Sonic paper | living pigments (2021)

MUSEUM INSTALLATION    

MATERIALS

Paper, natural powder pigments, transducers, distributed speaker array

Papier Sonore | Pigments Vivants was commissioned by the Museum of History and Art (MahN) in Neuchâtel and the Museum of Cultures (MUSEC) in Lugano for the exhibition Sur Papier. It was created in collaboration with computer music designer Augustin Muller.

Living pigments - paints that have been consumed by bacteria and fungi - generate living artworks. They represent a unique kinship between colour and movement as a living organism.

In this installation, we consider living pigments as a metaphor for the ancient relationship between material, vibration, and gesture. Our sonic canvas consists of two frequency ranges: one within human hearing, and one below. The pigments are used to invert this relationship: the inaudible vibrations animate the material resting on the canvas, while the audible sounds remain hidden underneath its surface. In this sense, walking through the installation is like walking through a garden: it is a web of sonic roots, whose shoots are pulsations that display subtle movements of colour.  

The specially commissioned book Sur Papier. Su Carta (published by Scheidegger und Spiess AG, Verlag) accompanies the exhibition. It includes an article by musician and scholar Madison Greenstone, titled Space, Time, Surface, Perspective about the installation.

FIRST SHOWING

Museum of History and Art (MahN), Neuchâtel, Switzerland, May 5 - September 30 2021.

OTHER SHOWINGS

Museum of Cultures (MUSEC), Lugano, Switzerland, October 28 - March 20, 2021.