« Amazing Grass » is a piece of research about fascination in a sonic context.

Amazing refers to fascination

Grass : the central element of the work is a plant

Amazing Grass : refers to the song Amazing Grace : put us in a sonic context.

It is an installation I conceived in response to the Battersea Powerstation. It was realised at LCC for the time of my oral presentation of the project (hope to realise it other spaces soon…)
The principle idea of this installation resides in a permanent construction and
deconstruction of the idea of sound, which will give the visitor an oppotunity to
approach the indeterminate realm of fascination. Nature has been a central
element in the process of exploring fascination. The gallery space is considered
an environment1 : humans, plants, walls, light, composition of the air etc… are
all part of a system I have built to express my research in a personal way.

The following text is a sum-up of the dissertation I wrote about Amazing Grass for my MA.

Fascination

« Fascination is fundamentally linked to neutral, impersonal presence, to the
indeterminate They, the immense, faceless Someone »
Maurice Blanchot, The space of Litterature.

-Why fascination ?

In the process of finding an institution to respond to, I made sure not to bring
any idea prior to my first contact with the location by eliminating sites for which
I already had ideas. Thus, I would be able to formulate a proposal that would
truly respond to the institution I choose instead of picking out an institution that
would respond to my ideas. The Battersea Powerstation fitted this description : it
was not recalling any of my previous project or ideas, yet was inspiring me,
fascinating me.

« Simon Starling is fascinated by the means through which man-made objects
come into being.»2.
Bourriaud N, Alter Modern exhibition guide

Fascination seems to be at the root of every artistic project. It is often presented
as the primary element from which all of an artist’s work results. Intrigued by
the empty everyday use of the word « fascination », unable to understand the
modalities of my attraction to the powerstation, I decided to take fascination
itself as an object of study : « Far from remaining a detached observer, I keep
seeing my own gaze, mirrored back to me. »3. Fascination itself can be
fascinating.

-What is fascination ?

In the folkloric tradition, fascination was considered to be a magical attraction
which had a lot to do with conquering « looks of love » : a mysterious and
supposedly visual phenomenon. « Suggestion » would be the modern idea that
describes this « magical attraction ».
Most of my research on fascination however is based on french philosopher
Maurice Blanchot’s ideas. Even though he relies on the lexical field of visual to
approach fascination, he does not refer to a modality in particular and therefore
allowed me to envisage fascination from a sound artist’s perspective.
Maurice Blanchot is known as the philospher of fascination, of obscurity, of the
unsayable. As Oliver Harris wrote in his analysis of fascination in the context of
Film Noir : « Blanchot’s philosophy is fundamentally nocturnal : it pursues
knowledge that lies behind the truth of the visible and beyond narrative telling, a
knowledge that is a kind of nothingness, a negativity, death itself. »4

In the chapter of his book « The space of literature » called « Orpheus’s gaze »,
Blanchot refers to the myth of Orpheus to explain the difficulty of describing
fascination. He associates Eurydice with « the profundly obscure point toward
which art and desire, death and night seem to tend »5 . Orpheus is allowed to
descend to the underworld and look for her in the nights, but only by turning
away from her. Fascination and the things which belong to this region, like the
« indeterminate They » can not be brought to light.

Fascination is an obscure attraction that will never let you cease reaching what
you cannot grasp. To explain this point, Blanchot describes the « indecisive
moment of fascination » in which a writer is eventually trapped. Because the
work only exists when someone reads the book, the writer only grasps a
substitute of his work. The writer only believes that the work is not finished,
therefore « what he wants to finish remains interminable ».

Blanchot speaks about time in a context of fascination, what he calls « the
fascination of time’s absence ». He defines time’s absence as :  « [ the place where
nothing ] never happened, never had a first time, and yet starts over and over
again without a future »6.

Of space in « the indeterminate milieu of fascination », Blanchot says
that distances are immeasurable : « distance is here the limitless depth behind
the image, a lifeless profundity, immanipulable ».7

The descriptions by Blanchot of time and space in the realm of fascination are in
my opinion analog to the description a mathematician could give of more than
four dimension spaces. These spaces are inconceivable to our mind, yet can be
studied using mathematical tools (matrices for example).
Space and time are both occupied by sounds. The latter is a remarkable tool to
describe both of them. Fascination is not an « environment » that seems to be
describable using our senses. However, the evasive nature of sound, the
difficulties we have to describe sound itself seems to connect it to the realm of
fascination. In « Amazing Grass », I rely on sounds to describe fascination, and
look for connections between sound and fascination by manipulating the idea of
sound, hoping to reveal aspects of the latter that would directly belong to the
« milieu » of fascination.

-Fetichism

In this paragraph, I describe the fetichist aspect of our relation to sound and how
I intend to use this aspect to « reveal » fascination to the visitor.
The word fetish comes from the portuguese word « feitiço » : spell, charm. Which
itself comes from the latin word « factitius » : fake. A fetish is a material object
that refers to something immaterial. In my researches, fetichism soon appeared
to be closely linked to fascination.
Fetichism can be divided into three categories : religious, economic and sexual.
The fetish is an object of desire, it is loaded with our desires to understand, to
posess, to climax. The fetish is a graspable version of something unattainable, an
illusion. Therefore I assume that fascination remains when there is an
impossibility of building up a fetish. This statement is the base of my
installation.
In his research project entitled « toward a fetichism of the listening », François
Bonnet demonstrates the existence of fetishists behaviours in a sound context.
The « sound object » defined by Pierre Schaeffer is not, strictly speaking, an
object. « It is impossible to acoustically validate sound as an object »8. Indeed,
sound as it is described in physics can be broken up infinitely. Therefore, the
sound object comes from a reification of sound: the process of creating an object
from something intangible. This process does not provide signification to the
object. This « empty object » consequently has to be reinvested with meaning:
thus, a fetish is created.
François Bonnet pushes the argument further by saying that the listening itself
is actually fetichised: «  in the same way that lingerie makes the person who
wears it desirable as long as he/she doesn’t take it off ».9 The listening being the
person, and lingerie the sound object.

The installation :

first tests :

-the fetish :

In the center of the space, stands an animatronic plant : a real plant of which its leaves and stems are moved by servo motors.The plant is brought to our time
and space scale and seems to be inhabited by a spirit. I refer to animists beliefs
in which spirits inhabit animals, plants and even objects that can consequently
be considered as being fetishes.

A microphone is placed above the plant so as to capture the sounds of the leaves
rubbing against each other. This sound is amplified and played through four
speakers surrounding the plant, positioned a few centimeters away from it, and
directed at the walls of the gallery. The plant becomes a sonic fetish, an
intermediary between the visitor and the nature of sound, a sound object.
The plant is surrounded by four infrared sensors which detect the presence of
objects around the plant. When a visitor approaches the plant, the motors stop,
the plant remains static and therefore silent : the sound fetish is destroyed, it is
unreachable.

-The space :

After a series of tests I arrived at the correct position for the speakers that allows
me to obtain a sound space that fits Blanchot’s description of space in the realm
of fascination. In addition to the four speakers placed close to the plant, four
other speakers are positioned close the walls, pointing at them. When the visitor
enters the space, he mostly hears reflections from the discreet nature sound
played through the speakers. When someone gets closer to the plant, the level of
this ambiance rises, the sensation of not being able to locate the sounds or
measuring the distances increases.
The distinct sounds of nature are progressively atomised through a granular
synthesis untill they become unrecognisable. At the same time, sounds of human
screams and sounds of pleasure are added to the synthesis.
The visitor does not really know where he is, the desire that attracted him to the
plant disappeared. Before he starts thinking about going away, the sounds of
human terror and pleasure paralyse him. Because they provoke direct, non
intellectual reactions, I believe these sounds are unescapable.
Max/MSP patch :

-Time’s abscence : natural sonification.

Sonification is the process of translating datas into sound. The information
sonified can either be a direct output of the system that has to be described (e.g
electrocardiogram : the electrical activity of the heart is sonified), an analogical
form of the system (e.g geiger counter : an electrical signal which depends on the
number of particles entering a gas tube is sonified) or a representation of the
system (digital datas). In each one of these cases, there is a discontinuity where
the information is translated into sounds : the datas control a sound generator,
they do not generate sound themselves.
In « Amazing grass », a plant is put in the gallery space. Photosynthesis depends
on light, composition of the air and water. The shape of the plant depends on
these parameters and evolves over time : the plant is a record of what has
happened in the environment. By rubbing the plant’s leaves against each other,
by scratching the surface of the leaves, I extract information about the space in a
sonic form. The sound evolves over time, depending on the number of leaves,
their shapes, their textures etc…
This process is a sonification in the sense that it is a sonic description of a
system.
This type of sonification doesn’t have any discontinuity as the matter itself is
used to produce sounds.
Before entering « Amazing Grass », the visitor is informed of the meaning carried
by the sounds he can hear. This contributes to the construction of the fetish by
investing the sound object with meaning.  At the same time, the visitor becomes
aware of how linked he is with the environment : for example, the amount of
carbon dioxyde – and therefore the shape of the plant – depends on the number of
visitors. The visitor is immersed in an interactive environment.
But the main reason why I elaborated this sonification is to work on the
perception of time. The sound extracted from the plant depends on everything
that happened in the past. At the same time, the plant evolves towards death
and information about the past is progressively lost. It is difficult to know where
in time the sounds we are listening to are located. It is difficult to say if there is
any present in « Amazing Grass » : a first attempt to describe Blanchot’s « time’s
absence ».
Fascination’s nature is uncertain and can not be perceived.
However, sound seems to be a remarkable tool to approach fascination without
« looking » at it, just like Orpheus could have attain Eurydice without having
looked  at her.
The question I now feel like asking is: « where is fascination ? »
In the 1970’s, a series of experiences suggested that plants react to human
thoughts. Measuring this reaction in « Amazing Grass », a passage to the realm
of fascination, could reveal information regarding where the mind goes when it is
fascinated.
Another idea is to study digitalised versions of environments : relieved from time
and space, they could reveal their fascinating essence.

Bibliography

BLANCHOT, M. 1982. the space of litterature. University of Nebraska Press

BONNET, F. 2007. Vers un fétichisme de l’écoute.ENSLL.

JOSHUA, C. 1952. Magic, Fascination, and suggeston. Taylor and Francis

LEFRANC T. 2008. Applications des systèmes de Lindenmeyer à la synthèse
sonore. ENSLL

HARRIS, O. 2003. Film Noir fascination : Outside History but Historically so.
University of Texas Press.

Filmography :

GREEN, W. 1979. The secret life of plants.

Discography :

DHOMONT F.1996 Forêt profonde.

Acknowledgement:

Everyone but in particular :

Laurent Bertin.

Simon Cacheux for his precious technical support.

François Bonnet.

Zoé Payne

Nacho Petitcollot

Who makes Anita Shake !

Amaury Arboun ,

Clément Douala-Diboti Quenum,

Antoine Bertin,

Listen to our tunes on Myspace and add us if you think we could be friends…

Installation sonore interactive le 12 juillet 2008 à la Saline Royale d’Arc et Senans.

Interactive sound installation on the 12th July 2008, Saline Royale d’Arc et Senans.

Des fleurs qui libèrent des sons quand on souffle dessus, une plante qui pousse chaque fois qu’on l’arrose, chuchoter à l’oreille d’un lapin et réveiller le jardin.

“Sound flowers”  that release sounds when you blow on them, a magic plant that grows everytime you give water to it, say the magic words to the rabbit and wake the garden up;

Réalisé par Yann Glica, Tiphanie Bouchara, Pierre Bompy et Antoine Bertin

Realised by Yann Glica, Tiphanie Bouchara, Pierre Bompy et Antoine Bertin

Le site d’Elektrophonie

Réalisation d’une bande son pour le site du photographe Philippe Cap.

Sound for photographer Philippe Cap’s website.

“Plongez sous l’eau” est une installation interactive proposée à la Ferme du Buisson pour son festival “Promenades, Jeux et Jardins” ( juin et juillet 2008 )

“Plongez sous l’eau”  is an interactive and site-specific installation realised at the Ferme du Buisson during the “Promenades, Jeux et Jardins” festival (June to July 2008)

Connaissez-vous l’arbre Ô !?!

Le Ô est un arbre surprenant qui pousse dans ces régions abritées du vent, où des pluies diluviennes laissent place à plusieurs mois de sécheresse totale, le Ô a su s’adapter.

A la saison humide, l’arbre se gorge complètement d’eau depuis les racines jusqu’à la cime.

Le Ô est un arbre généreux qui entend lorsqu’un animal en quête d’un point d’eau passe à côté de lui et qu’il gémit de soif. L’arbre déverse une pluie rafraîchissante de toutes ses feuilles. Mais le Ô est un arbre un peu sourd alors il faut crier fort !!!

Venez profiter de la douce pluie du premier Ô importé en région parisienne !!!

Un microphone omnidirectionel (électret), un circuit électronique (détection de seuil), une électrovanne et un système d’arrosage sont dissimulés dans un arbre. Lorsque qu’un niveau sonore suffisant est atteint (hurlements…), une pluie abondante se déverse sur le public.

Le seuil de niveau sonore à franchir est réglé de telle sorte qu’une personne seule ne puisse l’atteindre. Les visiteurs se rassemblent autour de l’arbre pour se rafraichir, crier et danser.

An omnidirectional microphone, a homemade electronic circuit (threshold),  an electrically controlled valve and a watering system are hidden in a tree. As soon as a sufficient sound level is reached (shouts…), rain starts to fall.

The sound level that he visitors needs to reach to trigger the rain is set high enough so that one person alone can’t activate the system. Visitors gather around the tree (the “O”), refresh, shout and dance.

Une idée d’Antoine Bertin

Electronique par Simon Cacheux

Réalisation Antoine Bertin et Simon Cacheux

“La sieste” est une installation réalisée pour la Ferme du Buisson à l’occasion du festival “Promenades, jeux et jardins” ( juin et juillet 2008 ). 6 enceintes ont été enterrées dans un carré d’herbe. Le visiteur s’allonge et se laisse bercer par le son qui viendra peupler ses rêves.

“La sieste” (The nap) is an installation realised for the festival “Promenades, jeux et jardins” (june and july 2008 ) at La Ferme du Buisson (Paris suburbs). 6 speakers were buried into the ground in a garden. Visitors are invited to sleep on the grass while sounds are infiltrating their dreams.

Tests

Allongez-vous dans l’herbe et soyez à l’écoute des bruits de la terre…

Plutôt grave ? Plutôt aigu ? Des cigales ? Des pinsons ? des koalas ? des hippocampes ? En France ? En Inde ? Au Japon ? Au Pôle Nord ? Où suis-je ? Suis-je en train de rêver ? Qu’ai-je entendu ?

Voici les questions à se poser, en s’allongeant, mais surtout en se réveillant d’une sieste dans ce carré d’herbe si particulier.

Une idée d’Antoine Bertin
Réalisation d’Antoine Bertin et Simon Cacheux

Lie down in the grass ans listen to the sounds of the earth.

Basses ? Trebles ? cicadas ? finches ? Koalas ? Seahorses ? In France ? India ? Japan ? The north pole ? Where am I ? Am I dreaming ? What did I hear ?

Antoine Bertin’s ideas, realised by Antoine Bertin and Simon Cacheux

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This interactive installation, realized by Thierry Coduys, is made up of an audio book that the visitor can touch and a screen that stands behind him.

The book : More than thirty symbols were drawn on the pages. An electromagnetic sensor is hidden behind every symbol, that turns into a sound you touch off by simply brushing over the book’s surface.

The screen : A painting by Vermeer (the Music Lesson) is displayed on a video screen positioned behind the book under which are hidden two infrared sensors. When a visitor gets near the book, he is filmed from behind by a web camera. Using an alpha layer, his image is projected on the screen where he finds himself going through the same motions as the person painted by Vermeer. I was asked by Thierry Coduys to take care of this part of the installation using Pure Data.

Cette installation interactive, réalisée par Thierry Coduys, consiste en un “livre sonore” que le visiteur peut toucher accompagné d’un écran surmonté d’une caméra placé dans son dos.

Le livre : Des symboles sont dessinés sur les pages. Un capteur à un induction est placé derrière chaque symbole. Des sons se déclenchent lorsque le visiteur approche ses mains près de la surface du livre.

L’écran : Derrière le visiteur se trouve un écran sur lequel un tableau de Vermeer ( La leçon de musique) est affiché en permanence. Deux capteurs infrarouge sont dissimulés près du livre. Lorsque le visiteur s’en approche, son image (filmée par la webcaméra placée au dessus de l’écran) apparait en transparence dans le tableau. Les personnes jouent du livre sonore aux côtés de la musicienne de Vermeer. J’ai réalisé cette partie de l’installation au moyen du logiciel PureData à la demande de Thierry Coduys .

Vermeer sur Wikipédia

La kitchen

From September to December 2007, sound students who chose the scenography optional course worked together on two sound installations.

K-Hole is an interactive installation the visitor of which discovers a strange and ironic world.
People walk about a house where objects resound without having being excited, where noises are trapped in the curtains, where space controls time.

Split is an installation in which the different members of a rock band ( the Midnight Vultures) play together though they are physically separated from each other, each one finding himself  in a different room of a house : the singer is screaming alone in the bathroom, the drummer is rehearsing in his garage. After walking about the place, the public  can listen to the mix on a stereo in the living room of the house.

K-Hole

Verre Interactif/Interactive Glass

I worked on the sonic glass that you saw in the video and that you may see on the picture below. In this part of the installation we made believe that objects do not need to be hit to resonate. Using granular synthesis, we fabricated sounds out of the noises a glass makes when it is manipulated.

A glass stands on a table. It is manipulated by the visitors.

A digital camera is used to track the motions of the glass.

Max/MSP analyzes the images so as to allow for sounds to be generated  when the glass is moving.

The sound the glass makes is spatialized through the room on 4 speakers depending on its position on the table.

Lit Interactif/Interactive bed

In K-Hole, sounds are turned into masses submitted to the gravity and viscosity of the environment.When the visitor shakes the bed sheets, he frees the breathings and the snorings that entrapped in the bed clothes during the night

Light sensors are hidden in the mattress.

A Max/MSP patch plays different snoring and animal sounds depending on which set of sensors is exposed to the light.

Le Jardin/The Garden

The visitors walk in the garden. Their movements control the unwinding of the video and the sounds associated with it.

10×4 meters screen

8 speakers

Infrared sensors

SPLIT

A small microphone is hidden in the singer’s hair.
She can hear all her musicians through headphones.
Her voice is sent into a mixing console so as to be combined with the other musicians’ instruments
The resulting concert can be heard in the living room.

K-Hole and Split by Dorian Blanc

Participation en tant qu’ingénieur du son au tournage d’une publicité pour Ralph Lauren réalisée par Wong Kar Waï.

Sound engineering for the shooting of a Ralph Lauren commercial realized by Wong Kar Waï.

Film et Making of