Métamorphoses is a multiphonic sound installation inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the world of the Rhône River.
Since 2018, Julie Rousse has been traveling the Rhône with her multitude of sensors (microphones, hydrophones, piezoelectric or seismographs) from the eponymous Glacier where it rises in Switzerland, to its mouth at the Camargue Delta, where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
The composer immerses listeners in the symphonic fresco of the Rhône biotope, inviting them to enter into the experience: to listen to, see and experience the river as a living entity, personified without being anthropomorphic: Rhône - presented as a complexly interwoven, organic, hybrid and sculptural multitude of sounds - taking on a voice, a body.
In this multiphonic installation, a pervasive and generative work that changes according to the data it receives in real time, the different strata of sounds recorded on the Rhône are superimposed, intermingled and responded to. In the electroacoustic compositions, pure field-recordings, experimental recordings and spoken word, the electronic ripples of water, wind and life meet.
DEVICE
Métamorphoses is a multiphonic sound installation, comprising a tunnel of 16.2 loudspeakers and a digital playback system generated by real-time data reception, following the scenario of a graphic score designed by the artist.
This electroacoustic work is designed to be played in an ideally large, subdued, enclosed or isolated space. The compositions played change according to the geographical location where it is installed, the weather conditions and the time of day. It can be adapted to different sizes of performance space.
The sound system was designed by Martin Saëz, sound engineer and computer music producer. The lighting design is by Camille Mauplot. It animates the diffusion space in light according to the score's scenario, revealing the progressive changes in the color of the river's water.
Executive productions
GMEM - Centre national de création musicale
Coproduction
Bipolar
Support
La Sacem, support for commissioning and producing a music concert 2023; Drac, support for writing an original musical work 2023; Maison de la Musique Contemporaine
Support
Ferme-Asile, Centre Artistique et Culturel (Sion - Switzerland) ; Canton de Valais (Switzerland)
Acknowledgements
Zürich School of Hydrology and Geology ; Amandine Sargeant ; Christophe Ogier ; Muriel Borgeat ; Luce Moreau ; Pierre-Alain Oggier ; Dominik Graëff ; Cyril Laucournet ; Florent et Nesta Kolandjian ; Mathieu Argaud ; Christian Sebille ; Radio Grenouille
Born in 1979 in Paris, lives and works in Marseille.
A passionate phonographer, Julie Rousse is always on the lookout for new sounds from the field, which she records with traditional or experimental sound capture systems, in selected and particular urban, natural or industrial contexts around the world.
Julie Rousse
design, sound recording, composition and sound creation
Martin Saez
broadcast and spatialization engineering
Camille Mauplot
lighting design
EN 2023
Thu. May 4 - Sun. 14, 2023 - Festival Propagations, Studio MOD, Marseille (13)