Luck, Infinity, or Destiny? The Thirteen-year Story of Iregular
To many onlookers, thirteen years might not seem like the most obvious anniversary to celebrate. But for Iregular - the pioneering digital art studio based in Montreal - it’s perfectly natural. The studio’s founder, Daniel Iregui, possesses a self-described ‘obsession’ with luck, chance, and randomness. As a result, the studio’s work has become renowned for creating those serendipitous moments of coincidence which feel intuitively meaningful - like seeing two identical clouds drift peacefully through a summer sky. Thirteen years down the line, Iregular have chosen thirteen of their favourite pieces of work - both old and new - which will form a global tour in 2023 and 2024 in Canada, the US, EU, UK, and the Middle East. Although the thirteen projects are each distinct, they are united by that most essential of human qualities: the drive to find meaning in external stimuli.
“Have you ever found yourself caught between two mirrors, staring out at infinite versions of yourself and wondering what would happen if one started to break out from the crowd?”, asks Daniel, the question dripping with his trademark combination of curiosity and intensity. This is another of his favourite subjects, along with the chaos of probability: The concept of infinity. The two themes so often collide in Iregular’s creative work, in the form of projects which find coincidental, satisfying patterns within infinite systems. One such example saw Iregular exploring precisely that question about the endless line of you-s staring back at you from a mirror.
In fact, OMNIPRESENCE - a 2017 immersive project in which audiences were stunned to find their mirror images moving with a mind of their own - is a perfect example of what make’s Iregular’s work so unique. Described as a reflection on “technology’s ability to curate our digital persona”, OMNIPRESENCE exemplifies Iregular’s approach to art. “When people interact with our art, we want them to feel like they are the only human in the situation”, he explains. “I don’t want you to feel as though you are interacting with an artist personally. It’s only you and the artwork - it’s your personal time”.
Reflecting on the moments that have defined Iregular since its inception as a studio thirteen years ago, Daniel elaborates on his most unifying theme. “It’s luck”, he explains. “Luck is like a bug in the system, but at the same time it’s a feature. So many of our projects aim to create moments which we can’t exactly predict, leaving an element up to chance. But at the same time, we like to influence luck. If there’s a colour we don’t like, for example, we will edit it out of the possible results. But the key is to make something which feels coincidental and random. That’s how you give people something which feels uniquely personal and enduring”.
There’s almost no limit of examples which illustrate Daniel’s point. In 2022, Iregular’s AS WATER FALLS piqued the curiosity of audiences in Canada, the US, the UK, and the UAE. Confronted by what appears to be a large natural waterfall, attendees soon discover that they are looking at a cascade of patterns and concepts racing vertically past them. With instructions embedded within the piece itself, and its ability to organically react to mobile phone flashlights, the installation is perfectly at home within Iregular’s audiovisual milieu.
Experimenting with these kinds of abstract ideas - and converting them into reality - has become something of a second nature for Iregular. From the planetary movements of SOLSTICE to the emotional tracking of ANTIBODIES, each Iregular project in the studio’s upcoming tour has found a way to tackle disparate ideas via the studio’s unique approach. “Evolution is the inevitable result of thirteen years spent exploring these themes”, says Daniel. “It’s like one of our projects - thirteen years of input has resulted in the output of what Iregular has become today. We want to continue on the same path, showing people the beauty of infinite randomness. That’s our ideal”.
Experiences such as AS WATER FALLS and OMNIPRESENCE exemplify that ideal, and give a fair clue as to the spaces in which Daniel foresees Iregular experimenting in the future. “What’s ultimately so fascinating about luck is that it’s probably the most important factor in any of our lives”, he says. “It determines the people we meet, the events which happen to us, and even whether we’re actually born in the first place. Whilst we might be able to influence certain things, it’s so often chance and coincidence which determine outcomes. Some might call it fate, others would say it’s karma”.
Nevertheless, as the studio wraps up its thirteenth year - ironically the infamous number symbolising bad luck - we realise that the paradox at the heart of Iregular’s success is that there’s nothing lucky or fortunate about it. Instead, it’s been a combination of Daniel’s unique creative vision mixed together with the extraordinary work ethic which is so common amongst the Iregular team. Fittingly, there’s no predicting what might come next for the studio. For now, however, we have a chance to celebrate thirteen innovative and boundary-pushing years from the team at Iregular.
