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INTERACTIVE DIGITAL INSTALLATION - 2016
E
DEVICE
Conception, création sonore
VINCENT MARTIAL
Mise en lumière, vidéo
CLÉMENTINE POQUET
Floating Square is an interactive visual and sound
installation that features 24 cords and 24 floating
plates: a floating ground, vibrating through air and
amplified.
A symbolic garden, suspended, in metal, organized
in a geometrical way, an interpretation of the world
where every element is identical, paralel, and
encounters the other elements without ever really
meeting them. Howerever, behind this facade
we find the vibration, the energy that renews the
physical bonds of the elements through invisible
links that get mixed and influence each other.
A visual illusion, a sound reality: if we take a cord,
but we perceive four, if we listen to four but we
are well aware that there is only one, where is the
boundary between reality and illusion?
A
SPACE
IN SUSPENSION
We see a flying carpet, a floating garden or a swing... 24 sheets of metal,
suspended, swinging in a slow and continuous movement that spreads the
sound waves through reverberation. Being at the same time counterweights
and resonance surfaces for the cords, the metal sheets are just like the cords,
amplified through vibration microphones. Hung from a central point, the
plates are in equilibrium and produce an infinite movement provoked by the
air projected on the cord.
This same movement is interpreted by the light, that will also play within the
illusion, within the sway and the apparent multiplication, in order to push as
far as possible within each other´s imagination, the border between illusion
and reality.
When the air’s movement
becomes perceptible
How to create a multitude of sounds from a single vibratory body? The 24
elements of Floating Square are engaged in a process of research on the link
between monophonic and polyphonic instruments. The vibration of a 6 meter
long cord leads to a multitude of harmonics related to a fundamental note.
The action of compressed air is precise, powerful and continuous, three terms
required in order to put the cord into an intense vibration state that allows it
to “multiply”.
A visual multiplication that for the human eye appears to produce several
cords where there is only one, but above all a sound multiplication that allows
us to listen to the cord’s whole sound spectrum, that is, all the waves that
constitute the movement generated by the air.
Redesigning
the space
through
light
The installation is illuminated through the use of videoprojections. The physical
dimensions of the plates that lie in a horizontal position and of the cords from
which they hang are highlighted by light projections. The light acts like a developer
that slowly unveils the structure and makes us basculate into a space where we
progressively stop perceiving both continuity and limits.
Through video-mapping techniques, the light redesigns the space and, by
perspective effects, gives the illussion of a new dimension. The horizontal
extension invites us to travel across a suspended universe. The light projected
on the cords makes the vibration visible to us. The installation itself is an open
door to contemplation, inducing us to an hypnotic and oneiric exploration of the
space.
A playful
and interactive
sound exploration
The installation is manipulated by the public
though a control board.
A series of switches direct the movement of the
electro-valves, in order to make the instrument
vibrate.
Each movement can be recorded, so that the public
can create its own compositions and listen to them
right away.
The light is synchronised, by the electro-valves,
to the movements of the air, therefore entering
the control settings of the artwork.
3D view
Administrative support and diffusion
Noémie Vila
Sonambule
[email protected]
0033+652761787
Vincent martial
[email protected]
A project by Sonambule and atelier coulisses
with the support of Césaré,
centre national de création musicale
and galerie 3e Parallèle