Frédérique Laliberté
The artwork: Infinitisme.com Forever A Prototype
Infinitisme.com Forever A Prototype, by Frédérique Laliberté, is an eternally “progressive” Web project, an autonomous collage machine that generates semi-random virtual compositions by searching in a database of categorized and classified digital files: images, sounds, animated gifs, videos, text, etc. The result of each visit is a series of ephemeral constructions, based both on the rigidity of archival processes and on their casualness. A makeshift Internet, a sort of mimesis of itself, this website can only reuse and renew that which already exists, giving a function to hundreds of giga bytes of latent data. More specifically, the program activates a series of commands that select random files within their respective categories. It then places these organized elements in the virtual canvas of the Web page, within well-defined compartments, layers, and sequences. Taking the form of an installation, the project presents itself as a contextual environment: a simulation of a functional device. Incessantly evolving in a virtual space and time, this parallel universe is extirpated from its abstraction when visited by a Web user.
The creation of Infinitisme.com Forever A Prototype was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
The artist
On her own and with her friends, Frédérique Laliberté devotes her time to the establishment, implementation and documentation of various activities, sometimes open-ended and/or fictitious. Her practice is expressed in a variety of formats, mediums and situations, but her true love remains papermâché. Frédérique Laliberté holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Concordia University (Montreal). A voluble artist, she has presented her projects in Canada, France, Mexico, Switzerland, China, the Sahara Desert and on the Internet. Apart from her artistic pursuits, she quenches her thirst for experimentation by making leavened bread and sailing at sea, and sometimes both at the same time, though she does not pretend to be good at either one. She lives and works in Montreal.
