EIM 2019 / PSI - AUGMENTED SOUND PATHS / MYRIAM BLEAU / SILENT FICTIONS

MYRIAM BLEAU
27.07.2019

Opening reception : Saturday, July 27, 2019 ‑ 17h

Silent Fictions is a sound work that unfolds like an augmented reality piece that we discover through our progression in space. Our position, direction or speed of movement induce the level of complexity of the work and the content of its different “musical” components. The elements of the sound composition are geolocated, dispersed in space, which allows the participant to unveil and generate a musical piece in a spatial rather than temporal progression. The work is structured in such a way as to move us from one concentric circle of sound to another, interposing – through sound – self-reflexive content on the “fuzzy” nature of digital sound technologies in relation to the “reality” that surrounds us. It is also about highlighting the contrast between our perception of the digital versus that of our immediate environment.

Evolving in a given space, but whose limits are more or less determined, we find ourselves in a form of conceptual mise en abyme where what is experienced is somehow stated in real time. Real and virtual worlds are put in question: constantly superimposed, they infiltrate us daily as much as we cross them. This interrelation creates a form of recursive influence between us and our environment: Silent Fictions explores its limits. Are we able to recognize the contours of a space and perceive its porosity? What do sound and space tell us about our relationship to reality?

//voice credit: Erin Gee//


PSI – Augmented Sound Paths

For the 5th edition of EIM 2019, two artists have been invited to create interactive sound trails. These are audio experiences anchored in the real world. Tools from video games – Unity and Wwise – have been used to create a virtual world parallel to ours in which the artists have composed, arranged and installed sound sources that react to the actions and movement of the walker. The walker installs a mobile application on his “smart” phone (Android or iPhone) that mainly uses geolocation, as well as some sensors native to this type of device, to explore and interact with the different rooms.
In resonance with our ultra-connected realities, this series of sound journeys proposes three experiences that each reflect a different perspective on the notions of presence, space-time and connectivity. Wherever we are physically, aren’t we also always somewhere else – be it by thought alone or through our multiple digital presences? What imprints – real and virtual – does our presence in the world leave? By what subterranean mechanics do our slightest gestures and movements inscribe the wakes of reality?
It is by relying on the notion of “monitoring” exercised by our devices, which capture at all times our locations, our speed, the recurrence of our journeys, the places we visit and even our unique wandering identities, and the issues raised by these problems, that the artists have been invited to create these sound journeys.

Google Play version / EIM Sound routes:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Sporobole.IMMediaParcoursSonore

App Store / EIM version Sound Tours :
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/eim-parcours-sonores/id1470674979

The mobile application, as well as headphones, are required to experience the sound trails.
The application must be downloaded via WIFI before arriving at the sites — please note that open WIFI access is available at Sporobole.

Myriam Bleau (QC-CA) – Silent Fictions (2019) – Sporobole; parking on Wellington; Strathcona Park; up the hill towards Rue du Palais; behind St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Steve Heimbecker (QC-CA) – SCAMP (2019) – Lac des Nations; parking is at the Marché de la Gare de Sherbrooke on Place de la Gare. To listen with SCAMP you can follow the Lac des Nations trail by walking, running or biking!