboration comprising three new installations, including two monumental works: The Origin of the World, projected onto the façade of Government House in the public space, Pixel Waves at Bonython Hall at the University of Adelaide, and the exhibition Digital Abyss at ILA. I was immediately won over by their openness to contemporary creation.
Have your works ever been exhibited in Australia? Have you ever visited the country before?
No, this is the very first time that my works are being presented in Australia, and it is also my first visit to the country. I am particularly delighted. Australia has extraordinary landscapes, a unique light, and a culture that maintains a strong relationship with nature and the sea. These are themes that deeply resonate with my work. I am very much looking forward to discovering Adelaide and meeting Australian audiences.
Australia has extraordinary landscapes, a unique light, and a culture that maintains a strong relationship with nature and the sea. These are themes that deeply resonate with my work.
You have been creating immersive digital experiences for over 45 years. To what extent have these experiences changed with advances in technology? Is there a connection between the first work you created and the works you create today?
Technology has considerably expanded the possibilities of my creations. When I began working with computers in the early 1980s, technical resources were limited, expensive, and difficult to access. Memory, computing power, and graphic capabilities were restricted, and a great deal of inventiveness was required to overcome these constraints. Today, thanks to the tremendous increase in computing power, graphics cards, and memory, I can create highly complex immersive and generative environments that evolve in real time. Yet the essential questions that drive my work have remained the same: how can we represent life, movement, and the permanent transformations of the world? How can we create works that continually evolve and renew themselves?
Yet the essential questions that drive my work have remained the same: how can we represent life, movement, and the permanent transformations of the world? How can we create works that continually evolve and renew themselves?
There is therefore a genuine continuity between my earliest works and those of today. My research into flows, networks, fractals, and generative systems remains at the heart of my practice. The tools have evolved dramatically, but my vision has remained unchanged: to create living works in perpetual metamorphosis, much like nature itself. Artificial intelligence simply represents a new stage in this adventure, opening unexplored territories for imagination and creation.
The tools have evolved dramatically, but my vision has remained unchanged: to create living works in perpetual metamorphosis, much like nature itself.
What made you choose digital art over other forms of artistic expression?
I have never considered digital technology as merely a technical tool, but rather as a true artistic language. Early on, in the 1980s, I realised that artists always appropriate the tools of their time and eventually become their privileged witnesses. Figures such as Man Ray, who elevated photography into an art form in its own right, and the Korean artist Nam June Paik, the pioneer of video art and father of electronic art, profoundly influenced my thinking. They understood long before many others that new media would transform the way we see and represent the world.
I have never considered digital technology as merely a technical tool, but rather as a true artistic language.
What attracted me to digital art was the possibility of going beyond the limits of traditional media such as painting, photography, or video. Computers offered the ability to introduce movement, chance, and above all generativity—the capacity to create unprecedented forms and ever-changing universes. I was fascinated by the possibility of giving birth to forms of artificial life and making the viewer an active participant in the work through interactivity.
Computers offered the ability to introduce movement, chance, and above all generativity—the capacity to create unprecedented forms and ever-changing universes. I was fascinated by the possibility of giving birth to forms of artificial life and making the viewer an active participant in the work through interactivity.
For me, the move towards digital art has never represented a break with art history, but rather its natural extension in our time. Digital art allows one to work at every scale, from the microscopic to the monumental, and to bring together art, science, and technology within a single vision of the world. It is a particularly relevant medium through which to explore the profound transformations of our increasingly connected, hybrid, and complex world.
By drawing on art history and reinterpreting it using computer tools, your works explore recurring themes such as nature and artifice, flows and networks, virtual cities and ornamental patterns. Your images provide a rich source of reflection on ourselves and our relationship with the world. What inspires you?
My inspiration comes from observing the world around us, in both its natural and technological dimensions. I am fascinated by living forms, processes of growth, plant structures, microscopic organisms, but also by flows of information and the new cartographies shaping our era.
I am fascinated by living forms, processes of growth, plant structures, microscopic organisms, but also by flows of information and the new cartographies shaping our era.
Since the beginning of my career, I have been interested in the intersections between art, science, and technology. I also draw inspiration from the history of art, from the late nineteenth century and the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, as well as from architecture, decorative arts, and ornamentation. Digital tools enable me to reinterpret these references and create works in constant evolution that reflect the complexity and transformations of the contemporary world.
Since the beginning of my career, I have been interested in the intersections between art, science, and technology
Do your works convey a philosophical message about our relationship with the world?
I do not seek to deliver a closed message or a single truth. Rather, my ambition is to open spaces for reflection and wonder. My works question the ways in which technology transforms our perception of reality and our relationship to nature, time, and space.
I do not seek to deliver a closed message or a single truth. Rather, my ambition is to open spaces for reflection and wonder.
Today, we live in a hybrid world in which the physical and the virtual are increasingly intertwined. This profound transformation raises many questions: How can we preserve our connection to living systems? How can we inhabit a universe saturated with data and images? How can we find a balance between technological innovation and ecological awareness?
My installations invite audiences to experience these questions through emotion, immersion, and contemplation.
My installations invite audiences to experience these questions through emotion, immersion, and contemplation.
You will be presenting three unique works at Illuminate Adelaide: Digital Abyss, a ticketed experience, and The Origin of the World and Pixel Waves as part of the free City Lights programme, all accompanied by music from composer Jacopo Baboni Schilingi. Tell us about these works.
These three works explore different visions of life and the forces that shape our world.
Digital Abyss, presented at ILA (Immersive Light and Art), is an immersive journey into a universe inspired by the depths of the oceans. The various installations feature an imaginary bestiary composed of microscopic organisms, planktonic forms, and creatures generated by algorithms. These forms evolve continuously within a vast digital environment accompanied by a spatialised sound composition by Jacopo Baboni Schilingi. The work invites visitors to explore a world that is at once scientific, poetic, and mysterious, revealing the beauty of a universe usually invisible to the human eye.
The work invites visitors to explore a world that is at once scientific, poetic, and mysterious, revealing the beauty of a universe usually invisible to the human eye.
The Origin of the World, projected onto the iconic Government House, draws inspiration from the earliest forms of life that appeared on Earth. The installation evokes cells, their growth and metamorphoses through virtual organisms that continually develop and transform. It celebrates the creativity of life and nature’s boundless capacity to continuously invent new forms, where vivid colours clash and merge, recalling the idea of “Artificial Paradises.”
It celebrates the creativity of life and nature’s boundless capacity to continuously invent new forms, where vivid colours clash and merge, recalling the idea of “Artificial Paradises.”
Pixel Waves, projected onto the floor of Bonython Hall, offers a more abstract vision. The work transforms the space into a landscape of luminous waves composed of moving pixel grids. These flows evoke both oceans and energy fields, symbolically linking the waves of the sea with the immaterial waves of data and digital symbols.
These flows evoke both oceans and energy fields, symbolically linking the waves of the sea with the immaterial waves of data and digital symbols.
Although visually distinct, these three installations share a common reflection on the dynamics of life, flows, transformations, and the relationships between nature and technology.
Although visually distinct, these three installations share a common reflection on the dynamics of life, flows, transformations, and the relationships between nature and technology.
Where and how did you discover/meet Jacopo Baboni Schilingi?
I met Jacopo Baboni Schilingi in Paris more than twenty-six years ago through projects combining visual creation and contemporary music composition. Since the 1990s, we have shared a deep interest in generative processes and in exploring the dialogue between music and visual universes.
Jacopo is a particularly innovative composer who also explores interactivity, and real-time composition. Our approaches are highly complementary: my works create visual universes in constant evolution, while his music generates living soundscapes that continuously metamorphose.
For each of my generative and interactive works, Jacopo composes an original musical creation based on the same principles of generativity, interactivity, and real-time transformation. The music is not added afterwards; rather, it is conceived in parallel with the visual work and follows the same processes of evolution and variation.
For each of my generative and interactive works, Jacopo composes an original musical creation based on the same principles of generativity, interactivity, and real-time transformation. The music is not added afterwards
Over the years, we have developed a true artistic dialogue. Images, videos, and music constantly communicate with one another. Transformations affecting the visual universes find their counterparts in sound processing, while musical developments interact with the metamorphoses of forms, colours, movements, and digital spaces. This relationship creates an organic coherence between the visible and the audible, where every element participates in the same creative dynamic.
For Digital Abyss, this collaboration has taken on a particular dimension. Jacopo not only composed music based on the same generative and interactive principles that animate the visual universe, but also developed original sonic textures using sound processing and synthesis software to evoke imaginary underwater worlds. These unprecedented acoustic materials suggest the depths of the oceans, the invisible movements of the abyss, and the presence of dreamlike forms of life, reinforcing the immersive and poetic character of the work.
Jacopo not only composed music based on the same generative and interactive principles that animate the visual universe, but also developed original sonic textures using sound processing and synthesis software to evoke imaginary underwater worlds.
For the projects presented at Illuminate Adelaide, music is therefore not a simple accompaniment; it is an integral part of the immersive experience and contributes to creating a total work of art in which image, sound, space, and time merge into a single sensory experience.
music is therefore not a simple accompaniment; it is an integral part of the immersive experience and contributes to creating a total work of art in which image, sound, space, and time merge into a single sensory experience.
Digital Abyss is inspired by the depths of the ocean; this luminous digital environment unfolds like a living seascape. It is filled with AI-generated projections of plankton, robotic drawings, light installations and 3D sculptures, all of which reflect the curious micro-wonders of the seabed. How did you conduct your research for this project? Did you focus on any particular oceans?
To conceive Digital Abyss, I drew on several years of research into the marine world, collaborating with scientists such as the biologist Christian Sardet and studying numerous scientific publications, as well as the famous nineteenth-century naturalist illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, which reveal the fascinating geometric beauty of microscopic organisms.
What particularly fascinates me is that the ocean depths remain one of the last great territories of the unknown. We often know more about the surface of certain planets than about the abyssal depths of our own Earth. These invisible worlds host extraordinary biodiversity composed of forms, colours, and structures that sometimes seem to belong to science fiction.
What particularly fascinates me is that the ocean depths remain one of the last great territories of the unknown. We often know more about the surface of certain planets than about the abyssal depths of our own Earth.
I did not focus on any specific ocean. My intention was not to create a documentary representation, but rather a poetic and universal vision of the underwater world. Artificial intelligence enabled me to go beyond scientific observation and imagine new hybrid species. The creatures inhabiting Digital Abyss exist at the frontier between science and imagination, between observed life and dreamed life.
My intention was not to create a documentary representation, but rather a poetic and universal vision of the underwater world.
Through the LED screen works, robotic drawings, and 3D-printed sculptures, I also hope to raise awareness about the fragility of the oceans. Beyond aesthetic wonder lies a reflection on the preservation of these ecosystems, which are essential to the balance of our planet. The ocean depths are at once an immense reservoir of life, memory, and mystery. They remind us how much remains to be discovered and protected.
I also hope to raise awareness about the fragility of the oceans. Beyond aesthetic wonder lies a reflection on the preservation of these ecosystems, which are essential to the balance of our planet.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD
For The Origin of the World, the façade of Government House will be transformed “with swirling cells and animated organisms in vibrant colour. A constructivist universe of pixels where biology meets digital magic.” What was the inspiration for this one?
The Origin of the World is part of my ongoing exploration of the fundamental mechanisms of life and the processes through which forms are generated. For many years, I have been interested in the ways nature invents, develops, and continuously transforms its structures, from microscopic organisms to the most complex forms.
For many years, I have been interested in the ways nature invents, develops, and continuously transforms its structures, from microscopic organisms to the most complex forms.
For this work, I drew inspiration from the first cells and from the processes of division, proliferation, and mutation that gave rise to all life on Earth. These imaginary cells and organisms evolve within a universe made of pixels, as though biological language were meeting digital language. I like the idea that the pixel, the elementary unit of the digital image, echoes the cell, the fundamental unit of living organisms.
I like the idea that the pixel, the elementary unit of the digital image, echoes the cell, the fundamental unit of living organisms.
This installation was conceived specifically for the façade of Government House. Through its monumental scale, the projection completely transforms the perception of this classical building. Streams of colourful cells, moving organisms, and luminous whirlpools literally dress the architecture and metamorphose it into a kind of ever-evolving baroque palace of light.
This installation was conceived specifically for the façade of Government House. Through its monumental scale, the projection completely transforms the perception of this classical building.
I also wanted the architecture to actively participate in the visual composition. The cells and organisms do not merely cover the façade, they interact with it. They flow around the windows and doors, weave through the architectural elements, and seem gradually to colonise the building. The architecture itself becomes a living material, an organism in transformation.
This encounter between historical architectural heritage and a generative digital universe creates a dialogue between stone and light, between past and innovation. The work gives the impression that the building itself is animated by an invisible vital energy, as though a new form of digital life were emerging upon its surface. It is this fusion of life, architecture, and technology that lies at the heart of The Origin of the World.
This encounter between historical architectural heritage and a generative digital universe creates a dialogue between stone and light, between past and innovation. The work gives the impression that the building itself is animated by an invisible vital energy, as though a new form of digital life were emerging upon its surface.
How has The Origin of the World changed since its first exhibition? I saw, for example, a 2012 version of The Origin of the World in black and white that appears to be inside rather than outside a building.
The Origin of the World is a living work that has continuously evolved since its first presentation. Unlike a fixed artwork, it is based on a generative system that allows it to transform and adapt to each new exhibition context and to the specific characteristics of a space.
The version you saw in 2012 was indeed presented indoors and developed a predominantly black-and-white universe. At that time, I was already exploring themes of cellular proliferation, organic growth, and the emergence of forms, but with a more restrained visual language. Since then, the work has been considerably enriched. New “visual sequences” have been created, featuring more complex forms, new behaviours, and a much broader colour palette.
Since then, the work has been considerably enriched. New “visual sequences” have been created, featuring more complex forms, new behaviours, and a much broader colour palette.
Each time The Origin of the World is exhibited, I add new visual sequences specially designed for the occasion. It is a process comparable to that of a composer who continuously enriches a musical score. The work thus accumulates new variations while preserving its fundamental identity.
Space also plays an essential role in this evolution. The scale, proportions, and architecture of a site directly influence the behaviour of the cells and digital organisms. On a monumental façade such as Government House, the number of cells increases considerably, their trajectories are modified, and their forms can deform and adapt in dialogue with the scale of the building. Windows, doors, and architectural elements become creative constraints that generate new visual configurations.
Space also plays an essential role in this evolution. The scale, proportions, and architecture of a site directly influence the behaviour of the cells and digital organisms.
Each installation is therefore unique. Yet despite these continual transformations, all versions share the same visual and conceptual grammar. They are governed by the same principles of growth, mutation, proliferation, and self-organisation. In a way, it is similar to nature: every leaf on a tree is different, yet they all belong to the same species.
In a way, it is similar to nature: every leaf on a tree is different, yet they all belong to the same species.
This ability to evolve while maintaining continuity lies at the heart of my artistic approach. It reflects my fascination with living processes, which are constantly transforming while preserving deep coherence and lineage. The Origin of the World is therefore not a finished work; it is a digital organism in perpetual becoming.
This ability to evolve while maintaining continuity lies at the heart of my artistic approach. It reflects my fascination with living processes, which are constantly transforming while preserving deep coherence and lineage.
PIXEL WAVES
In Pixel Waves, participants walk, wander and watch glowing patterns ripple beneath your feet as pixels scatter, symbols dance, and colour waves respond to every move, turning the floor into a generative and interactive light show that you control. How much more difficult is it to create interactive works like this one?
Creating an interactive work like Pixel Waves means imagining not only the images themselves, but also the behaviour of the work and the ways in which the audience will transform it in real time.
In Pixel Waves, different multicoloured graphic sequences succeed one another. Each is built from a symbolic visual vocabulary inspired by the digital world: pixels, ON/OFF signs, USB keys, Bluetooth symbols, binary digits 0 and 1, as well as letters, punctuation marks, and mathematical signs such as +, x, : and -. These elements are organised into patterns that unfold like vast carpets of light.
When no one interacts with the work, these structures possess their own balance and dynamics. But as soon as visitors enter the installation, everything changes. By walking, stopping, or crossing the space, they deconstruct these visual structures. The patterns fragment, distort, disperse, and endlessly recombine, generating ever-changing configurations.
The interactivity relies on a system of sensors that analyses the movements of the public in real time. Each visitor becomes an active participant in the work. No two experiences are ever the same; the installation is constantly reinvented by those who explore it. What fascinates me most is this living and participatory dimension. The work is no longer static, it becomes a digital organism reacting to its human environment.
What fascinates me most is this living and participatory dimension. The work is no longer static, it becomes a digital organism reacting to its human environment.
Pixel Waves also reconnects with the history of Kinetic Art and Op Art, particularly the research of artists such as Robert Owen, Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski, Victor Vasarely, Jesús Rafael Soto, Julio Le Parc, whose explorations of movement and optical vibration anticipated, in a sense, the aesthetics of the digital grid and the pixel.
I also like the idea that this work revisits the tradition of trompe-l’œil. Visitors occasionally have the sensation that the floor is undulating beneath their feet, deforming or dancing. This perceptual disturbance creates an experience that is both playful and immersive, in which the boundaries between the real and the virtual appear to dissolve.
I also like the idea that this work revisits the tradition of trompe-l’œil.
The challenge lies in finding the right balance between order and chaos, programming and freedom. It is precisely this tension between control and chance that makes interactive works so exciting to create.
The challenge lies in finding the right balance between order and chaos, programming and freedom. It is precisely this tension between control and chance that makes interactive works so exciting to create.
How many people work alongside you to bring these works to life? What are their respective roles?
Behind my works stands a small but highly specialised team. On a daily basis, I work with two full-time collaborators: Nicolas Gaudelet, who oversees all the technical aspects of my installations, and Emilie Lesne, who assists me with logistics, project coordination, and communication.
For many years, I have also collaborated with four programmers, Cyrille Henry, Claude Micheli, Antoine Villeret, and more recently Ludovic Mallégol with whom I have developed a genuine artistic and intellectual partnership. Together, we create tailor-made software that forms the core of my generative and interactive works. Developing such tools is a long process, often requiring two to three years before they become the foundation of a finished artwork.
Developing such tools is a long process, often requiring two to three years before they become the foundation of a finished artwork.
Depending on the scale of a project, particularly for large public installations and architectural commissions, the team can expand considerably. I then work with highly specialised companies and experts in engineering, fabrication, scenography, and 2D and 3D printing. For some monumental projects, as many as fifteen to twenty people may be involved.
Although digital art is often perceived as a solitary practice, my work is very much a collaborative endeavor. My role is to imagine the concepts, forms, colours, and behaviours of the works, and through continuous dialogue with my collaborators, we bring together art, science, design, and technological innovation.
Although digital art is often perceived as a solitary practice, my work is very much a collaborative endeavor. My role is to imagine the concepts, forms, colours, and behaviours of the works, and through continuous dialogue with my collaborators, we bring together art, science, design, and technological innovation.
Have you noticed any differences in the way that audiences react to or interact with your works around the world?
Yes, undoubtedly. When I began creating interactive works in the early 1990s, audiences were not yet accustomed to the idea that an artwork could respond to their presence or movements. Many visitors remained passive at first and only gradually realised that they could influence the work.
Today, the situation is very different. The widespread use of smartphones, tablets, touchscreens, and digital interfaces has profoundly transformed our relationship to interactivity. People are now much more intuitive and spontaneous. They immediately understand that they can act upon the artwork, modify it, and make it evolve.
What strikes me most is how universal this curiosity has become. Whether in Europe, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, North or Latin America, I encounter the same enthusiasm for interactive works. Cultural sensibilities may vary, but everywhere I observe a growing desire to experience art rather than simply look at it.
What strikes me most is how universal this curiosity has become. Whether in Europe, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, North or Latin America, I encounter the same enthusiasm for interactive works. Cultural sensibilities may vary, but everywhere I observe a growing desire to experience art rather than simply look at it.
Social media have also changed the way visitors engage with my work. People photograph and film their interactions, sharing them with friends and creating a new form of collective memory. Each experience becomes unique.
Why should people go and see your works at Illuminate Adelaide?
I believe one of the main reasons to discover my works at Illuminate Adelaide is to experience something emotional, immersive, and sensory. My ambition is not simply to present digital images, but to create living universes that visitors can enter, explore, dream within, and interact with.
I believe one of the main reasons to discover my works at Illuminate Adelaide is to experience something emotional, immersive, and sensory. My ambition is not simply to present digital images, but to create living universes that visitors can enter, explore, dream within, and interact with.
The installations transform space through light, colour, movement, and interactivity. I particularly enjoy seeing the reactions of audiences, the smiles of children, the curiosity of adults, and the exchanges between generations. In a world marked by tensions, conflicts, and constant acceleration, I believe it is important to offer artistic experiences that bring joy, stimulate the imagination, and encourage collective sharing.
I particularly enjoy seeing the reactions of audiences, the smiles of children, the curiosity of adults, and the exchanges between generations. In a world marked by tensions, conflicts, and constant acceleration, I believe it is important to offer artistic experiences that bring joy, stimulate the imagination, and encourage collective sharing.
I hope visitors will leave not only with beautiful memories, but also with emotions and perhaps a new understanding of how digital technologies can serve poetry, creativity, and dreams.
I hope visitors will leave not only with beautiful memories, but also with emotions and perhaps a new understanding of how digital technologies can serve poetry, creativity, and dreams.
What do you hope people will feel and take away from your works or experiences?
I hope that everyone will experience something personal. Some may be touched by the poetic dimension of the works, others by their playful, immersive, or technological aspects. These encounters often generate surprise, and sometimes even a sense of contemplation.
Beyond the immediate emotions, I hope my creations encourage audiences to reflect on our relationship with nature, living systems, and the growing presence of digital technologies in our lives. My work often lies at the intersection of these worlds, exploring the dialogue between the real and the virtual, the natural and the artificial.
Beyond the immediate emotions, I hope my creations encourage audiences to reflect on our relationship with nature, living systems, and the growing presence of digital technologies in our lives.
If visitors leave with memories of beauty, wonder, and shared experiences and perhaps with a renewed perspective on the world around them and the transformations of our time, then I feel the work has fulfilled its purpose.
If visitors leave with memories of beauty, wonder, and shared experiences and perhaps with a renewed perspective on the world around them and the transformations of our time, then I feel the work has fulfilled its purpose.
Art has the unique ability to provoke emotions while opening new perspectives on both the present and the future.
Anything else to add?
Yes, perhaps one thing that is particularly important to me. We are living through a period of profound technological, ecological, and societal transformations. In this context, I believe artists have an important role to play. They can help us imagine new narratives, offer new ways of looking at the world, and explore the possibilities of technology in a sensitive and poetic manner.
one thing that is particularly important to me: We are living through a period of profound technological, ecological, and societal transformations. In this context, I believe artists have an important role to play. They can help us imagine new narratives, offer new ways of looking at the world, and explore the possibilities of technology in a sensitive and poetic manner.
For more than forty years, what has fascinated me has never been technology for its own sake, but rather its ability to become a genuine creative medium. Algorithms, artificial intelligence, and virtual worlds are, for me, new artistic materials, just as painting, photography, and video were for previous generations.
I am always delighted to see audiences of all ages embrace my works, play with them, marvel at them, and share these experiences together.
Above all, I hope art remains a space of freedom, imagination, and hope. In a world often dominated by immediacy and everyday concerns, art offers us the possibility to dream, to question ourselves, and to envision other possible futures. It is this invitation to travel, discovery, and poetry that I strive to convey through each of my creations.
I hope art remains a space of freedom, imagination, and hope. In a world often dominated by immediacy and everyday concerns, art offers us the possibility to dream, to question ourselves, and to envision other possible futures. It is this invitation to travel, discovery, and poetry that I strive to convey through each of my creations.
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We thank Miguel Chevalier for this interview and cannot wait to experience Digital Abyss, The Origin of the World and Pixel Waves at Illuminate Adelaide 2026.
KEY INFO FOR DIGITAL ABYSS
WHAT: Digital Abyss
WHEN: Tuesday 30 June – Sunday 19 July
Sessions every 30 minutes
Opening hours
- Monday – Thursday 10am-8pm
- Friday-Saturday 10am-8:30pm
- Sunday 10am-8pm
WHERE: ILA, Immersive Light and Art, 63 Light Square, ADELAIDE
HOW: Buy your tickets via this link
HOW MUCH: Ticket prices are as follows:
- General admission $25
- Groups of 4+ $22 per person
- Children under 4: FREE
- Supersaver Night – Tuesday 7 July $15
KEY INFO FOR PIXEL WAVES & THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD
WHAT: Pixel Waves & The Origin of the World are part of the free City Lights program
WHEN: 5:30pm onwards from 3-19 July 2026
WHERE:
- Pixel Waves is at Government House, North Terrace, ADELAIDE
- The Origin of the World is inside Bonython Hall, Adelaide University
HOW: Just go
HOW MUCH: FREE
