Pierre Huyghe Idiom, 2024

Pierre Huyghe’s Idioms continue the artist’s use of masks invested with systems of conveying information, and in this most recent, AI generated iteration, develop a language. To the artist, Idiom masks house a disembodied subjectivity which speaks through them.

Cast from resin, from the outside the Idioms appear as golden or brass-colored helmets, worn over the face and parts of the head. Inside the mask sensors, speakers and LED lights are housed. Partially translucent, the LED in the interior become noticeable when light is emitted.

A technologically sophisticated sensorium is housed inside the mask, gathering information about the environment. The data collected extends human perception and includes sight, face recognition, sound and other environmental conditions.

Inside the resin-cast shell an apparatus is housed that produces sound and emits lights—articulating in new language the collected information. This language appears ineffable: Produced by a digital version of an altered human voice box, the language sounds both unpronounceable and not comprehensible to humans. A neural network is continuously developing this self-generated language, a process of learning that continues beyond the actual time of exhibiting the work.