Case Study
Music is a trajectory from/to the heart.
In our southern practices, there is one thing that will never be possible : produce music without emotions. In a song, half of the emotion comes from the instrumental. The links between the voice and the instrumental are the special guests of my research.
Main case study : Mediterraneon
As opposed to its pendant medi-terra-neant (medi terra nothingness), Mediterraneon aims to put to light the plurality of live forms in the Mediterranean area, giving birth to a new experimental genre of music. Collective investigations with artists, institutions and specialists helped constitute a growing digital datapool, supported by several tools and expertises.
The field/digital research aims to listen to landscapes specificities through new technologies, gather data, to convey the positive coexistence of a plurality of values that have always existed in the Mediterranean areas. It is an ongoing quest for listening.
From the many benefits of music, one is constantly undermined : its active learning abilities. Maybe I would not be participating to this call without resilient memories of the voices of MF Doom or Archie Shepp.
I would engage the revolution concept in its iteration sense. Repetition is the core breath of music. Every new cycle is a new intent to push our boundaries forward. Sadly, people often prefer to listen to a track they already know. But as Miles Davis once said : " there are no wrong notes in jazz, only notes in the wrong places."
My Mediterranean origins have brought me to Marseille, where part of my family lived, coming from small villages from southern France and Spain. Our musical history has been notably shaped by the millenary music and writing heritage of the troubadours. This heritage itself is the reflect from an everlasting porosity between southern french and arabo-andalousian music.
From Guillaume de Poitiers to the rapper Jul, there still exists a discrete history of undercommons, an alternative zone, where the widest range of cultures have always been vibing together.
I utterly believe that abstract narrative music frees nodes of the subconscious, to enhance the conscious. When we produce local narratives with electronic music, we support timeless mythologies with futuristic tools.
The Mediterraneon case study is notably guided by the following collaborative projects :
1. Sonài
Sonài is a cross-mediterranean entity composed by Niccolo Moronato and myself, in collaboration with the team of the Obbedisco, a 30-meters fishboat located in Chioggia, Italy, Venice region. In a documentary process, Sonài gathered images, videos, interviews and data extracted from the fishboat. Acting primarily as a search-band, we developed the prototype of protoype system to transform imagery from Furuno FCV 1000 radars into soundwaves.
A first translation of the matter densities of the Sea into processed sound synthesis.
Sonài presented its first public A/V installation aboard the Obbedisco during Bogiaisso Festival 2023 in Chioggia.
2. b r e a t h i n g
We teamed up with Liam Warren and RIFT association for the co-creation of “b r e a t h i n g”, a choreographic piece, throughout a series of residencies, notably at the GMEM in Marseille, the CND (National Center for Dancing, Paris), the CCNR-Lyon, the 3bisF, and Leña Stay, Canada, for a premiere at Parallèle Festival 2023 in Marseille.
Along with a sound programming director, we developed a custom
live program to allow me to simultaneously record, mix and compose live cycles of respiration from the dancer.
b r e a t h i n g gave birth to a series of workshops led since early 2023, in convention with the Villa Floréal Health Center & the 3bisF Art Center, for patients suffering from drug addiction.
The workshop is a mix of live ambient/binaural soundscapes and active breathing exercises, to experiment their own body through breath and develop their own defense tools against addiction.
3. Aquatic invasion
Led by artist and searcher Josèfa Ntjam, Aquatic Invasion is an artist collective engaged in the production of films at the crossroads of contemporary arts and experimental cinema, with a special consideration in encounters, hybrid technics of animated frames, blending genealogies of stories to anchor memories in nowness.
“ In Aquatic Invasion, Josèfa Ntjam deploys mythological, political and artistic elements associated with water and its cult. The figures evoked – from the goddess Mami Wata to techno music duo Drecxiya, from the “boatless” of Ancient Egypt to the water spirits of Central Africa – will emerge from the depths to stir their fictions. The artist and her collaborators will reinvent these tales of the deep, recombining them in a way that speaks to today, through poetry, sound, dance and image.
Aquatic Invasion becomes, then, a rising tide borne forward by the energy of words and bodies, an apocalyptic flood coursing over the surface of our worlds, the darkness risen from the deep.”
In our latest collaboration in “Swell of Spaecies” at LAS Pavilion, (collateral event at the 2024 Venice Biennale), we produced the Membrane, a vibrating sound sculpture with multi-layered soundwaves. It is the spark of future inventions.
4. Le son du vivant
At the splitting roots of cultural practices and scientific studies, le son du vivant explores our connections to the forest while creating spaces for reflection and exchanges between scientific committees/artistic applications, wildlife/public. Highly focused on sensitive reactions, the project led to several custom installations, notably in the rich forest ecosystems of La Réunion Island, in the Indian Ocean. First installations took place in the botanic gardens of Saint-Leu, during Kromali Festival in 2022 and for the Nuit des Forêts, in the Maido.
While establishing graphics from the speed circulation of the sap from trees and gathering data banks from the sound of local animals, rhythms and frequencies are developed to match the cycles of organic environments. The studies led to a series of poetic texts brought to the ear to the public in 6.0 immersive sound installations and performances.
Along with searcher Leslie Ranzoni, we led a one-year long study mandated by the DRAC PACA and the Baronnies Provençales Regional Park to develop a durable artistic walk
in the forest, including acoustic and sensorial objects designed with local materials, accessible both in a digital and totally electronics free version. The study involved collaborations with architects, the Baronnies Provençales Astronomic Center, local structures and craftsmen. Tools and programming include sound, design programs, A.I. and
local matter extracts.
These collaborators notably constitute a part of the scientific council for editing.world.grid. initiatives.
The data and music developed with these collaborations allow to develop an elemental overview of Mediterraneon music through the study of water (Aquatic Invasion, Sonài), air (b r e a t h i n g) and earth (Le son du vivant).
Conceptual framework
To what extent can fractal music support alternative stories, facilitate intercultural understanding ?
[quote]
"It seems appropriate to develop a more transversal conception of subjectivity, which would allow us to understand both its idiosyncratic and localized couplings (Existential Territories) and its openness to systems of values (Incorporeal Universes), along with their social and cultural implications."
Felix Guattari in “Chaosmosis”
Purpose: To explore the relationship between sound and understanding.
Scope: This framework will cover various dimensions through which sound can influence cognitive processes, emotional states, and communication efficacy, while supporting Mediterranean voices/musics.
2. Core Concepts
2.1 Fractal Music : Includes any auditory input such as music, speech, environmental sounds, data translations, and artificial auditory signals.
[quote]
"It should be considered that, broadly speaking, techno is technological. It is a way of making music with a futuristic character: something that has never been done before."
Juan Atkins
2.2 Understanding: Refers to cognitive comprehension, emotional perception, and clarity.
[quote]
“Awareness of our own blindness, which we must rely on to uncover that of others, must be at the heart of a new epistemological stance that calls for a plurality of knowledge and practices.” Boaventura de Sousa Santos, “Epistemologies of the South”
3. Dimensions
Cognitive Processes
Attention and Focus
Role of sound in maintaining attention or meditative states
Background musics effect on enhancing comprehension.
Memory and Recall
How auditory cues aid in memory retention.
Use of mnemonic devices repetition.
Recollection of cultural sounds about to disappear as we know them
Learning and Comprehension
Impact of sound in educational settings versus promotional/authoritarian content
Audio materials depending on textual/visual specificities.
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Emotional and Psychological Impact
Mood Regulation
Binaural music and sound therapy.
Emotional state modulation through sound.
Stress and Relaxation
The impact of listening to nature
White noise and meditative soundscapes
Sound's role in reducing anxiety and stress.
Creativity
stimulate the imaginary
Impact on recalling dreams
digest and anchor informations
Communication
Speech and Language
Clarity and comprehension of spoken language.
Use of tone, pitch, and volume in effective communication.
Non-verbal Cues
Understanding through auditory non-verbal cues like sighs, laughs, and pauses, tonalities, accents, and cultural soundscapes (ex: the sounds of boats clinging under the wind)
Interpersonal Understanding
developing common signature sounds to develop friendships, enhancing empathy and emotional connections.
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4. Mediating Factors
Individual Differences
Age, hearing ability, cognitive capacity.
Personal preferences and cultural background.
Contextual Factors
Environment (quiet vs. noisy settings).
Purpose (dancing, narrative, educational, therapeutic).
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5. Potential Outcomes
Enhanced Learning: Improved retention and comprehension in educational contexts.
Emotional Well-being: Better mood regulation and reduced stress.
Effective Communication: Increased clarity and empathetic understanding in interpersonal interactions.
6. Research
Quantitative Studies
Experimental designs measuring imaginaries and perception with/without sound.
Qualitative Studies
Interviews and workshops focusing on personal experiences with sound.
Case studies in therapeutic contexts.
7. Applications
Education: Incorporating auditory materials to enhance learning.
Healthcare: Sound therapy for mental health treatments.
Workplace: Designing soundscapes to boost productivity and well-being.
Personal Development: Using sound for relaxation and mindfulness practices.
Cultural Recognition and Counter-narratives.
8. Conclusion
Summarize the multi-faceted role of sound in facilitating understanding.
Emphasize the importance of context and individual differences.
Suggest directions for future research to explore uncharted fractal areas.
This framework is a first intent to provide a structured approach to the invisible, to examine how auditory elements can support cognitive and emotional processes, enhancing overall comprehension and communication.
Model
My artistic process is focused on translating the expanding media library of editingworldgrid into interactive soundscapes, containing data, field recordings, rhythm patterns, colors, frequencies and textures. The monstration of the ongoing work include films, performances, A/V installations, sound sculptures, choreographies, writings and workshops.
My intention is to develop and apply my research on fractal music, gratefully inspired by jazz and techno philosophies, while taking in consideration my own cultural constraints.
This large scale process implies to be active within a collective intelligence, and the INTELLIGENCE-LOVE-REVOLUTION program feels like a beautiful fit. I also work with several experts from a diversity of fields related to nature and culture, working through hybridations of poetic-science and artistic technologies.
The process is carried by passion for music, curiosity, solidarity and respect for oral cultures.
The following step would be to put things to order and work on the databank to create a variety of tools to channels Mediterranean counter-narratives, anchored in natural considerations, local mythologies and specificities.
For a long time, I avoided the use of AI, to focus on the potential of the modern human/cyborg as a Next Gen Organico Emotional Intelligence (NGOEI).
But, with the massive development of AI technologies today, a new consideration was added to search for new ways in AI training, to re-consider constraints, help respect cultural specificities and avoid further anthropo/ethno/eurocentricities.
An attempt to prevent industrial AIs to drain local music from essence and emotions.
Mediterraneon will ultimately be an A/V immersive soundscape, mixing cymatic visualizers of live music with data gathered from local environments, as an intent to emphasize the possibilities of understanding through music.
In plain words, I need support for this ample task. The locality of Marseille carries its difficulties. It is certainly not the best institutional ground for art science research, but it is for nature, vitamin D and cultures.
I would love to work on the development of a clearer model, write, learn and explore along that process, dive into the Posthuman Art Network and exchange with other searchers, to merge with the beautiful and necessary effort of the INTELLIGENCE-LOVE-REVOLUTION program.
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