iMAL in Brussels presents an exhibition by Félix Luque Sánchez that questions our fears and expectations towards technology
The Automatic Society, 07.11.2025—15.02.2026
Press conference: 06.11.2025, 11:00
In the framework of Europalia ESPAÑA, iMAL is presentingThe Automatic Society, an exhibition by Spanish artist Felix Luque Sánchez that questions our fears and expectations towards technology. It presents a vision of our present-future where automation infiltrates every aspect of life, as robots, AI, and machine-controlled environments gradually displace human agency.
The Spanish-Belgian artist Félix Luque Sánchez takes us on a unique and fragmented journey through the complex relationship between humans and technology. Using a diverse array of mediums -from robotics to photography, sculpture, film, music, and performance-, The Automatic Society delves into not only the mechanisms of alienation, but also of those of resistance, exploring the cultural and artistic productions that emerge as contre-culture from our relationship with machines.
The exhibition takes its name from a 2012 lecture of philosopher Bernard Stiegler where he elaborates on the era of the automatic society. In this conference, Stiegler explores how automation is revolutionizing the way we live, socialize and work, while provoking profound questions about the future of humanity.
iMAL, co-producer alongside Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, LABoral and EUROPALIA, has a long-standing relationship with the artist and has had the privilege of witnessing Félix Luque Sánchez’s artistic trajectory. After its presentation in Brussels, the exhibition will travel to LABoral Centro de Arte in Spain.
Practical information
IN THE FRAMEWORK OF
EUROPALIA ESPAÑA
CO-PRODUCED BY
iMAL, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, EUROPALIA and FWB
AN EXHIBITION BY
Félix Luque Sánchez, in collaboration with Vincent Evrard, Damien Gernay and Íñigo Bilbao Lopategui
OPENING HOURS
Wed-Sun ▪ 11am — 6pm
VERNISSAGE
06.11.2025 ▪ 6pm
PRESS CONFERENCE
06.11.2025 ▪ 11am
iMAL
30 Quai des Charbonnages
Koolmijnenkaai, 1080 Brussels
About Felix Luque Sánchez
The work of Felix Luque Sánchez in collaboration with Damien Gernay, Vincent Evrard and Iñigo Bilbao, explores how humans conceive their relationship with technology and provide spaces for reflection on current issues such as the development of artificial intelligence and automatism. Using electronic and digital systems of representation, as well as mechatronic sculptures, generative sound scores, live data feeds and algorithmic processes, he creates narratives in which fiction blends with reality, suggesting possible scenarios of a near future and confronting the viewer with her fears and expectations about what machines can do.
Luque’s installations are configured as autonomous and uncontrollable systems in which each element plays a role in both their functional and visual design. The machines are thus conceived not only in terms of the processes they carry out, but also as objects of aesthetic contemplation. Each artwork is divided into different parts or sections, that can be read as chapters of the same narrative, constitutive elements of a system, or attempts at exploring a single subject. This fragmentation counters the apparent oneness of the piece and the seemingly perfect operation of the machine. Failure and vulnerability are present in the way that these devices are forced to maintain delicate balances, pursue nonsensical dialogues, generate incomplete renderings of reality, and finally express themselves by means of a sound score that results from their own activity and the physical processes involved in it. The artist consciously plays with the contradictory perception of technology as purely functional while at the same time imbued with a mysterious purpose, and the fear that machines may replace humans. Inspired by science fiction, he draws from its aesthetic and conceptual foundations the tools to elaborate speculative narrations and address the spectator using preconceptions about technology in popular culture. The outcome is a series of artworks that fascinate by their technical elegance and intriguing opacity, at the same time attracting and distancing themselves from the viewer.
Text by Pau Waelder
About iMAL
iMAL is a cultural organisation, located in Molenbeek, Brussels, combining the roles of an Art Center and a Lab. It is a meeting place between different communities with a special attention to the local scene. iMAL's 25th anniversary marks the beginning of a broader reflection on resilience, resistance to the dominant definition of progress, and the responsibility of fostering solidarity.
iMAL supports artistic practices that critically engage with digital technologies. It is a meeting place between different communities with a special attention to the local scene. We propose a multi-voiced and transdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues through our program consisting of exhibitions, research and production residencies, reflection and training, and public engagement.
iMAL also has its own workshop, the iMAL Fablab, where residencies take place every year. The Fablab also has its own public access system, with the aim of making technology accessible to all without distinction.
In the coming years, iMAL will explore the degrowth of computation and aims to emphasize the importance of regenerative production ecosystems.
