The concept of “painting machines” is not new in the art world. For example, Jean Tinguely created kinetic machines that produced automatic drawings. However, Raoul Pictor's approach is unique, particularly due to the presence of a fiction that constitutes an essential part of the work.

By creating an autonomous digital entity, a kind of artistic avatar with its own existence in a simulated world, Raoul Pictor raises important questions about the relationship between man and machine. These questions are even more relevant today, as digital technology becomes increasingly integrated into all aspects of our lives, including creative processes.

In the fiction of Raoul Pictor, the computer is not just a tool; it becomes a full-fledged actor in artistic creation. This questions the very nature of creativity. Is creativity exclusively human, or can it be imitated or even surpassed by the machine? To what extent can the machine participate in the creative act? Raoul Pictor pushes these questions to the extreme by giving his computer an active and autonomous role in the creation of the artwork.

The artist who uses the computer as a creative tool is himself transformed by this interaction. The computer modifies the creative process, turning the artist into a kind of director or choreographer who orchestrates the movements of the machine. In the case of Raoul Pictor, this metamorphosis is even more pronounced. The artist is no longer just the user of the machine but also its creator, its programmer. He shapes the virtual environment in which his character evolves while determining the rules and parameters that guide its behavior.

This approach is reminiscent of the artists of the Fluxus movement in the 1960s and 1970s, who saw art as an experience to be shared rather than an object to be contemplated. From this perspective, Raoul Pictor's creation can be seen as a form of participatory art, where the viewer is invited to interact with the work and question the role of the machine in the creative process.

His work reminds us that art is not just about creation but also about reception. As viewers, we are invited to question our own relationship with the machine, technology, and art itself. Through his fiction, Raoul Pictor offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on these questions while exploring the infinite possibilities offered by digital art.

In his virtual studio, Raoul, with his black beret, gray smock, green pants, and blue scarf, embodies the quintessence of the romantic painter. The viewer observes him in his studio, reading books, playing the piano, or sitting thoughtfully in his armchair, just like the traditional painter in search of inspiration. The performative dimension of his creative process is reminiscent of the works of conceptual artist Joseph Beuys, who claimed that “every man is an artist”.

The abstraction and stylization of Pictor's character are characteristic of many video games, especially in the early years of the medium. Technological constraints often required a simplification of form and color, leading to a distinctive style that has continued to influence game design even after technology allowed for greater visual fidelity.

In sum, Raoul Pictor, in his virtual studio, can be seen as a fusion of several traditions and influences, from painting and conceptual art to comics and video games, creating a unique experience that encompasses these diverse strata of visual culture.

The contrast between the figurative representation of Pictor's character and his predominantly abstract art illustrates the duality of digital art, oscillating between its technological and material roots and its ability to rise beyond the tangible. Indeed, digital art is rooted in the concrete, created and disseminated via machines and processors. However, it also has the ability to transcend these physical limits to venture into spaces where pure form and idea reign, as evidenced by the abstraction in Pictor's work.

It is this ability to navigate between the physical world and the world of ideas, between the concrete and the abstract, that makes digital art such a fascinating and versatile medium. It also offers numerous possibilities for exploring philosophical questions about art, representation, and expression.

This approach echoes the theories of abstract art, such as those articulated by Wassily Kandinsky in his work “Concerning the Spiritual in Art”. Kandinsky posited that abstraction paves the way to a more pure and spiritual form of artistic expression, free from the constraints associated with the representation of the tangible world. In a similar quest, Pictor transcends his pared-down visual representation through abstraction, achieving a more profound and liberated language of expression.

The representation of the artist in his studio is a rich subject that has fascinated many artists throughout history. In these works, the artist represents himself not only as a creator but also in his space of creation, highlighting the process of art itself.

Diego Velázquez's “Las Meninas” is a classic example of this tendency. In this painting, Velázquez depicts himself painting the canvas, even including a reflection of the king and queen in a mirror, implying that they are the subjects of his painting. It is a fascinating exploration of the role of the artist and the relationship between art, the artist, and the viewer.

Rembrandt often depicted himself in his studio. In his “Self-Portrait with Two Circles” he is seen painting, with unfinished canvases in the background reinforcing the idea of the studio as a space of creation.

Raoul Pictor's studio embodies a contemporary evolution in the long artistic tradition of representing the home as a space of creation. Historically, artists have frequently incorporated their personal environment into their art, as evidenced by the intimate interiors of Johannes Vermeer or Frida Kahlo's self-portraits in her “Casa Azul”. These works explore not only intimacy and daily life but also the deep relationship between the artist and his or her living environment.

In the case of Raoul Pictor, this interconnection takes on a new dimension in the digital age. His studio, depicted in an application, merges the traditional workplace of the artist with the domestic space, illustrating how technology redefines our living and working spaces. This integration of the digital into the domestic space broadens our understanding of artistic creation spaces. Pictor's studio is not simply a place of artistic production; it becomes a hybrid space where everyday life, work, and creation coexist and intertwine.

This concept reinvents the artist's studio, not only as a physical space but as a digital domain integrated into everyday life. By inserting his studio into the domestic context, Pictor explores contemporary dynamics of artistic creation, where the boundaries between personal and professional life, between reality and virtuality, become increasingly fluid. Thus, Pictor's work not only reflects this reality; it invites broader reflection on how technology shapes our living and artistic creation spaces in the modern world.

On the screen, placed in the middle of the room, the canvas, presented from the back, suspends the immediate revelation of the work. This scenic device recalls the idea of the mystical veil of art, theorized by the German philosopher Hegel. This tension between the hidden and the revealed is palpable in the anticipation generated by the virtual painter's work on an invisible canvas. This invisible canvas, on which he labors, can be seen as the veil that temporarily hides the act of creation. Thus, the creative process itself is shrouded in mystery, reinforcing the aura of anticipation and mystique that surrounds the work.

“The canvas is finished with large brushstrokes and many gestures, whereupon the artist takes it under his arm and leaves the room by a narrow dark opening; this opening, if we are to grant credit to the Renaissance codes of perspective, symbolizes a rectangular opening in the shape of a door.” (in cat. “A day in the life of R.P.” F.-Y. Morin - 1994).

When the painting is finally revealed by the printer, the veil is lifted, and the Spirit - in this case, Pictor's artistic vision - manifests itself in the material world. Each print is an act of revelation, a moment when creation resolves itself and the mystery clears. As a result, Pictor's artistic practice embodies Hegel's idea that art is both a veil and a revealer of truth, inviting us to look beyond appearances to grasp deeper truths. Thus, each of Pictor's works becomes a challenge to interpretation, an invitation to discovery, both veil and revelation, enigma and solution.

Pictor demonstrates a unique artistic approach. Contrary to what his technological environment would allow - namely, the production of infinite and perfect copies of his works - he deliberately chooses not to digitally preserve his creations. Each work is printed once, and then the file is deleted, renewing the idea of the uniqueness of the work. Thus, despite the existence of a technology of almost infinite reproduction, Pictor establishes a break, a return to the uniqueness of the traditional work of art.

In this context, Walter Benjamin's thought becomes particularly relevant, taking on a new dimension: Pictor's work reshapes the notion of artistic aura for the digital age. Beyond the simple question of uniqueness, it is the tangibility of the work that is reaffirmed. Through the act of printing, Pictor's digital creation takes shape in the physical world, transcending its virtual origin.

Thus, firmly rooted in the digital, Pictor's work defies infinite reproducibility and reinvests in the value of uniqueness and tangible presence. Paradoxically, it is digital technology itself that allows Pictor to revive the aura of art, as Benjamin envisioned it in the era of mechanical reproduction.

Pictor is thus the digital revolution intruding into the world of art, breaking down the barriers between the virtual and the real, between the artist and the observer. His work continues to question notions of authenticity, uniqueness, and creation, boldly navigating the artistic blur between the material world and the ethereal realm of the digital.

RP’s first phygital paintings

The acrylic paintings, inspired by the works of Raoul Pictor in 1994, represent an intriguing exploration of imitation and reappropriation in art. While the digital realm often tends to imitate and reproduce elements from the real world – whether in images, sound, or other forms of media – here, we witness a reversal of this process: it is the human who imitates what comes from the machine. This act of imitation by the artist is not just a passive reproduction, but rather a form of dialogue with technology.

They represent a complex game of imitation, where the human artist imitates the machine, which itself imitates reality. This mirror of imitations echoes Jean Baudrillard's theories on simulacra and simulation, where the copy ends up preceding and defining reality. In reproducing the digital works, the human artist does not merely copy, but engages in a meta-artistic dialogue with the nature of imitation itself.

Therefore, these paintings are much more than mere reproductions; they become a platform for philosophical and artistic reflection on imitation, originality, and the role of the artist in a world where the boundary between the real and the digital is becoming increasingly blurred.

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- 1998-2005 | Raoul Pictor Web studio & Flash

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