The Fool’s Ballad – an interactive sound sculpture
In the line with my last interactive sound installation «Tutti» , a loudspeaker orchestra created at the Fresnoy in France, my new installation «The Fool’s Ballad» places the spectator in the position of that of an explorer. It aims also to materialize a more dynamic listening experience based on movement.
What are my recent exhibits?
«Tutti» has been warmly welcomed in different exhibits since it’s creation in 2012:
- Contemporary Art Center of Vilnius, Lithuania, 2012, curator Kestutis Kuizinas
- Brussel’s White Night, Belgium, 2012
- Laboral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (Art and Industrial Creation Centre), Gijón, Spain, 2013, curator Benjamin Weil
- Sound Night, La Kunsthalle, Mulhouse, France, 2014, curator Sandrine Wymann
- Macro-Testaccio, Rome, Italy, 2014, curator Alain Fleischer
- and soon at «L’Aubette 1928», Strasbourg, France, curators Camille Giertler and Sophie Kauffenstein
I am currently in a creation residency in Stuttgart, laureate of the Baden-Württemberg / Alsace grant, a residency programme at the Kunstiftung Stuttgart with the Ceaac (European Center of Contemporary Artistic Actions) in Strasbourg and the Institut Français of Stuttgart.
A new exhibition and a catalogue on my work are scheduled late 2016. The catalogue is one of the possible interesting rewards in this campaign! ;)
Photo of my sound installation «Tutti» exhibited in the Kunsthalle in Mulhouse, 2014 
«L’Aubette 1928» in Strasbourg: This is where TUTTI will be exhibited from the 5th Dec 2015 to the 15th Jan 2016!
What is my new project «The Fool’s Ballad» all about?
«The Fool’s Ballad» is an interactive sound installation that invites the spectator to interact with a sculpture that is normally inert. When you get close by, the sculpture (a hand-crafted ceramic speaker) awakes and a cristal-clear soprano voice emanates from it, singing a specially tailored composition. The loud-speaker starts moving, physically following each of your movements. The closer you get, the more you influence the soprano singer. The classic original Lied reveals unsuspected facets.
Where am I in the advancement of the project?
I have been working on this project for over a year. It has obtained grants from Pro Helvetia Foundation in Switzerland and from the Alsace Region in France (Individual Creation Grant from the Drac Alsace – Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs). Once this installation will be created, it will be exhibited in Basel, Switzerland, at the Hek (House for electronic Arts), support linked with Pro Helvetia.
Technically speaking, the general specifications having been established with the constructor Jean-Marc Delannoy and the programmer David Lemaréchal. We have advanced pretty much already (arduino, servomotor, computer, sensor, tracking, face detection, etc…). Concerning the ceramics, the moulds are done, and first pieces made with Maurin & La Spesa have just gotten out of the kiln and are ready now for glazing, finishing and assembling! For the music, first exchanges are starting with the composer Gaëtan Gromer and the composition will be created in 2016, followed by the recordings with the soprano singer Juliette de Massy. In Situ tests will take place once all these steps are united.
What will the money be used for?
Without your help, my new installation will not have its unique hand-crafted glazed ceramic speaker. The EUR 2500 will be used as follows:
- EUR 1500 to work on glazing and finishing the ceramic speaker with the help of Solène Dumas, Ceramist. Firing, glazing, second firing, polished finish : minimum 35 hours at EUR 35/h before VAT, 4-6 hours of firing in kiln 18euros/h bef VAT, powder glaze and raw materials
- EUR 750 for the mounting of the piece on a motorised axis constructed by Jean-Marc Delannoy in the North of France.
- EUR 250 for the 10% commission of we-make-it
If the campaign succeeds and the sum collected is higher than expected, the extra money will be distributed evenly to each of the seven collaborators.
What will you get?
You will receive exclusive invitations to my next «Tutti» exhibit december 2015, in a beautiful location: «L’Aubette 1928», and it’s Event Hall, designed by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, De Stijil artist Theo Van Doesburg and Jean Arp.
For those of you who are far away and cannot be present here in Strasbourg, I will invite you to online visits and video calls! If you wish to hold pieces of my installation in your hands, I will offer you what I call «éclat de céramique», a glazed fragment piece of the ceramic, freshly out of the kiln as well as my 2016 artist catalogue freshly printed.