Matiére Sombre
Compagnie Fleur Lemercier (FR)
Performance of Music and Shadows
Computer-Assisted Improvisation
Shadow play, voice: Fleur Lemercier
Clarinets, objects: Jean Pierre Sarzier
Saxophones: Olivier Masson
Electromechanical instrumentarium: Norbert Pignol
Improvised machinery: Eric Marynower
Direction, visual universe, robotic instruments: Fleur Lemercier
Lighting design: Eric Marynower
Outside ear: Laurent Bigot
Outside eye: Benjamin Croizy
Apprentice lighting technician: Noe Sarzier
Consultancy for robotic instrument design: Gilles Reyna
MIDI effects for robotic instruments: Alex Ratchov
Electronic design and programming: Jacques Bouault / Arpschuino
Costumes: Anne Buguet and the workshops of Théâtre Municipal de Grenoble
Black holes, intense densities from which nothing escapes, trapped energies, cosmic explosions, passing depressions, perversions, refractions, divergences, projections, dark thoughts and shadows revealing what lies within.
“Matière Sombre” explores, live on stage, new sonic and visual materials that the machines we have created help us produce. The artists gather around the notion of “dark matter” — on intimate, scientific and philosophical levels — to guide the live composition of their visual and sonic proposal.
Dark matter is one of the areas of contemporary physics that still contains the greatest number of unknowns and uncertainties, possible bifurcations and explorations yet to be undertaken. It is a place of scientific uncertainty, and therefore a fertile ground for artistic imagination.
The artists invite the audience to witness improvisations and matter as it is being formed. Spectators are asked to accompany their explorations into the worlds whose doors will be opened before them. The circular setup consists of a mobile toric screen, inside which machines and performers interact, while the audience is free to move around it.
Through this structure, in which elements appear and disappear according to the positions of the screen, performers and spectators, the device invites the audience to choose their own point of view, to follow their sensations and emotions, and to explore their own obscure side.
The project uses several forms of improvisation: free improvisation, prepared improvisation, and improvisation based on a grid or written framework. It requires the creation of specific tools for devices that are not originally designed for this purpose. The aim is to give the performers the means to create a work that is written in real time, through bifurcations, decisions and choices made in the moment.
This transdisciplinary project brings together music, visual arts, theatre and digital arts. Its goal is to bring forth a shared matter that can transform the performance setup into a creative and interactive playground.
