Useful fictions • 5, an initiative launched by the Arts & Sciences Chair and continued by SPIRAL

Every year, the Useful Fictions international summer school, initiated by the Arts & Sciences Chair and now run by the Useful Fictions Lab programme at the SPIRAL interdisciplinary centre, brings together artists, researchers and citizens around a common theme. The fifth edition, devoted to the atmosphere in all its dimensions, concluded on 5 and 6 September with an exhibition of the various projects at the Centre Wallonie–Bruxelles in Paris.

"Imagin-aires Imagined airs", prise de vue durant la semaine des labs créatifs au gymnase de l'École polytechnique. Crédits : Julie Everaert

29 Sep. 2025

Chairs, Education, Corporate relations, Research, Art et Science

Scientific level :

From 25 to 29 August, the Useful Fictions international summer school was held at École Polytechnique thanks to the ongoing support of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation and the commitment of the School and its partners. While sponsorship is often perceived as the preserve of businesses, this example illustrates the essential role played by philanthropic foundations. Along with the journal .able and Nanorumeur, Useful Fictions is one of the new formats for collaboration between researchers, artists and citizens that the École is exploring in a radically interdisciplinary approach initiated by the Arts & Sciences Chair, a programme run jointly between 2017 and 2023 with the École des Arts Décoratifs – PSL and the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation.

Collective creations to question the air we breathe

The École Polytechnique's Hydrodynamics Laboratory (LadHyX*) played a central role in the event, led by artist-physicist Jean-Marc Chomaz, professor at the École Polytechnique, Sarah Bouttier, assistant professor at the École Polytechnique, and Julie Everaert, visual artist and doctoral student in arts and sciences research-creation. This fifth edition was devoted to the atmosphere in all its dimensions: scientific, artistic, poetic and political, and involved the departments of biology, mechanics, physics, languages and the X-Novation Centre.

As a doctoral student in arts and sciences research-creation at the Institut Polytechnique, I am delighted to be organising, alongside Jean-Marc Chomaz, researcher and professor at the École Polytechnique, this Useful Fictions • 5, ‘Atmosphere, atmospheres’, a week of intense and fruitful creative workshops where artists, scientists, students, researchers and designers share their experiences, practices and expertise, making this collaborative experience as rich as it is unique.

The projects were then presented to students at the École Polytechnique and during a public weekend event on 5–6 September at the Centre Wallonie–Bruxelles in Paris. Among them:

‘Respirer l'esprit des mondes’ (Breathing the spirit of worlds) offered an immersion into the mechanisms of breathing, combining biology and blowing installations,
‘Zoïmorphisme: interactions’ blurred the boundaries between inert matter and living forms through interactive devices,
‘Atmosphères musicales interactives’ explored the possibility of sonic hospitality, where music and environment influence each other,
‘Imagin-aires’ deployed a poetic performance on the stories of the air.

Lab 1 • ‘Breathing the spirit of worlds (Anamosphère/Breathalytics)’, photograph taken at the exhibition at the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris. Credits: Julie Everaert

Lab 2 • ‘Zoomorphism: interaction’, photograph taken at the exhibition at the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris. Credits: Julie Everaert

Lab 3 • ‘Interactive musical atmospheres’, photograph of the creative labs presentation in the Grand Hall of the École Polytechnique. Credits: Julie Everaert

Lab 5 • ‘Imagin-aires Imagined airs’, photograph taken during the theatrical performance ‘Mots et molécules’ at the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris. Credits: Julie Everaert

An initiative that continues beyond the Arts & Sciences Chair

The Arts & Sciences Chair has been a real catalyst for initiatives to stimulate debate about science and build shared narratives towards desirable, shared futures for citizens. The Useful Fictions summer school continues this work within the SPIRAL interdisciplinary centre, still supported by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation. Now an annual event, the summer school highlights the ability of École Polytechnique, its teacher-researchers and its laboratories to create new bridges with its partners by combining fundamental science, artistic practices and civic issues. See you next year for a new edition of this arts and sciences adventure, whose theme will be Water as Horizon and whose artistic partner will be Athénor, the National Centre for Musical Creation located in Saint-Nazaire.

*LadHyX: a joint research unit of the CNRS, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, 91120 Palaiseau, France

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