Laure Prouvost

The Beginning

The Beginning is a large kinetic sculpture with six petal-like limbs stretching across the space. Unlike the industrial machines that once filled Kraftwerk, The Beginning is fragile, sensitive, and at times, unpredictable. Prouvost conceived The Beginning as a quantum presence that has always existed, though is not always visible.The Beginning is everything and everywhere; The Beginning is we/our. We are ephemeral and constantly shifting. Our flowing movements 'caress' the space, connecting with the materials, histories and even the people within it. Ringed with tangled threads, The Beginning’s cylindrical core connects this presence with emerging applications of quantum, recalling the language of delicate discs and wires found within most superconducting quantum computers. Inside, a heat-sensitive cushion makes visible changes in thermal energy on our surface, highlighting one of the key environmental factors influencing the stability of quantum systems. Brought to life through sound, light and motion, The Beginning comes to embody the complex dynamics of these systems. As our limbs dance in and out of sync, we enact the rhythms of an entity in continual exchange with the universe around us.