Le TOUT is an interactive installation inspired by a quote of Denis Diderot :
"Tous les êtres circulent les uns dans les autres. Tout est en un flux perpétuel. Tout animal est plus ou moins homme, tout minéral est plus ou moins plante, toute plante est plus ou moins animal. Il n'y a qu'un seul individu, c'est le Tout. Naître, vivre et passer changer de forme."
(All beings circulate within each other. Everything is in perpetual flux. Every animal is more or less man, every mineral is more or less plant, every plant is more or less animal. There is only one individual, it is le Tout. To be born, to live and to pass is to change form.)
Denis Diderot, Le rêve de l’Alembert 1830
This interactive installation aims to decompartmentalize the different "reigns" (human, animal, plant and mineral) that Diderot mentions in his quote and to question anthropocentrism. Anthropocentrism (from Ancient Greek: ánthr pos, "human being" and kéntron, "center") is the belief that human beings are the central or most important entity in the universe and that there is a hierarchy between species. It is a major concept in the field of environmental ethics and environmental philosophy, where it is often considered to be the root cause of problems created by human action within the ecosphere. Le TOUT is a symbiosis between these “reigns” and symbolizes the intricate system that links these different categories of beings between them.
Le TOUT is embodied by a bust, sewn with hundreds of different elements used to symbolize the four reigns: stones and gemstones, amber, seashells, pearls, seeds, wood, glass beads, metal, among other elements. This persona aims to create intersubjectivity between different categories of species and to symbolize their symbiosis by joining them into the one individual Le TOUT. The bust is also accompanied by a smell diffused placed under the bust (essential oils can be adapted or taken away for the event), that the public can perceive when coming closer.
Le TOUT is accompanied with audio and technological interactivity and mix traditional technics of art with new technologies to offer a global experience in four realms: visual, sound, smell and gesture.
Using 3D sensors and reliable hand tracking software (created by Ultraleap), audiences are able to interact with Le TOUT and feel the sensations of touch and movement without the physical contact. The individual facing the bust is able to move their hands and Le TouT will track their movement and alter different sensations they experience on the palm of their hand. This is Le TouT speaking to them.
The public becomes a part of the installation and “gives life” to the installation, by altering and transforming their own “voice” when speaking to Le TOUT . With a non traditional keyboard/module created by TakT, the audience will have the ability to create full immersive artistic musical experiences without needing the ability to be a musician.
Le TOUT can therefore have a “conversation” with its’ audience that can reimagine and explore the biodiversity embodied by the bust (through all the different materials it took to create and which is also symbolized through 4 senses; look, smell, hear and touch).
Le TOUT does not work without the participation of the audience in the same way that to conserve biodiversity, humans have to take a proactive roll. By interacting with this science art piece the audience forms a symbiosis with the persona, making them part of Le Tout.
