Catherine Bechard & Sabin Hudon - Quebec, Canada
Undertones: Imprivent, Nuts (2002)



1- Imprivent
Media: Maple, aluminum, steel, electronic circuit, motor, microphone, amplifier, speaker, motion detector, photo, steel base.

2- Nuts
Media: Padouk, maple, nuts, steel, brass, cogwheels, electronic circuit, step motor, piezo, motion detector, amplifier, speaker, steel base.

Undertones and fleeting impressions of the ordinary, sound metaphors of natural spaces, these automated constructions create a sound environment that is sometimes turbulent, wild and disturbing, sometimes seductive, amusing and transporting. They extend an invitation to saunter freely, to linger, and to let oneself become infused with them. This orchestra of automatic mechanisms makes for an exploration of sound with endless variation. The sound patterns fluctuate as a function of the interaction with the audience, which makes for a completely unpredictable sound environment. We want to present a sound production that will broaden the visitors’ horizons and modes of perception: a meeting between the here and the elsewhere, a route along the paths of memory, through dreams of exploration, and above all to a door that opens on the contemplation of sound.

Catherine Béchard was born in Sept-Iles, Quebec in 1962. She studied the art of jewelry and since 1994 her work has been seen across Canada as well as on the international scene: Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Baltimore, New Jersey, Chicago, New York, Paris and Santa Monica.

Since 1997 she has received numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Québec Council for Arts and Letters. Since 1998, her interests and career have shifted toward sound, multimedia and interactivity.

Sabin Hudon was born in Lesage, Quebec in 1964. As a professional saxophonist, he has recorded albums with such groups as Miriodor, Papaboa, Amours délices et larmes et Acoustik Bleuenotes. He has collaborated as a sound designer for several theater, dance and video productions and has also designed sound for the multidisciplinary shows by Marcelle Hudon (Les portraits de la renarde, 1998; Allias Jean XXIII, 1997). He has made a name for himself in broadcast video production as a sound designer and sound editor.

Their common passions for sound and noises of all types has inspired their investigation into the conception of sonorous sculpture-objects, from the noise box to the fully automated sound object. In their work, they try to excite our sound perceptions, to create playful and disturbing microcosms of larger life events, and to establish a relationship between life and art.

Undertones was first presented at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur, in Montréal, in Spring, 2002.

Catherine Bechard and Sabin Hudon’s participation is made possible with support from The Council of Arts and Letters of Quebec.

osa.sat.qc.ca

 

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