SOUND PERFORMANCES | POINT D’OUÏE #2
Opening reception : Friday, March 29, 2024 ‑ 7 p.m.
« POINT D’OUÏE #2 » : SOUND IMMERSION PROGRAM
As part of the festivities celebrating the 50th anniversary of the center, Sporobole and La Fabrique culturelle present three events marking 10 years of experimentation, residencies, production, and sound infiltration in public space!
“Point d’ouïe” brings together the work of artists with whom we have developed deep ties through creative collaboration, and who have marked or transformed our ways of doing things, our sensitivity, and our understanding of the potential for this type of creation. The ensemble of works selected by Éric Desmarais—our executive director and curator for the occasion—offers a panorama of contemporary sound practices while honoring Quebec and international artists who have contributed to making Sporobole an important venue for research in sound art.
Through our sound window and creation residencies in our immersive sound studio, through various performative evenings held as part of the Espace [IM] Média festival, or through numerous collaborations with partners such as the Faculty of Music at Université de Montréal or the Canadian League of Composers (CLC), we have honed our expertise in sound art to carve ourselves a special place in this artistic field, both in Canada and abroad.
Erin Gee
In Bloom, 2023.
Music for solo voice and percussion, and tape. Duration: 15 minutes. Performed by Francis Leduc.
Bloom as an expression of fulfillment: a miracle of becoming, fullness. In nature, the body is not just the self, but can also be understood as food, or fuel, for a larger motor of the living in an ecological relation. How can one even know what it means, to be posthuman, or posthumanist, on this ontological level?
This song is a conversation between bacteria, mold, fungus, and a recently dead human (you). The voices of decompositional elements guide you through the after-death as your body re-enters the food chain. Thinking through sound as a portal to materialisms beyond our human senses, the voice in this work is an anchor, guiding the listener through the simultaneous care and brutal indifference of nature. The bol instrument that the performer plays is intentionally positioned as a sounding object and a site for projection. Inspired by the methods of ASMR, you might imagine your body as the skin on the drum, flickering between reality and suspended disbelief as real/microscopic hands break down your sensory organs.
Erin Gee would like to thank Productions Totem Contemporain for its generous material and creative support in the co-production of the original work (2023). This initial collaboration between the artist and Totem led to the adaptation of “In Bloom” into a multi-channel version created specifically for Sporobole on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2024).
Nelly-Ève Rajotte
Sublime Machine, Sound performance, Modular synthesizer, 25 to 30 minutes, 2024.
The objective of this cinematic performance is to create an immersive sound experience based on elements inspired by the human neural system, its sensory receptors and the electrical flows that pass through them.
The performance of this work will be done using analog and digital synthesizers and will employ the Modular Control Voltage Technique (CV/GATE). The electrical flow will be meticulously sculpted and modulated to generate sound frequencies rich in textures and vibrations, thus influencing auditory perception and the body’s reception of sound.
Through synthesizers which act as a metaphorical reflection of the body, frequency resonances will alter temporal and physical perceptions in a syncopated or sustained manner. The goal is to invite the audience to immerse themselves in this electronic sound ecology where drones, harmonic chords, captivating and syncopated sequences, as well as anagogical rhythms rich in textures are deployed.
Pierre-Luc Senécal
snowXstorm, 2019, 2023.
This sound installation for 16 speakers was composed from a single instrument: the music box. The softness of the sounds of this object symbolizes for the artist fragility and childhood memories, but also rest and calm which invite contemplation.
snowXstorm is a cycle of four pieces composed of chiming melodies which create a halo resonating on the facade of Sporobole in order to challenge and seduce passers-by. The public can contemplate the work from afar or get closer to the speakers and experience attentive, even directive, listening while moving along the window. It is a sound window through which we can observe winter and the poetic movement of snow.
This version of the work is audio immersive in order to offer an experience of quiet joy, but also of nostalgia. It is dedicated to friends and loved ones who vanished in the snow and frost.
