Saturday, March 2nd, ISSUE is thrilled to present the debut U.S. performance from pioneering French composer Christine Groult. A major figure in the development of musique concrète in France, Groult remains an underrepresented voice despite her significant contributions to the field of electroacoustic music. An incredibly rare opportunity to witness Groult’s compositions, the evening also features experimental sacred music duo ARIADNE, employing handmade digital instruments and real-time interactive digital projections to perform their latest a/v album Stabat Mater.
Born in the fifties, Christine Groult is one of the few female composers of her generation who studied and worked with Pierre Schaeffer, originator of musique concrète and acousmatic music. Also a composer of music for radio, theater, choreography and documentaries, Groult’s work searches for poetic and expressive possibilities that allow for the development of musical “scenographies,” a self-invented concept that attempts to establish new imaginary spaces through acoustic transmission. A frequent collaborator of Beatriz Ferreyra, who gave her US debut at ISSUE in February, 2018, Groult manipulates sound through various degrees of transformation, but also voluntarily allows many to remain recognizable in order to bring to the fore the symbol that they represent as a kind of search for “sonic dramaturgy.” In her work, elements from our everyday world -- sociological, historical, geographical and architectural -- are brought together to establish another reality, as if “the visible was a testimony of the Invisible that contains it,” as she described in correspondence with researcher Ana Dall'Ara-Majek.
For personal reasons, Christine Groult has not been able to travel to the United States. Christine has requested that her close friend, collaborator, and student Dominique Deyris - who has flown from Paris - present her work in her stead. Deyris is a composer, percussionist, and improviser who has studied closely with Christine for many years.
With Christine's guidance, she will be performing "A chaque fois qu’une étoile explose…" (2018), "Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura" (2018), and "La condition captive" (2003) for the first time in the United States.
ARIADNE also performs their a/v album Stabat Mater, which was released on Auris Apothecary in October of 2017 for interactive webGL, cassette, and digital download. Stabat Mater is a 20 movement cycle of audio/visual ecstatic visions, and is heavily inspired by the visions of female Christian mystics Hildegard von Bingen and Teresa of Ávila. The a/v performance version of Stabat Mater features unreleased webGL based visuals from the album reacting in real-time to the performance as well as a brand new performance system based on handbuilt digital instruments designed by ARIADNE. Interested in making the performance of electronic music as expressive and intuitive to understand as watching a string quartet, ARIADNE utilizes electroacoustic processing, machine learning and motion tracking with depth sensors and Arduino-based orientation sensors to achieve a sensitivity and expressiveness similar to that of traditional acoustic instruments.
Christine Groult has studied at the GRM (directed Pierre Schaeffer), at the Experimental Conservatory of Pantin (directed by Michel Decoust), and at the Sorbonne in the department of musicology. From 1976 to 1986, she was an assistant in the department of pedagogy at Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music under the direction of Pierre Boulez. From 1985 to 1990 she was responsible for the electroacoustical studio of the National Music School in Chalon-sur-Saône. In 1989, she passed her CA (Certificat d’Aptitude) in electroacoustical music. Since 1990 she has taught electroacoustic composition at the National Music School of Pantin. In 2002, she founded the association “Music in situ,” the mission of which is the proposition of “scenographies.” Her works include La condition captive (2003); Canal instantané (2004) composed with Marco Marini; Si je les écoutais... (2007), premiered at Radio France during Multiphonies Festival; Nahash et Duo (2011-2014) composed with Beatriz Ferreyra, commission of Ina-Grm, premiered at Gaîté lyrique (2011), at Dynamo (2013) and at 104 in Paris (2014); À la pointe de l'instant (2016), commissioned by the festival Turbulences sonores of Montpellier.
ARIADNE is an experimental sacred music and new media art duo whose work explores the intersection of mysticism, dream analysis and the failure of digital systems through a synthesis of music performance, digital and interactive art, poetry and dramatic experience. Much of ARIADNE’s output consists of interactive a/v performances which employ custom built hardware and software, real-time 3D animation, and machine learning to create immersive and captivating experiences. ARIADNE’s body of work includes feature-length audio/visual albums, web-based virtual reality, and a/v installations. ARIADNE’s work has been presented at National Sawdust Summer Labs Residency, Brooklyn; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge; CURRENTS New Media Festival, Sante Fe; Ende Tymes Festival, Brooklyn; Lafayette Electronic Arts Festival, Colorado; Garner Arts Autumn Electronic Festival, Garnerville; Into the Aether Festival, Maine; Confetti Machine Festival, Brooklyn; Made in NY Media Center by IFP, Brooklyn; Elastic Arts, Chicago; Gamut Gallery, Minneapolis; Big Pictures Los Angeles; B4bel4b Gallery, Oakland; Harvestworks, New York; Reverse Gallery, New York; Superchief Gallery, Brooklyn; among others. Visiting Artist experience includes School of the Art Institute of Chicago; University of Utah College of Fine Arts; University of Denver Emergent Digital Practices; Prichard Art Gallery – University of Idaho. ARIADNE is Christine Papania (voice, electronics) and Benjamin Forest (electronics).
