Nicole L’Huillier explores the use of sound and vibrations to examine agency, identity, collectivity, and vibrational imagination in her artistic and research practice. Her works encompass installations, sonic sculptures, listening and sound devices, performances, experimental compositions, poetry, and writing, fostering reflections on the relationship between sound, the body, and space while expanding sensory perceptions and possibilities for interaction.
Brújula, a commissioned sculpture for the 14th Mercosul Biennial, stems from the investigation of a series of navigation and vibrational tuning instruments. Inspired by gyroscopes—tools that measure the rotation and orientation of moving objects—the work features a central silicone membrane that simultaneously listens and emits sound. This “unstable drum” explores dualities and reciprocities, drawing from Andean principles and polyrhythmic narratives. Interactive and dynamic, the sculpture invites collective experimentation, activated by the wind and the sounds of visitors. Brújula transcends the object, functioning as an apparatus that reveals and challenges perspectives on sonic and spatial realities.
Gabriela Wieczorek
Nicole L’Huillier (Chile, 1985) is a transdisciplinary artist. Her practice centers on exploring sounds and vibrations as construction materials to delve into questions of agency, identity, collectivity, and the activation of a vibrational imagination. Her work materializes through installations, sonic/vibrational sculptures, custom-made (listening and/or sounding) apparatuses, performances, experimental compositions, membranal poems, and writing. She holds a Ph.D. in Media Arts & Sciences from MIT. Her work has been shown at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Kunsthalle Bern, Ming Contemporary Art Museum (McaM), Shanghai, ifa-Gallery Stuttgart, Bienal de Artes Mediales Santiago, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Transmediale, Berlin, Ars Electronica, Linz, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MAC), Santiago de Chile, 6th Ural Industrial Biennale, Ekaterinburg, and 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, among others. She lives in Berlin, Germany.
