Les Kaléidophones is a collection of gigantic, imaginative artworks designed by the French composer Michel Risse. They are hidden among the rhododendrons and trees halfway between the Overtuin and Museum Belvédère. The works evoke obscure scientific instruments, sound-viewing devices, strange shell-shaped flowers, old gramophone horns, cornucopias, and satellite dishes. Together they form a world of their own in which you are free to wander.
More than a sound sculpture
Les Kaléidophones are inspired by the fantastical-looking acoustic “locators” that were designed during the interwar period to detect enemy aircraft. These sound sculptures significantly enhance our stereophonic perception and make it more selective. The soundscape can thus be scanned, cut, and framed. As a listener, you become aware of unexpected, poetic, and inexplicable details that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Acoustic kaleidoscope
Each work invites you to undergo a unique listening experience, as if through an acoustic magnifying glass. As you listen, you discover a world full of surprises, like an acoustic kaleidoscope: a “kaleidophone.” As you operate these objects with pull cables or aim them at the surrounding landscape, you become the painter of your own soundscape.
Performer
- Décor Sonore More information www.decorsonore.org
Additional credits
Artistic direction – Michel Risse
Technical direction – Renaud Biri
With Renaud Biri, Yoann Cottet, Cédric Lasne, Julien Pillet, Michel Risse and Sévane Sybesma
Costumes – Fabienne Desflèches
Artistic collaborations – Olivier Comte (Les Souffleurs – Commandos Poétiques), Françoise Guillaumond (cie La Baleine Cargo)
Each piece in this collection is an original work, jointly designed by the composer Michel Risse and a scenographic artist: Benoît Afnaïm (cie La Française de Comptages), Marc Anquetil (Ateliers Sud Side), Matthieu Audejean (Ateliers Sud Side), Vincent Brédif, Chloé Bucas & Amora Doris, Christophe Evette & Maurizio Moretti (cie Les Grandes Personnes), Michel Lagarde & Eloi Miehe, Valentin Monnin (cie La Rue de la Casse), Philippe Moutte (Ateliers Sud Side), Claude Nessi
