Traductions – Translations

A Multidisciplinary Music-Art Project - percussionist on canvas

Traductions Translations

Traductions or Translations is a multidisciplinary art project that integrates and simultaneously translates music, visual art, and gesture to create a unique performance and installation. This project challenges the traditional boundaries between these disciplines, resulting in a captivating and thought-provoking experience.

The Performance on the Canvas:

At the heart of the project is a wooden canvas that has been transformed into a musical instrument equipped with contact microphones that pick up even the slightest of touches. The audio signals are manipulated through electroacoustic transformations using a Max/MSP patch. These transformations can be subtle, such as altering the timbre or space, or they can completely transform the acoustic sounds into granulated sounds, noise, water sounds, and more. A musician plays the canvas following a score developed over three years by composer Ofer Pelz. The score allows any musician to perform the piece with detailed instructions on how, where, and when to perform certain gestures, and with which instruments, such as hands, brushes, and spatulas.

The Translation Process:

The sounds produced by the canvas are transformed into visual art through the use of color in a cycle of simultaneous and continuous translations. This recurring process inspired the visual and musical elements, even during the composition phase itself. For most of the performance, white on white(ish) hues are used to allow the audience to focus on the visual and sonic experiences, thus facilitating a perceptual transition between the two.

The Creative Team:

The project is a collaboration between a creative team including Ofer Pelz (concept, artistic direction, composition, and interpretation), Rémi Hermoso (video documentation), Brice Gatinet (technical and musical assistance), Takuto Fukuda (electronic patch assistance), and Miri Chekhanovich, Dominique Fortin, and Irith Pelz (artistic advice).

The Experience:

Traductions is a hybrid of performance and installation that will appeal to anyone interested in experimental and multidisciplinary art forms, especially contemporary and experimental music, as well as visual art performances. It will also attract audiences fascinated by the creative process of visual art and music. Over the course of the 90-minute performance, spectators gain insight into the making of art over time, which includes not only creation but also destruction and reconstruction. This reveals, in some sense, the behind-the-scenes of the artistic process.

Traductions or Translations is an immersive and challenging artistic project that offers a unique insight into the creative process and the possibilities of multidisciplinary collaboration.