SOUND ART INSTALLATIONS IN PUBLIC SPACES
MAY 16 TO 22
DOWNTOWN VICTORIAVILLE
FREE ADMISSION - 10 AM TO 8 PM
Guided tour for schools, OBNL or companies: write to us
With the help
A major collaboration
ZEITGEIST
I don’t want to get esoteric or look for signs everywhere and (especially) nowhere, but the signifier often imposes itself, almost like magic. It would not be exaggerated to observe (or assert?) that artistic thought, the sensitivity specific to Art, includes some sort of radar, an outpost that is detecting future movements. A few moves ahead, like chess masters do. And that is what emerges from the 2022 edition of our circuit, which will consist of nine World Premieres.
The proposals show a sensibility to the elements of nature, the wind in particular. A questioning of our environment, of the importance technology holds in our lives, without necessarily falling into eco-anxiety (although that is fertile ground and the concerns are very real). In short, an awareness that can be poetic, beautiful, natural, intriguing, funny, human. Deeply human. And isn’t that what artistic creation gives us access to?
So, without imposing or even proposing a theme for this year’s sound installation circuit, the works, eerily, have much in common; a trend? Two main themes: nature and technological obsolescence.
Let’s take advantage of this unique opportunity to have access to original artistic proposals designed specifically for our Festival to explore singular avenues, unsuspected poetic interpretations, unusual visions, and fascinating curiosities.
A certain Québécois filmmaker with a background in anthropology once claimed that “freedom is not a brand of yogurt.”1 (Because there is a brand called Liberté, “freedom”, in Quebec grocery stores.) We can now say that ZEITGEIST is not a perfume brand!
Érick d’Orion, sound art installations curator
MARIE-DOUCE ST-JACQUES
« L'étang de vibrations (2022, Victoriaville) »
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
This work consists in a 15-minute audio loop (voice, electronic treatments, synthesizers, electronic clavichord) broadcast in multitracked fashion by loudspeakers that are hidden under 2 circles of 150 risographed sheets of paper, creating a striking optical effect. The artist has been expressing herself through music, visual arts, editing, and script writing for around 20 years.
On the Web
marie-douce.com
JOËL LAVOIE
« De face »
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
This is composer/sound engineer JOËL LAVOIE’s first sound installation. It is a wind study. Two accelerometers are reading aerial movements. Changes are manipulated and retransmitted to “resonators” and loudspeakers hidden through the location to create a sonic garden of sorts that vibrates with the wind. Visitors witness chaotic sublimation, a call to appreciate wind through instinctive, reduced listening.
On the Web
jllv.co
CAROLINE GAGNÉ
« Saule fragile »
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
A collaboration
An old iPhone is playing a multitrack composition while receiving data from a nearby vibration sensor. Tremors are transposed to other screens over a local wifi network. The device is enshrined in a small hothouse. “My works are sensitive interfaces, the quotidian moving toward the intangible.”
On the Web
carolinegagne.ca
ANNE-F JACQUES
« Températures »
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
On site, you will find baseboard thermostats and home-made bimetallic elements. Some are exposed to sunlight, others are in the shade or connected to heaters, so that each one can be triggered on or off in constantly changing sequences. Sounding boards and electrical relays amplify the sounds made by the thermostats to create an orchestra of clicks.
On the Web
anne-fff.tumblr.com
LÉA BOUDREAU / ÉTIENNE LEGAST
« Dyschronie »
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
The artists are presenting a multiphonic composition based on Audiotopie’s ESSAIM device. This work, which evolves over several days, is inspired by Quebec’s natural soundscapes and their gradual deterioration. It aims to question our rapport to time and space by presenting various time scales in a multidimensional sonic environment. ESSAIM is an array of loudspeakers designed to broadcast sound works in public spaces. « Dyschronie » is a coproduction of Audiotopie and Les Escales Improbables de Montréal.
On the Web
audiotopie.com
PASCALE LEBLANC LAVIGNE
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERES
A collaboration
« Les fours à micro-ondes sont-ils bannis en Russie? »
In « Les fours à micro-ondes sont-ils bannis en Russie? », three microwave ovens, set on small serving tables, are doing all they can to “reheat frozen dinners”. Sounds and lights come out of their partially open doors. With a touch of humour, this work questions our mixed rapport with the various technologies found in our daily lives, from 5G to… microwaves!
« Les belles tuiles à plafond »
« Les belles tuiles à plafond » features several sculptures made from neon lights and suspended ceiling tiles. Cobbled together mechanisms, under the effect of imprecise and repetitive motorized movements, are putting to the test the resistance of their own materials and structure. In time, the tiles crumble away and the devices grow structurally more frail or even break, generating new shapes and sounds.
On the Web
pascaleleblanclavigne.com
FORTNER ANDERSON / GENEVIÈVE LETARTE / JAMES SCHIDLOWSKY / ALEXANDRE ST-ONGE
« Le songe d'artisan »
USA, QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
In the window is a “sonnet-making machine” created entirely from quotes of modern and contemporary Québécois poetry. Each poem is an original creation that closely follows the syntactic structure of Émile Nelligan’s famous poem “Rêve d’artiste”. The collective’s installation is a generative work that combines spontaneous poetry and sound art.
On the Web
fortneranderson.com
actuellecd.com/genevieve-letarte
jamesschidlowsky.ca
alexandrest-onge.com
PATRICK BERGERON
« Souvenirs ébroués »
QUEBEC
WORLD PREMIERE
A collaboration
Two works are responding to each other through space. Une histoire de vent… is a video projected on two spinning screens that are triggering a wind organ that plays a note that gets louder as the rotation speed increases. Stéréo Cassette is a video projection where the sound follows the movements of the picture. A piece of music is associated with each of the 62 cassettes shown on screen.
On the Web
patrickbergeron.com
