Mike Miller Exhibition

Élan Vital: Embodied Code 

New Work by Mike Miller 

Blackburn College, 2010 

Exhibition dates: 9/24 - 10/13

Reception for the artist: 9/24 5:30 - 8

Élan Vital: Embodied Code presents new work by Mike 

Miller, Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Illinois, 

Springfield. Miller investigates our current computer- 

mediated environment, producing physical artifacts with 

references to programming, search engines, social media, 

and the human genome. The exhibition employs a hybrid 

mixture of analog and electronic processes including 

painting, cut vinyl, etching, cnc milling, laser-cutting, and 

screen printing. Miller’s work offers an opportunity to reflect 

upon the transformations that the microprocessor and the 

database have unleashed on contemporary society. 

Élan Vital is a term coined by the French philosopher Henri 

Bergson to describe the mystical, elusive force that animates 

living organisms. Miller uses the term to suggest that 

computer language and other forms of encoded information 

“animate” many of contemporary society’s most essential 

functions.