La Cave

Soft Signals | Semnale Subtile Curators: Gabriela Moldovan; Laurence Levasseur Artists in the exhibition: Andreea Cristina Mircea Cezar Mocan Unda Obscura Benoit Challand Teodor Buruiana Mélanie Courtinat Communication is not limited to the words we speak. A change in intonation, a pause, a glance, or an involuntary gesture can convey messages we never directly articulate. These subtle signals influence how we relate to one another, complementing or altering the meaning of words. Sometimes they are intentional; other times they arise spontaneously, without us realizing we’re sending them. They can be recognized, interpreted, or overlooked. Their meaning takes shape in the space between the sender and the receiver—between what we intend to communicate and what ends up being understood. In social media communication, these signals take on new forms. A “like,” an emoji, a reaction, response time, or a message left as “seen” can become ways we express interest, closeness, disagreement, or distance. Although they seem like minor gestures, they influence how we interpret our interactions and relationships with others. At the same time, platforms transform these actions into data, which algorithms organize and use to determine what we see and how information circulates. Communication thus takes on a second level: beyond the meaning we attribute to a gesture, it becomes information that can be recorded, measured, and interpreted by a system. What may be a spontaneous gesture to us becomes, for technology, a signal. Soft Signals explores this relationship between communication, perception, and technology. The exhibition features works by Andreea Cristina Mircea, Cezar Mocan, Unda Obscura, Benoit Challand, Teodor Buruiană, and Mélanie Courtinat, bringing together new media practices that explore different ways of constructing and conveying experiences. Through image, sound, light, interactivity, and virtual environments, the works offer new perspectives on how we perceive and interpret our surroundings. In this context, a signal is not merely a message to be transmitted or received. It can be a trace, a reaction, a fluctuation, or a presence that does not fully reveal itself. Its meaning depends on the medium through which it circulates, on the person who perceives it, and on the context in which it is encountered. A signal can be amplified, altered, or detached from its original intention, and what reaches the receiver does not always coincide with what was transmitted. Between what we see and what we understand lies a space for interpretation where meaning is constructed, transformed, or lost. “Soft Signals” draws attention to this space and the subtle forms through which communication takes place, whether we are talking about human interactions, digital languages, or technological systems. The exhibition does not propose a common language for the works on display, but rather explores how they invite us to pay attention to what is conveyed beyond the explicit message and to the ways in which technology influences how we perceive, interpret, and relate to the world.