I Inhale the Air That a Machine ExhaleS
Year: 2024
Format: Composition for architectural instrument.
Curation: Marie du Chastel
Collaborators: Former local miners and local athletes
Exhibited at: 9-9bis, Lille (France)
An Architectural composition where recordings of human breath and recordings of AIR circulation in decommissioned mineshafts are woven into reflections on efforT, PAIN, and resilience.
In dialogue with a former coal mine now art museum, the creation explores the interactions between the experiences of the inhabitants of the mining basin and their breath.
The work is based on a database made of audio recordings collected locally by the artist: the breaths of former miners affected by silicosis, the breaths of local athletes, as well as air samples collected in and around the mining site, which has since become the 99bis museum.
Using Ai algorithms to create new hybrid texture of breath, dust and air, the score is composed specifically for the Metaphone, a sound system of architectural proportion which activates the museum building like a skin. The score is thought of an aerial chimera of workers, athletes and mines. It is heard outdoors, on a multichannel system which activates the metal structure of the museum through vibration.
