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A video still from “We Felt a Star Dying,” Laure Prouvost’s new multisensory installation that … [+]
The word “quantum” tends to conjure images of sophisticated machines executing extraordinarily fast calculations. But artist Laure Prouvost sees a far more personal dimension to quantum phenomena.
“We all have quantum-ness in us,” she says, referring to how quantum mechanics — the study of particle behavior at the atomic and subatomic level — underlies all living entities. Most of us don’t think about quantum fundamentals as we hold an elevator door open for a co-worker or make small talk with a stranger in line. Yet for Prouvost, it’s precisely those sorts of everyday interactions that make quantum concepts relatable.
In the quantum realm, “everything is untangled and belongs to one another,” the French-born, Belgium-based multimedia artist said over video chat last week. “Quantum-ness can break any sense of barrier that we didn’t know was possible to break. There’s this sense of everything at once.”
That perspective infuses “We Felt a Star Dying,” Prouvost’s immersive new installation, opening in Berlin on Friday, that explores how we might perceive reality from a quantum perspective. Perception is key here, as Prouvost seeks to engage audiences in quantum fundamentals not through complex explanations of concepts like qubits, but through video and sound developed with a quantum computer, as well scent and sculptural elements reflecting quantum phenomena.
A 26-minute video in the installation flashes images “kind of spinning and connecting things as the … [+]
The LAS Art Foundation, a Berlin-based nonprofit that commissions works at the intersection of art and science, asked Prouvost to create a work inviting audiences into quantum realms as quantum computers promise to do everything from transform manufacturing to speed up medical research, reduce damage from climate change and push the boundaries of art.
“Quantum has been felt in many, many ways, but not articulated so clearly,” the artist said from Berlin, where she was busy setting up the installation at Kraftwerk Berlin, a former power station that’s now a giant exhibition space. “But artists use other types of languages that are maybe not always related to words.”
Visitors enter the installation through what Prouvost, who won the prestigious Turner Prize in 2013, describes as a “corridor of sound” that fluctuates as they move. They’ll encounter plant- and meteorite-like forms that hover over them before disappearing into the darkness. These illusions hint at the seen and unseen, subtly evoking quantum fundamentals we may sense in our everyday lives but struggle to describe.
A 26-minute video projected on a circular screen merges a range of images — of people, nature and indistinct objects, some photographed with heat-sensing cameras and drones before being processed on a quantum computer — into a spinning, idiosyncratic dreamscape that brushes against the edges of life’s cosmic and existential mysteries. “It all started with the Big Bang,” the artist said. “Oh my god, how did I arrive here? It’s these kind of really massive questions.”
“We Felt a Star Dying,” which runs through May 4, extends across 37,600 square feet at Kraftwerk Berlin. The installation kicks off the LAS Art Foundation’s Sensing Quantum program, which through 2026 will present more installations and a public symposium exploring quantum mechanics.
“Artificial intelligence has already become established in our society, and quantum computing is expected to follow in the coming years,” Bettina Kames, the organization’s CEO, said over email. “As quantum technology is due to enact profound change in our world, LAS believes it is vital and urgent to think through its implications with artists.”
Going Inside Google’s Quantum AI Lab
Prouvost spent two years researching quantum principles with Hartmut Neven, founder of Google’s Quantum AI lab, which aims to build a large-scale, error-corrected quantum computer and last year announced a new quantum computing chip, Willow. The Quantum AI team in Santa Barbara, Calif., gave the artist rare access to a quantum computer and invited her to experiment with a new AI model that uses data recorded from quantum computations. She also consulted with Tobias Rees, a philosopher and senior visiting fellow at Google.
“For me, quantum processes are a philosophical event, meaning they break with some of the most basic forms of experiencing and understanding reality that have defined the modern period,” Rees, a former professor of humanities at New York’s New School for Social Research, said in a statement. “If things were either natural or technical, either alive or non-living, either human or machine, either being or thing, the beauty of quantum processes is that they are discontinuous with these binaries.”
That discontinuity is central to “We Felt a Star Dying,” reflecting the essence of quantum phenomena. “No one will experience the same thing, ever,” Prouvost said. “It’s the machine that decides what one might see or experience. It’s about losing control and letting quantum-ness take its course.”
