The origin of this project is the awareness of a phenomenon observable in many sports and games. In these practices where movements generate sounds, a reciprocal relationship is often observed. The athlete generates sounds through his movements in space and uses these same sounds to assess his own performances. When Ronaldinho manages to hit the crossbar several times in a row, the sound of the ball hitting the frame becomes a witness to his precision but also allows the sport to enter another dimension. The player is not only looking to win but to create and perform. What he achieves is certainly a sporting performance, but above all a sensitive performance.Thus, art and sport are one.
The device I am proposing aims to embody this relationship between gestures and sounds. During this experience, the two players choose to compete or complement each other. Their gestures will be processed and instantly translated into meaningful sounds.
The benchmark game here is table tennis. In each of the movements performed, the trajectory of the ball, its height, and its speed are associated with harmonic musical elements. The result is a symphony of the play where actors can choose to collaborate to emphasize the value of sounds, or to compete using sound cues to perform.
This performance object is a tool for a better understanding of this phenomenon of reciprocity between gestures and sound elements. It allows its players to understand gestures differently. Their movements now make sounds and these sounds respond logically and harmoniously to their movements. For the viewers, gestures now answer to sounds, and sounds seem to engender gestures.
Pictures: Pierre Castignola
