About

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Adèle Tilouine grew up traveling around the world, spending the majority of her childhood in Nepal, India, Japan, Lebanon and many other countries. Following her parents, both researchers, on their international fieldwork, she was confronted very young with war and various sometimes conflicting approaches on life and death. This immersion in different philosophical, political, economic, religious and cultural systems during her childhood left a mark on her and gave birth to philosophical questions which serve as the foundational pillars of her artistic work today.

Having a great passion for social sciences, Tilouine studied anthropology, medieval history and art history, first at the Ecole du Louvre and Sorbonne University and then at l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). In 2013, she obtained a Master’s degree from the EHESS specializing in visual studies and began a PhD in museum anthropology, allowing her to work and study between France and the USA. 

Tilouine then proceeded to work in the art market as a gallerist, curator and art critic while also pursuing her own artistic practice. Since 2014, Tilouine has had regularly showcases of her work in Europe, Africa and the Middle East in festivals, collective exhibitions and personal shows. In 2016, she became interested in scientific art and started to explore the microscopic aesthetic via fractals through different mediums of expression including photography, video, oil paint, stain glass, drawings, sculptures and installations.

She obtained the grant of the “Passion Jeunes du CNRS” in 2010, as well as the “Grand Prix” at the “Salon international d’Art Plastiques Arbustes” in Mantes la Jolie three times in 2015, 2018 and 2019. This October 2019, she won “le prix des Amis du Salon d’Automne” at the Salon d’Automne in Paris and was rewarded with the 3rd place at the « Minimalist Design Contest » organized by Huawei and Myprofilart. 

In collaboration with Lille University, she obtained a two month artist residency at the TisBIO laboratory in 2018 where she gained access to cellular material and worked with a multitude of scientists to deepen her knowledge of the microscopic world. With the expertise of scientific researchers, she was able to access microscopes and highly specialized software allowing her to take photos/videos and make her own art of microscopic elements. This art residency was followed by two science art exhibitions; “Mythologie Cellulaire”, which included numerous public and academic talks and a pedagogic science art exhibition called “Héros cellulaires” made with the students of the “Grand Lycée Franco-Libanais” in Beyrouth, Lebannon. 

Through her collaboration with scientific researchers and her own plastic researches, Adèle Tilouine was able to study the cellular material of her own body and environment which further shaped her perception of the human experience. Her interest in crossing disciplines such as philosophy, art and science combined with her will of creating global and immersive art led her to embark on TakT; the far reaching collaboration with Tyler Kaufman.

Born in Paris, Tyler Kaufman spent his first six years in Paris and England before moving to Los Angeles, California. Before the age of 12, his mother took him to visit and live in more than 20 countries, broadening his mind to a wide variety of cultures and his outlook on life. 

Kaufman’s brainchild, Visceral Design, is a musical collective that brings together a variety of styles from modern-age cinematic to electronic dance to eastern. The project was created in India, where Kaufman lived in a music commune of Sikhs to study sitar and Indian Raagas. 

The concept was further developed under the tutelage of multi-platinum and Grammy-award winning producer Prince Charles Alexander at BerkleeCollege of Music. While attending Berklee, Kaufman also worked and became a mentee of programmer and music composer Dr. Richard Boulanger (one of the co-creators of C-Sound and programing advisor for MAX MSP). Kaufman was also selected to work in an interdisciplinary masters program where he worked and performed with visual artists from other universities. In 2013, Kaufman graduated from Berkleemagna cum laude with a double major and double minor with a focus on music production, interdisciplinary arts, programing and composition. 

Kaufman’s musical journey was further expanded after he traveled and lived in the Amazon jungle of Peru. It was during this time that he was captured with collaborator “Anatu” by guerilla terrorists and found the importance of his own spirituality. Since this experience, their various musical productions and compositions have been listened to over 50 million times. 

Visceral Design has performed all around the world, including the United States, England, Germany, France and Spain. Visceral Design has also been able to play at some of the largest music festivals, including Burning Man and No Where Festival. 

Their live performances infuse a deep study of western and eastern traditional music with a new age electro set. While staying inside the world of electronic experimentation, the guitar gets transformed into sonic soundscapes, melodies of electric sitar ring out and live improvisational looping is created in front of its audiences. Visceral Design’s interactive performance uses live video projections with custom animations that flow in sync with the music to help transport the audience members on the musical journey.

In conjunction with his music, Kaufman has also worked as a journalist for multi Webby award-winning website Truthdig. He has traveled around the world to document political movements in countries such as the U.S., France, Germany, England, Spain and Portugal. Kaufman won an L.A. Press Club Awardfor his journalism on the Native American movement “NODAPL” in North Dakota where he was temporarily jailed while reporting.

TakT is the name of the collaboration between science artist Adele Tilouine (Paris, France) and sound designer and composer Tyler Kaufman (Los Angeles. USA/Paris, France).  In April 2019, Tilouine and Kaufman met in Paris, where through conversation and debate they decided they wanted to create philosophical artistic experiences. TakT is the result of this interdisciplinary and international exploration.