Juliette Somnolet offers us an immersive dive into the Seine. Giant ropes covered in ceramic sheaths echo the river's plants.
The installation is part of the artist's approach to developing a positive energy practice: recovered fabrics, cooking at very low temperatures with the aim of minimal impact on the environment. The soundscape is composed by Laura Hemus and comes from hydrophone recordings in the Seine.
The contrast between peaceful aquatic life and noise pollution is revealed here.
You will find here Laura Hemus's sound performance.
Laura Hemus is a musician, vocalist and field recording enthusiast, producing as ACOM (A Choir Of Me). Using alternative microphones, her music magnifies sounds existing in the real world, but inaccessible to the naked human ear.
Simultaneously, she records ordinary objects and her own voice, applying experimental processing to simulate unique, unordinary sounds.
The soundscape accompanying Juliette Somnolet’s sculpture is composed entirely of hydrophone (underwater microphone) recordings of the Seine. At 1500m/second, sound travels 4x faster in water than in air: sound is heard from far away, long before its source may be visually identified.
The soundscape highlights often harsh levels of noise pollution that aquatic life, much as land-based wildlife, live with due to human activity and technology. With boats, bridge movements, land traffic and the metro constantly producing vibrations, barely a quiet moment exists in the river.
Instagram: @achoirofme
Soundcloud: achoirofme