Video here

Stage 1: [SYS*10. MeE/SoS\BoS]

Starting points: the sound, the loop and the vinyl record. There is a matrix composed of four vinyl records on which sounds from machines and samples have been etched in a loop. Four Tecnics Mk2 1200 sl players are installed with a mixing table so that the public can arrange the sounds from the four records at the same time. The sounds can continue to play endlessly over and over again since they are part of a loop. The system is autonomous since it can continue to operate without any outside intervention. A « pitch » on the turntable makes it possible to modify the rotation speed of the records. The sound from the four records is composed through a play on time and speed in a chaotic process. Hence the public will be part of an attempt to organise a system that operates continuously.

Stage 2: [SYS*11. Mie>AbE/SoS\ ][SYS*10. MeE/SoS\BoS][]

Utilisation of a vinyl record etching machine. It is used for test pressing (individual records that have a lifetime of 30 plays on average). Once the sound has been composed, the « DJ-public » can etch the sound on a blank vinyl record. Unlike the initial matrixes that are made up of sounds in a loop, the new etched records are made up of spiral sound, in other words a sound with a beginning and an end. They can no longer go on playing continuously and have to repeatedly be put back to the beginning. If left to its own devices, the system comes to a standstill. Its autonomy goes hand in hand with human intervention and therefore implies the necessity of a continuous performance. Its lifetime merely serves to accentuate this necessity. We switch from separate sounds to a “piece” that exists physically and is instantly available. This new sound arrangement or piece that is etched on a vinyl record serves in turn as a matrix. Hence, arrangement and production are necessary in order for the sound to last. An accumulation of successive layers leads in turn to a new sound. It is a sample of a sample pushed to extreme limits, using the analogue archaic side of vinyl records. It is mechanical sound, a machine sample. Human is a vital tool for this mirror structure and the etching machine changes from a tool into an instrument. Sounds in a loop, infinite>mix>production>spiral sound, finished>remix…

Stage 3: ][SYS*11. Mie>AbE/SoS\ ][SYS*10. MeE/SoS\BoS][][

As the brackets indicate, there is a closed system that tends to mirror the sound and transform the tool into a instrument of which human is a part. Free access to the mixing table means that those who want to can come and etch the compositions that they have put together outside the site and take them away with them. The etching machine once again becomes a simple tool and human an instrument.

In French

 2016   The Spiral, Carriageworks, Sydney

             Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania

 2007   The Long Week-End, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London 

2006   UBÏQ : A Mental Odyssey, RedCat Theater, Los Angeles, CA, USA

           Esquiador en el fondo de un pozo, Jumex collection, Mexico City, Mexico

2005   Singuliers, Guangdong Museum of Art, China

2004   Reactivity, ICC, Tokyo, Japan

            Derrière le Monde Flottant, M.A.C, Lyon, France

 2003   Our mutual friend, Bloomberg Space, Londres, UK

 2002   Sonic-Process, Macba, Barcelone, Spain

             Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France