ICEBERGS | Garden of Les Dominicains of Haute-Alsace
The “Icebergs” project is an exploration, a new way of perceiving and living music through an 8 hidden speakers installation in the Garden of Les Dominicains de Haute Alsace, each speaker broadcasting its own channel. Either walking or quietly sitting down in any part of the garden, one will be immersed in a wide-spread acoustic experience, far from our usual stereo / frontal approach. This 50 minutes vegetal infused musical work develops a game of harmonies, as a question / answer type of rebound, at times imperceptible, playful, sometimes introspective.
The music de-composition and re-structuration is based upon 4 works by Dutch composer Martin Van Rossum aka Martin Nonstatic, “Albedo Effect / Granite / Liquid Air / Out Of Silence” published by Bine Music and Ultimae. Each individual sound was separated and put aside to create wide-spread brand new remixes with one purpose in mind : redefine the harmonious focus and plant its seeds in the Garden.
A research on the theme of liquids operates to bind the diverse mixed chapters. Special microphones (hydrophones) were placed in the well of the convent to seize the liquid soul of the places. Personal recordings of diverse seas and beaches were filtered and slowed down to create the illusion of glaciers slowly colliding. Some sequences extracted from Arctic documentaries were also used. Being very attentive, one could even hear storks slamming their beaks during a lunch break on the ice floe: a purely Alsacian wink to these icy lands! Hopefully this installation will play your senses – in this redefined space and on-ice time.
Vincent Villuis | May 2016