IN/ÉV

INVASION / ÉVACUATION has been conceived by two young French curators (Iris Lafon/Coralie Dupinet) and will be performed and recorded by two Belgian musicians (Valérie Leclercq / Frederic Ameel).

INVASION / ÉVACUATION is an original musical piece that takes as a starting point the sound and structure of museum fire alarms.
Played through speakers, it is designed to disrupt (invade) the eco-system of the exhibitional space and of its specific routines.
In a usual museal environment, numerous material and human realities (equipment, guardsmen…) tend to fade away to allow the unhindered celebration of the encounter between the spectators and the works of art.
Unaffected by this rule of discretion, the bright red fire extinguishers or the self-luminous exit signs hint at an alternative state of the exhibition space, dominated by different itineraries (evacuation routes), actors (emergency personnel) and routines (evacuation instructions).


In concrete terms, INVASION / ÉVACUATION is…

1/… an ensemble of six tracks built following a progressive structure, starting at a quiet place with sculpted white noise (track 1) and gradually incorporating bits of alarm sounds, vocal instructions (see pt 2) and musical elements to reach a climax that will take the form of a fully-structured musical composition (track 5) before out of control and ultimately resolving into silence (tack 6)

2/… a sung / spoken script combining evacuation instructions to the public and instruction relative to the evacuation of the artworks

3/… designed to be broadcast through a sound system in a functioning exhibition environment or in an empty space. The entire piece must be played once a day, with a pause between each track, according to modalities still to be defined

4/… also intended to exist in a cd format, to be purchased or download online, with an accompanying booklet that would include a historical/archaeological study of museum alarm systems.

CLICK [HERE] to find an extract of this work-in-progress.