je mets mon scaphandre

je mets mon scaphandre is a new immersive work for hyper-amplified bassoon, ambisonics, and sound-reactive lighting. The piece's vibrant and ever-changing soundscape draws on feminist theory of the ‘leaky body,’ which invites us to view the human body as fluid and amorphous. Here, the inherent spatiality and leaky, unstable nature of the bassoon are brought into dialogue with this theory, amplified and translated through sound and light.

As with a leaky body, the physical boundaries of the bassoon dissolve: sound is recorded internally, on the surface of the instrument, and externally with three specially placed microphones, whose signals constantly cross over one another. The piece explores the crossing of boundaries and plays with how sound and air escape from the instrument, highlighting the resulting effects of these overlapping signals on sound distribution and sound-reactive light. This creates new events each time, influenced by the space, the acoustics and the audience.

The electronics amplify the smallest details in volume and dimension, with the sound spreading throughout the entire space. At the same time, a ‘light organism’ glows, growing directly out of the sound material. All three elements – performance, sound and light – constantly influence each other, and at certain points in the work, through playing musical ‘Games’, the performer decides how the piece will continue.

The flexible structure of the work allows the audience to have space to reflect on the relationship between their own bodies, the space and the people around them. The result is a work and an experience that is unique to each situation, space and circumstance.