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Dominique Petitgand

Biography

Biography

Dominique Petitgand Born in 1965 in Laxou, France. Lives and works in Paris.

Solo Shows

2012

Un tout, dont je fais partie, L'Aubette 1928, Musées de la ville de Strasbourg.

2011

Domicile, part of Récits & Paysages, Le Pavillon, Pantin.

gb agency, Paris.

Le ventriloque, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, La Galerie Michel Journiac, Paris.

Ce moment d’attente, dans le cadre de Free Son 2, Le Grand Café / Scène VIP, Saint-Nazaire.

2010

Je parle, manifestation Diagonales - Son, vibration et musique dans la collection du CNAP, Ecole Supérieure d'Art Clermont Métropole, Clermont-Ferrand.

Legami invisibili, e/static > blank, Turin.

Proche, très proche (Close, very close), Motive Gallery, Amsterdam.

2009

La main coupée, Programme Squatteur, Le Plateau, Paris.

Quelqu'un par terre, Nuit Blanche, Eglise St Roch, Paris.

La tête la première, FRAC Haute-Normandie, Rouen.

Quelqu'un est tombé, abbaye de Maubuisson, Saint-Ouen-L'Aumöne.

Un soulagement, La Compagnie, Marseille.

La porte ne s'est pas ouverte (The door didn't open), Mudam / Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg.

2008

Un tout, dont je fais partie (A whole, that I am a part of), Art Premiere / gb agency, Art Basel.

Ce moment d'attente, Instants Chavirés, Montreuil.

Je, Centre Culturel Colombier, Rennes.

2007

Les liens invisibles, Emba / galerie Edouard Manet, Gennevilliers.

Quelqu'un par terre, L'Arsenic, Lausanne.

Quelqu’un par terre (Someone on the ground), gb agency, Paris.

2006

Con voci e senza, e/static, Turin.

Audio in Elevator, Art in General, New York.

Mon possible, Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers.

La cécité (Blindness), Muhka, Auditotium, Antwerpen.

2005

Extension 17, Swiss Institute, New York.

Quelqu’un par terre, Transpalette, Emmetrop, Bourges.

Residency ISCP, New York.

Voix blanches, Centre Culturel Français, Milan.

2004

Vollevox 8, Komplot, Théâtre Mercelis, Brussels.

La Gorge sèche, Site Capécure, Boulogne-sur-Mer.

2003

Circuit Gallery, Lausanne.

LISTE 03, gb agency, Basel.

2002

Residency Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers.

2001

gb agency, Paris.

Rez-de-Chaussée, BNA - BBOT, Brussels 2000, Brussels.

2000

En cours Gallery, Paris.

1997

Le bout de la langue, La Bâtie-Festival, Geneva.

Fatigue, Stimultania Gallery, Strasbourg.

1996

Petites compositions familiales, Phonurgia Nova, Arles.

Group shows (selection)

2012

Homo Ludens - Act III, Motive Gallery, Amsterdam.

2011

Une terrible beauté est née, Biennale de Lyon.

Itinéraire Bis, MAC/VAL, Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine.

gb agency, Art Basel, Basel.

Paysages avec objets absents, Fri Art / Centre d’art de Fribourg.

Fantômes et cauchemars, Espace culturel François Mitterrand, Beauvais.

Chambres sourdes, Château de Rentilly, Bussy-Saint-Martin.

2010

Parallax, Motive Gallery, Amsterdam.

SUNDAY Art Fair, Motive Gallery, London.

Linguaggi e Sperimentazioni. Giovani artisti in una collezione contemporanea, MART, Rovereto.

Both Before and After, gb agency, Paris.

2009

23'17, Mains d'Oeuvres, Saint-Ouen, Paris.

Festival Entre cour et jardins, Parc de la Colombière, Dijon.

Stutter, Tate Modern, London.

The Space of Words, Mudam / Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg.

gb agency at Croy Nielsen Gallery, Paris / Berlin, Berlin.

2008

Tool Box, Entre-deux - La base d'appui Gallery, Nantes.

Pick Up, STUCK Kunstencentrum, Leuven.

Hospitalités, Manet Gallery Gennevilliers, TRAM réseau Art Contemporain Paris -Ile-de-France.

Reversibility, The Fair Gallery, Frieze Art Fair, London.

Kunspreis / Prix d'Art Robert Schuman - Best Of, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Metz et Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

2007

Fragments d’une collection, FNAC, Préfecture de Guyane, Cayenne.

Kunstpreis / Prix d’Art Robert Schuman - Best Of, Kunstakademie, Trier.

This is the time (and this is the record of the time), e/static > blank, Turin.

City Sonics, Transcultures, BAM / Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mons.

L’emprise du lieu, Domaine Pommery, Reims.

Various Small Fires, MA Curating Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art, London.

Some Time Waiting, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris

Etre présent au monde, MAC/VAL, Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine.

2006

ON/OFF, FRAC Lorraine, Metz.

A Fold in the Fabric, LMAKprojects, New-York.

Découpage (f l), e/static > blank, Turin.

ARTISSIMA 13, e/static, Turin.

Atmosphères, ODDC, Lanescat.

Home Sweet Home, CCC, Tours.

Willa Warsaw, gb agency, Raster Gallery, Warsaw.

Raconte moi / Tell me, Forum d’Art Contemporain Casino, Luxembourg.

Con - Sens, AR/GE Kunst, Galleria Museo, Bolzano.

Outside The Living Room, gb agency, Paris.

Unexpected ArtHome, The ArtHome, Brussels.

Une rétro-perspective..., Public>, Paris

Anne daems invites, Micheline Szwajcer Gallery, Antwerpen.

Exposing Cinema, Blaak 10 Gallery, Film Festival of Rotterdam, Rotterdam.

Daily Noises, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York.

2005

Strip - images on line, Kunsteverein, Hannover & Project Space, Berlin.

Always Crashing in the Same Car, Galleri Suzanne Ottesen, Copenhagen.

Raconte moi / Tell me, Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec, Québec.

Perspectives, FIAC, gb agency, Paris.

Petites compositions entre amis, gb agency, Paris.

Open Studios, ISCP, New York.

Tracer, Retracer / Tracking the traces, Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal

2004

Pick-up, Public, Paris.

Vollevox 7, Komplot, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.

Here and Now, AARA Foundation & About Café, Bangkok.

Sons, Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Limoges.

Un air de famille, Centre photographique, Lectoure.

2003

Je me souviens, Musée du Judaïsme de Belgique, Brussels.

Sonic Box, Happy New Ears, Kortrijk.

L’art d’être au monde, Revue Enregistrement, Melle.

33 RPM, Musée d’Art Moderne, San Francisco.

Festival de l’écoute, Phonurgia Nova, Arles.

Mobiles Urbains, Abbaye de Maubuisson, Saint-Ouen-L’Aumône.

Passerelle, MK2 Bibliothèque, Paris.

2002

Mental Shifts, UKS Gallery, Oslo.

LISTE 02, The Young Art Fair, gb agency, Basel.

Les Heures claires, MONUM, Villa Savoye, Poissy.

Audio Frames, Happy New Ears, Kortrijk.

Paysages, Biennale d’Art Contemporain, Enghein-les-bains.

Subréel, Mac, Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille.

Récits, Abbaye Saint-André, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Meymac.

Archipel, Salle du Plain-Palais, Geneva.

2001

Mutations - Sonic City project, TN Probe, Tokyo.

Traversées, ARC, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris.

Affinités Narratives, gb agency, Paris.

Hors-jeu, gb agency, Paris.

Domaines Publics, Mairie du XIX arrondissement, Paris.

2000

Métamorphoses, Brussells 2000, Tour des archives, Brussels.

Sodas, Le Garage, Nancy.

Expander 1.0, Revue Bloc-Notes, Espace Jousse-Seguin, Paris.

1999

Kunspreis / Art Prize Robert Schuman, Europaïschen Kunstakademie, Trier.

Les Chroniques Sonores, Centre d’Art Contemporain de Delme, Lindre - Basse.

Ouverture: 04, Château du Bionnay, Lacenas.

1998

Déplacements - Chez l’un, l’autre, galerie Anton Weller, Paris.

Plaisir d’offrir, Non Facture, Centre Commercial Italie 2, Paris.

Bruits secrets, C.C.C., Tours.

1997

Actions Urbaines II, FRAC Lorraine, Metz.

2 sound pieces in the show Le Phare by Yann Tiersen, co-production l’Aire Libre Rennes and l’Olympic Nantes.

1995

10 pieces constitute the soundtrack of the choregraphy Petit essai sur le temps qui passe, by Angelin Preljocaj, co-production Festival International de la Danse de Cannes / Biennale Nationale du Val de Marne.

1994

Le saut dans le vide, Maison Centrale des Artistes, Moscou.

1992

Les Ateliers des Arques, Les Arques.

Sound diffusions - performances (selection)

2011

Ciné 104 et Théâtre Au fil de l'eau, Pantin.

2010

Médiathèque André Malraux, Strasbourg.

Courtisane Festival, Gent.

2009

Festival Cinéma du réel, Centre G. Pompidou, Paris.

Sons de plateaux, GRIM, Montevideo, Marseille.

Institut Français, Berlin.

2008

Instants Chavirés, Montreuil

Festival Toutes les voix comptent, FRAC Lorraine, Ecole des Beaux Arts, Metz

2007

Festival Trans’électroacoustique, GMEM, Marseille.

Festival Ritournelles, Permanences de la Littérature, Bordeaux.

Festival Cinéma pour l’oreille, L’Arsenic, Lausanne.

Festival Kino-Eye # 7, MuHKA_media, Antwerpen.

Festival Côté Cour / Transat Vidéo, Ciné 104, Pantin.

Cycle Multiphonies, INA-GRM, Maison de la Radio, Paris.

2006

FRAC Haute-Normandie, Rouen.

Festival Ondulations, Transat Vidéo, St-Laurent-de-Terregatte.

La Force de l’art, Grand Palais, Paris.

Presqu’intégrale, La Compagnie, Marseille.

Sommeil léger, Les Laboratoires, Aubervilliers.

2005

Festival Musiques Volantes, Metz

Théâtre Royal, Namur.

La Compagnie, Marseille.

Issue Project Room, New York.

Radio WKCR, Colombia University, New York.

Goliath Visual Space Gallery, New York.

Le Lion d’or, Montreal.

2004

Festival Vision-air, Teatro Eikon, e/static, Turin.

TNT, Bordeaux.

Presqu’intégrale, Festival Musique Action, CCAM, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy.

Planétarium, Confort Moderne, Poitiers.

Festival Ici, d’ailleurs..., Café de la Danse, Paris.

2003

Emmetrop, Bourges.

Le Lieu Unique, Nantes.

Maison du Danemark, Paris.

La Guinguette Pirate, Paris.

Presqu’intégrale, Les Laboratoires, Aubervilliers.

2002

Festival Ce qui fait manifeste, Ménagerie de Verre, Paris.

Sans commune mesure, Centre National de la Photographie, Paris.

Festival Roma-Europa, Batofar, Rome.

Nuit du son, ACSR, Brussels.

Avant Travaux, Les Laboratoires, Aubervilliers.

2001

Scratch projection, Centre de Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris.

Sonic Square, Kaaitheaterstudio, Brussels.

TXT (extension text), Public, Paris.

Festival Flex, La Ménagerie de Verre, Paris.

Mains d’Oeuvre, Saint- Ouen.

Le 102, Grenoble.

Les Instants Chavirés, Montreuil.

Hors- jeu, gb agency, Batofar, Paris.

Festival Les jeux, Batofar, Paris.

2000

Enregistrement, En cours Gallery, Paris.

Festival Les Nuits Botaniques - L'île électrique, Jardin Botanique, Brussells.

Festival Les Index, Rouen.

Point Ligne Plan, DAP, GREC, La FEMIS, Paris.

Le Printemps des Poètes, Université François Rabelais, Tours.

Festival Electkironique, Espace Kiron, Paris.

Accès Local, Paris.

Festival Nemo, Thécif, Forum des Images, Paris.

1999

Le tour du monde de Fives, carte blanche à Yann Tiersen, Lille.

Printemps de Cahors, Soirées Nomades, Cahors.

Festival Jamais 2 sans 3, carte blanche à Dominique A, L’Olympic, Nantes.

1998

Festival Nouvelles scènes, l’Usine, Dijon.

Festival Densités, Verdun.

Festival Mettre en scène, Théâtre National de Bretagne, L’Aire Libre, Rennes.

Festival Musique et quotidien sonore, GMEA, Albi.

Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers.

Villa Arson, Nice.

Colloque son, FRAC Basse-Normandie, Caen.

1997

Suoni visivi e immagini sonore, Link Project, Bologne.

Vivement Dimanche, Les Halles de Schaerbeek, Brussels.

Cocktail Festival, Volksbühne, Staalplaat, Berlin.

Cinéma Spoutnik, L’usine, Geneva.

Koeksteen, Clan-Destin, All in the family, Beursschouwburg, Brussels.

1996

Festival Sonderangebot, Freunde Guter Musik, Staalplaat, Berlin.

Festival Les Musiques 96, GMEM, Marseille.

Festival Sons d’hiver, La Muse en Circuit, Paris.

1995

Festival 8e Rugissants, Grenoble.

Festival Fufu, Nancy.

1994

Dark / Noir, Forum des Images, Paris.

Festival Musique Action, CCAM, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy.

Awards and grants

Award francophone artist, 11ième Biennale de Lyon, 2011.

Grant Aide au projet de la Ville de Paris, 2010.

Grant résidency Les Ateliers New-Yorkais, ISCP / AFAA, New-York, 2005.

Grant FIACRE, DRAC Ile-de-france, 2002.

Prix d’Art Européen - Kunstpreis Robert Schuman, Trier, 1999.

Grant FIACRE, DRAC Lorraine, 1998.

International Award of Radiophonic Creation Hörspiele, La Muse en Circuit, France Culture, NDR Hambourg, Paris, 1995.

International Award of Radiophonic Creation Phonurgia Nova, Radio Nova, Arles, 1994.

Dominique Petitgand is also represented by Motive Gallery (Amsterdam), click here

and e/static (Turin), click here.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Artist Books

2009

Installations (documents)

French / English, texts by D.Petitgand, interviews D.Petitgand with Vanessa Desclaux, Elodie Royer & Yoann Gourmel, Guillaume Constantin, Marinella Paderni, co-edition abbaye de Maubuisson / FRAC Lorraine / FRAC Haute-Normandie / Confort Moderne / gb agency, éditions MF, Paris.

2007

Les pièces manquantes (The missing pieces)

French / English, texts by D.Petitgand, EMBA / Galerie Manet, Gennevilliers.

2004

La gorge sèche (documents)

French, transcriptions D.Petitgand, text by Guillaume Désanges, Site Capécure, à table !, Boulogne-sur-mer.

2003

Notes, voix, entretiens / Notes, voices, interviews

French / English, interviews D.Petitgand with Guillaume Désanges, transcriptions by D. Petitgand, texts by Guillaume Désanges, François Piron, Dominique A, Claude Lévêque, Loïc Touzé and Grand Magasin, Editions c/o Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers / Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris.

2001

Textes / sons

French / English, transcriptions by D.Petitgand, interview D.Petitgand with Yvane Chapuis, text by François Piron, with Audio CD, gb agency, Paris.

Special publications

2010

Website Catalogue - Contemporary Art Magazine / Revue d'art contemporain, French / English, Etat des lieux / Staring Into Space, text by D.Petitgand, Paris- London (click here)

2009

Website Farimani, English, texts by D.Petitgand, New-York (click here)

2008

Le Quai # 15, French, Mes écoutes (extraits), texts by D.Petitgand, Ecole Supérieure d’Art de Mulhouse.

2007

Revue & Corrigée # 69, 70, 71, 72, French, Mes écoutes (extracts), texts by D.Petitgand, Grenoble.

Journal des Laboratoires (special issue), English, My listenings (extracts), texts by D.Petitgand, Aubervilliers.

2006

Le journal des Laboratoires # 6, French, Mes écoutes (extracts), texts by D.Petitgand, Aubervilliers.

Corriere dell' Alto Adige, Friday July 7, French / German / Italian, transcriptions by D.Petitgand, Bolzano.

Neue Südtiroler Tageszeitung, Wednesday May 31, French / German / Italian, transcriptions by D. Petitgand, Bolzano.

2004

The Nation, Sunday July 25, French / English / Thaï, transcriptions by D.Petitgand, Bangkok.

Books

2011

Une terrible beauté est née, catalogue, French / English, Biennale de Lyon.

Itinéraire Bis, catalogue, French, MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine.

Chambres sourdes, catalogue, French, texts by Audrey Illouz, D.Petitgand, Parc Naturel de Rentilly / CNEAI, Paris.

Contre Télérama, book of Eric Chauvier, Editions Allia, Paris.

2010

The Space Of Words, catalogue, French / English, Fragments of voices, interview D.Petitgand with Christophe Gallois, MUDAM, Luxembourg.

The Lonely Crowd, catalogue de Gregor Schneider, Etat des lieux, French, text by D.Petitgand, Musée de la Danse, Rennes.

ImagoDrome - Des images mentales dans l’art contemporain, French, Figures de projection, texte de Patricia Brignone, Bourges.

Sons de Plateaux # 4, acte (s), Un essai de son(s), French, text by Christophe Marchand-Kiss, Montevidéo – GRIM, Marseille.

2009  

Qu’est-ce que l‘art aujourd’hui ?, French, Quelqu'un est tombé, text by Emma Lavigne, Beaux-Arts éditions, Paris.

La Planète des Signes, exhibition catalogue, French, texts by Guillaume Désanges, D.Petitgand, Le Plateau, Paris.

Images contemporaines. Arts, formes, dispositifs, French, Ecouter l’espace. Du film à l’installation, text by Térésa Faucon, Aléas Cinéma, Lyon.

C’est pas beau de critiquer ?, French / English, A propos de Dominique Petitgand, Il y a, ensuite, text by Guillaume Désanges, MAC/ VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine.

Cinéma du réel, French, Cinéma mental, text by Patricia Brignone from"Point Ligne Plan", Paris.

2008

Neutre Intense, French / English, Silence was pleased, interview D.Petitgand with Christophe Gallois, Maison Populaire, Montreuil.

Tool Box, exhibitioncatalogue, French, interview D.Petitgand with J.Rivet, M.-L.Viale, C.Ruby, galerie Entre-deux, Nantes.

Qu’est-ce que la sculpture aujourd’hui ?, French, Le son travaillé au ciseau, text by Guillaume Désanges, Beaux-Arts éditions, Paris.

French Connection, French / English, text by Christophe Gallois, french/ english, Blackjack éditions, Paris.

2007

Kunstpreis Prix d’Art Robert Schuman, Best Of, exhibition catalogue, French / German, interview D.Petitgand with Olivier de Montpezat, Metz-Sarrebrück-Luxembourg-Trier.

Musiques expérimentales. Une anthologie transversale d’enregistrements emblématiques, French, book by Philippe Robert, Le mot et le reste / GRIM, Marseille.

L’emprise du lieu, exhibition catalogue, French, text by D.Petitgand, special issue Beaux-Arts Magazine, Domaine Pommery, Reims.

Various Small Fires, catalogue, English, My listenings, texts by D.Petitgand, Building pictures with words, text dby Ellen Mara De Wachter, A different sound in each ears, text by Christophe Gallois, MA Curating Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art, London.

A Fold in the Fabric, exhibition catalogue, English, texts by D.Petitgand, Sara Reisman, LMAKprojects, New-York.

Etre présent au monde, exhibition catalogues, French and English publications, texts by Alexia Fabre, MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine.

2006

ON/OFF, exhibition catalogue, French / German, text by Guillaume Désanges, FRAC Lorraine, Metz.

Ondulations, festival catalogue, French, text by D.Petitgand, Caen.

Con-Sens, exhibition catalogue, English / German / Italian, transcriptions by D.Petitgand, interview D.Petitgand with Sabine Gamper, text by Catherine Grout, AR/GE Kunst Galleria Museo, Bolzano.

Traces, catalogue of the exhibition Tracer, Retracer / Tracking the Traces, French / English, text by Nicole Gingras, Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal.

35th International Film Festival Rotterdam, festival catalogue, Dutch / English, Exposing Cinema, text by Edwin Carels, Rotterdam.

2005

Abécédaire Dominique Petitgand, French, special issue Le petit monde # 80, interview D.Petitgand with Rodolphe Cobetto-Caravanes, Paris.

Vollevox / La Voix dans l’Art Contemporain, exhibition catalogue + Double CD Audio, French, text by Véronique Depiesse, Sonia Dermience and Estelle Lecaille, Komplot, Brussels.

Raconte moi, exhibition catalogue, French / English, texts by Marie Fraser, Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec et Casino Luxembourg.

2003

Le livre et l’art, French, texts by D.Petitgand, Claude Lévêque, Lieu Unique, Nantes.

L’ABCdaire de l’art contemporain, French, text by Damien Sausset, Flammarion, Paris.

2002

Subréel, exhibition catalogue, French, text by François Piron, MAC/Galerie Contemporaine des Musées de Marseille.

Point Ligne Plan, Cinéma et Art Contemporain, French, Ciné mental, text by Patricia Brignone, Léo Scheer, Paris.

Les Heures Claires, exhibition catalogue, French, text by Frank Lamy, Monum, Paris.

2001

Mutations / Sonic City Project, English / Japanese, catalogue + CD Audio, text by D.Petitgand, Tokyo.

Traversées, exhibition catalogue, French, texts by D.Petitgand, ARC / Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de ParisParis.

1999

Domaines Publics, exhibition catalogue, French, texts by D.Petitgand, Guillaume Désanges, Paris.

1998

Bruits secrets, exhibition catalogue, French, text by Olivier Reneau, C.C.C, Tours.

Selected Press Review

2011

Biennaledelyon.com / Le blog, Ouvrir l’oreille, French, text by Damien Blanchard, Lyon.

Canal / L’agenda, nov, Dominique Petitgand, le son de l’art, French, interview with Hana Levy, Pantin.

Revue-et-corrigée.net, oct, Mon possible, French, text by Hervé Birolini, Grenoble.

Zigzag-francophonie.eu, L’artiste francophone à la Biennale de Lyon, French, interview with Arnaud Galy.

Mouvement n°61, L’art des silences, French, text by Xavier Hug, Paris.

Magic, Mon possible, French, text by Lyonel Sasso, Paris.

The Artist Magazine, Focus - Art sonore d’aujourd’hui, Chinese, text by Yuan-Chih Keith Cheng, Taïwan.

Flash Art, Dominique Petitgand, English, text by Rahma Khazam, Milan.

Transversales-blogspot.com, Nobody / Noi(s)es, French, text by Valery Poulet, Paris.

Haut Parleur, French, interview D.Petitgand with David Daunis, Saint-Nazaire.

2010

MCD - Musiques et Cultures Digitales, Le son et les arts plastiques , entre évanescence et immatérialité, French, text by Rahma Khazam, Paris.

Exib Art (exibart.com), Legami invibili, Italian, text by Claudio Cravero, Firenze.

Revue Volume # 1, Quelqu’un par terre (Someone on the ground), French / English, texts by Anne-Lou Vicente, D.Petitgand, Paris.

Život umjetnosti / Magazine for Contemporaty Visual Arts, Script for a stuttering exhibition, Croatian / English, texts by Vanessa Desclaux, D. Petitgand, Zagreb.

Metropolis M, ‘Storende’ geluiden, Dutch, text by Thomas van Lier, Amsterdam.

NRC, Cassettebandjes vol oude stemmen, Dutch, text by Sandra Smallenburg, Amsterdam.

2009

Edit-revue.com, Le signe invisible. Exposition La planète des signes, French, text by Jack Tone, Paris.

Laura # 8, J’y parachève mes girations, French, text by Jérôme Diacre, Tours.

Mouvement # 53,oct., Exposer le son, French, interview with D.Blais / P.Broccolichi / J.Poret and D.Petitgand, text by Isabelle Le Normand & Annabel Roux, Paris. 

Artforum, summer, D. Petitgand, Abbaye de Maubuisson, English, text by Lillian Davies, New York

Arte e Critica #51, may, The consistence of sound, Italian / English, text by Marinella Paderni, Rome.

Flash Art International, may, D.Petitgand, English, text by Rahma Khazam, Milan.

Mouvement.net, april, Chutes libres, French, text by Anne-Lou Vicente, Paris.

Le Journal des Arts, n°301, april, Je suis un dramaturge, French, interview D.Petitgand with Frédéric Bonnet, Paris.

lacritique.org, april, Les mises en scènes de l’écoute par D.Petitgand", French, text by Michelle Debat, Paris.

Beaux-Arts Magazine, march, Petitgand enchante Maubuisson, French, text by Emmanuel Lequeux, Paris.

2008

Revue L’art Même n° 39, Arts sonores dans l’espace urbain, French, text by Philippe Franck, Brussels.

Le Temps, 7 june, Art Basel, Eloge de l’invisible, French, text by Laurent Wolf, Genève.

Le Temps, 4 june, À Bâle, le grand cirque de l’art peut commencer, French, text by Laurent Wolf, Genève.

2007

Paris-art.com, oct, Les liens invisibles, French, text by Magali Lesauvage, Paris.

Editions Mac/Val, oct, Il y a, ensuite, French, text by Guillaume Désanges, Vitry-sur-Seine.

Revue & Corrigée # 73, sept, French, interview D.Petitgand with Jérôme Noetinger, Grenoble.

NY Arts, july, New Perspectives On Sound Art, English, text Vittoria Broggini, New York.

Lapiz 229, jan, Quelqu’un par terre, Spanish, text by Manuel Cirauqui, Madrid.

Mouvement, jan/march, L’écoute comme alternative du corps regardeur, French, text Jby érome Poret, Paris.

2006

Mousse Magazine, dec, Architetture Invisibili Italian, text by Paola Nicolin, Milan.

Le Monde, 23 dec., Quelqu’un par terre, French, text by B.Ba, Paris.

Artforum.com, dec, Quelqu’un par terre, Critics Picks English, text by Kim West, New-York.

Paris-art.com, dec, Quelqu’un par terre, French, text by Aurore Bonneau, Paris.

Artforum.com, dec, A Fold in the Fabric, Critics’ Picks English, text by Lauren O’Neill-Butler, New-York.

Revue Konciliabule # 01, sept, Dominique Petitgand, French, texts by Romain Siegenfuhr, Caroline Cros, Paris.

Tema Celeste, sept-oct, Intervista, English / Italian, interview D.Petitgand with Marinella Paderni, Milan.

Art Press, special issue La scène française / French Art Scene, sept, La formation de compromis, French / English, text by Damien Sausset, Paris.

Exit, may, Mon possible, Spanish, text by Guillaume Désanges, Madrid.

Les Inrockuptibles, may 2nd, Le bout de la langue, French, text by Jérôme Provençal, Paris.

La Compagnie, june,Le visage sonore, French, text by Paul-Emmanuel Odin, Marseille.

Ventilo, 26 april, Strip Tease, French, text by Lionel Vicari, Marseille.

Sextant, april, Cut and paste : les liens invisibles, French, interview D.Petitgand with Corinne Leborgne, Paris.

Mouvement, april-june, Le bout de la langue, French, text by Léa Lescure , Paris.

Magic, march, Le bout de la langue, French, text by Marc Gourdon, Paris.

Ruis, feb, Dominique Petitgand in het Muhka, Dutch, text by Sarah Kesenne, Gent.

Le Figaro, 19 jan, Le bout de la langue, French, text by Bertrand Dicale, Paris.

2005

Exib Art (exibart.com), Dominique Petitgand / Pierluigi Calignano, Italian, text by Marco Enrico Giacomelli, Firenze.

La Compagnie, sept, Matière de l’attention, French, text by Paul-Emmanuel Odin, Marseille.

2004

Paletten, n°255, Samtal mellan Dominique Petitgand och Yvane Chapuis, Swedish, interview, Göteborg.

2003

Les Inrockuptibles, 19-25 feb,Mobiles Urbains, French, text by Claire Moulène, Paris.

Revue & corrigée, march, French, text by Michel Chion, Grenoble.

Le Temps, 15 feb, Décoder le son enregistré, French, text by Nicolas Julliard, Genève.

Aden / Le Monde, 22-28 jan, Petitgand: J’aime être là par effraction, French, text by Nicolas Thély, Paris.

Revue & corrigée, jan, French, text by Michel Chion, Grenoble.

2002

Art Press, Hors-série Médium Danse, Grand Magasin / D.Petitgand, French / English, interview, Paris.

La Lettre du Cinéma, N°20, Subréel Cinéma, French, text by Christian Merlhiot, Paris.

Magic, Hors série Yann Tiersen, oct, French, interview D.Petitgand with Franck Vergeade, Paris.

Magic, oct, Le Point de côté, French, text by Renaud Paulik, Paris.

Les Inrockuptibles, july, Le point de côté, French, text by Jérôme Provençal, Paris.

Le Figaro, 19 aug, D. Petitgand : Voix et silences, French, text by Bertrand Dicale, Paris.

Aden / Le Monde, 16-22 jan, D.Petitgand, French, Paris.

Aden / Le Monde, 9-15 jan, D.Petitgand, French, Paris.

Art Press, N° 275, jan, Traversées, French / English, text by Charles Arthur Boyer, Paris.

2001

Art Présence, D. Petitgand, Un bruit léger - un bruit abstrait - celui de la présence supprimée, French, text by Jérôme Diacre, Tours.

Up-Street, N°34, Winter, Import-Export, French, Paris.

Aden / Le Monde, dec, D.Petitgand, French, text by Emmanuelle Lequeux, Paris.

2000

Mouvement, Le sens de la mesure, French, text by François Piron, Paris.

Magazine Zéro Deux, D. Petitgand et Andréa Blum: D’un bout à l’autre de l’échange politique, French, text by Jérôme Diacre, Tours.

Le Temps,D. Petitgand tient la chronique sonore de l’imaginaire, French, text by Nicolas Julliard, Genève.

La Marseillaise, Intime mesure, French, text by Boris Sagit, Marseille.

Octopus, Dans la peau de D. Petitgand, Voyage en tête étrangère, French, text by Steven Hearn, Paris.

Le Monde de la Musique, Le sens de la mesure - choc de la musique, French, text by Bertrand Dicale, Paris.

Le Canard, French, interview D.Petitgand with Franck Collot, Nancy.

1999

Bloc Notes, Images accoustiques, French, interview D.Petitgand with François Piron, Paris.

1998

Revue & Corrigée, La Journée, French, text by Lionel Marchetti, Grenoble.

1997

Episodic, D. Petitgand, French, text by Jacques Philippon, Paris.

Revue & Corrigée,10 petites compositions familiales, French, text by J-C Camps, Grenoble.

Limelight, Rendez-vous, Petitgand, French, text by victor Vialle, Strasbourg.

Link Project, Extraschermo, Italian, interview D.Petitgand with J. Noetinger, A.J. Rollet et M. Holterbach, Bologne.

Subraum, D. Petitgand, German, interview D.Petitgand with Enrique Benndorf, Berlin.

1996

Revue & Corrigée, Stockhausen, Zanési, Petitgand, French, text by Michel Chion, Grenoble.

Radio Broadcasts (selection)

2011

L'atelier du son, France Culture, Paris.

At the edge of the platform, SilenceRadio.org, Bruxelles.

La vignette, France Culture, Paris.

Songs of Praise, Aligre FM, Paris.

Tapage nocture, France Musique, Paris.

Electromania, France Musique, Paris.

Les passagers de la nuit, France Culture, Paris.

2010

Les nouveaux chemins de la connaissance, France Culture, Paris.

2009  

Playlist, Eternal Tour FM, Val-de-Travers, Suisse.

Un artiste à l’écoute, arteradio.com, produced by Sara Monimart, Paris.

Pop’ son, poptronics.fr, produced by Jean-Philippe Renoult, Paris.

Le bivouac, Radio Grenouille, Marseille.

2008

Atelier de Création Radiophonique / Face B, France Culture, Paris.

Le sixième sens, Vivre FM, Paris.

2007

Electrain de nuit, France Vivace, Paris

2006

Frühstücksradio, RAI Sender Bozen / Bolzano.

Ultracontemporain, France Culture, Paris.

Atelier de création Radiophonique, France Culture, Paris.

2005

Culture plus / Multipistes, France Culture, Paris.

Songs of Praise, Aligre FM, Paris.

Radio Grenouille, Marseille.

Live constructions, WKCR, Columbia University, New York.

2004

Surpris par la Nuit, France Culture, Paris.

2003

Espace 2, Lausanne.

Hétérophonies, France Culture, Paris.

2002

Réseau radios belges, Bruxelles.

Multipistes, France Culture, Paris.

2000

Voie Carrossable, France Culture, Paris.

1997

Espace 3, Genève.

1995

N.D.R., Hambourg.

Ars Sonora, Madrid.

Le Rythme et la Raison, France Culture, Paris.

1994

Les mangeurs de Sons, Radio Nova, Paris.

Nuits Magnétiques, France Culture, Paris.

Dowloadable press articles

Click on the underlined parts to download the texts in pdf

(selection)

2009

Beaux-Arts Magazine 142, french, "Petitgand enchante Maubisson, Les sens et les sons du monde", text by Emmanuelle Lequeux

Le Journal des Arts, #301, french, "Paroles d'artiste: Dominique Petitgand, je suis un dramaturge", inteview with Frédéric Bonnet, April 17 to 30 .

Artforum, english, "Dominique Petitgand at the Abbey of Maubuisson", text by Lillian Davies, Summer.

FlashArt on line, english, "Dominique Petitgand", text by Rahma Khazam.

Mouvement.net, french, "Chutes libres, Nouvelles installations sonores de Dominique Petitgand", by Anne-Lou Vicente.

Laura, french, "J'y parachève mes girations", text by Jérôme Diacre, N°8, oct 09.

2008

Le Temps, french, "Eloge de l’invisible", text by Laurent Wolf, Genève, 7 juin.

2007

Lapiz, # 229, "Quelqu’un par terre", text by Manuel Cirauqui, Madrid, January (in Spanish & English).

2006

Mousse Magazine, "Architetture Invisibili" text by Paola Nicolin, Milano, December (in Italian).

Artforum.com, "Quelqu’un par terre", Critics’ Picks, text by Kim West, New York, December (in English).

Tema Celeste, "Intervista", interview with Marinella Paderni, Milano, September - October (in italian & English).

If you wish to read press articles in French, please visit the French version of our website.

Downloadable catalogue clips

Click on the underlined parts to download the texts in pdf

(selection)

2009

La porte ne s’est pas ouverte (The door didn’t open), exhibition leaflet, text by Christophe Gallois, Mudam, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxemburg (in French, English & German).

2008

French Connection, book, text by Christophe Gallois, Blackjack éditions (in French & English).

2007

Various Small Fires, exhibition catalogue, A Curating Contemporary Art, Royal College of Art, London. With a text by D.Petitgand "My listenings (extracts)", a text by Ellen Mara De Wachter and a text by de Christophe Gallois (in English).

2006

ON/OFF, exhibition catalogue, text by G.Désanges, FRAC Lorraine, Metz (in French & German).

Con-Sens, exhibition catalogue, transcriptions by D.Petitgand, interview with Sabine Gamper, text by Catherine Grout, AR/GE Kunst Galleria Museo, Bolzano (in English, German & Italian)

2005

Traces, exhibition catalogue of "Tracer, Retracer / Tracking the Traces", text by Nicole Gingras, L&B Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montréal (in English & French).

Tell me, exhibition catalogue, texts by Marie Fraser, Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec and Casino Luxemburg (in English).

If you wish to read texts from catalogues in French, please visit the French version of our website.

Sound installations

Domicile

À la merci (At the mercy)

À la merci is composed by a sound recording presented as an archive and subtitled translations on a screen. A child dictates words one by one, syllable by syllable forming convoluted sentences that are repeated by an adult voice.

While in this piece some of Dominique Petitgand's preoccupations are revealed - including the relationship with language, its enunciation, the meaning conveyed by voice, musicality, as well as words - it also seems disjointed with other installations in this exhibition.

Instead of a spatially open sound that guides viewers through the space, here the viewer is invited into a linear and fixed listening. At the side, off set from the frontality of the listening, a screen broadcasts the English translation of each word (At the mercy), a visual transfer resuming the scansion, the stammering and the repetitions of the sentence under construction.

This audio document glides doubt over its own reliability. It takes the appearance of a crude sequence that stages an obviously unreal situation: a child barely knowing how to speak dictates long, inaudible and unreadable sentences that in their entirety sound as the writings of an artist, an invitation to discover the other pieces, a preamble, an encoded explanation of the exhibition.

Excerpt from the press release

Je m'en vais (I'm leaving) / 2

Je m'en vais is a sound installation with 5 speakers and subtitles divided in two parts: in the first room, a speaker is placed on a pedestal at ear level and diffuses the voice of a little girl talking about leaving.

She reviews her strategy to escape a party, perceivable at a distance in the second room. She gathers what is necessary and slips out unnoticed, by a half open door.

In this second room, together in the middle of the space, four speakers, standing on the floor, diffuse fragments, shatterings of uproars, cries, calls, slices of songs and music that are mixed with laughter. It plays with silence and the resonance of the place.

In an other way, exhalations (breathing, coughing), are broadcasted in the first room.They are in direct connection and synchrony with the fragments of noise. They are for each sequences a start and a closing.

On the path from the voice to the noise, a screen hung on wall displays the translation of the words (I’m leaving). The formal arrangements of this installation reproduces a story: one voice, alone in the foreground, who excludes itself and in order to be freed from a whole.

----

About the four installations in the exhibition :

For his solo exhibition at gb agency, Dominique Petitgand presents a set of pieces that articulate various relationships with speech (monologue, dictation, screams or cacophonies), language (the voices in French are accompanied by their English translations), editing (fragmentations, synchronicities or temporal gaps), space (playing of distances, mixing, resonances).

Four sound installations are presented in the two exhibition rooms of the gallery. Nested within the space, the works succeed in creating a sequential listening, staggering into the hollow of each other.

Excerpts from the press release

Les liens en sourdine (Attenuated bonds)

Les liens en sourdine is taken from the work Quant-a-soi, which has already engendered multiple versions about the same concept of invisible links, including Aloof, Proche, très proche, La main coupée.

This is a sound installation with two speakers and subtitles. A speaker on a stand in the first room broadcasts the voice of a woman. Behind every word, a cry from the distance is diffused in an exact and synchronous way.

Both sound presences are symmetrical – they are two opposing magnets that repel each other. Broadcast on both sides of the gallery, they are heads or tails of the same coin, whose side is distended - the viewer is placed in between these two opposing things, leaving one to discover the other.

Equidistant from the two sounds, a screen shows the synchronous English translation of the words (Attenuated Bonds).

Excerpt from the press release

Les ballons / 2

Les ballons is a sound installation composed of 4 speakers set in the top corners of a big room, they broadcast the sounds of balls bouncing against different materials.

While highlighting the details of architecture, the sound of balls moving from one speaker to an other also resonates and reveals the space - outlining the distance and defining the temporality of listening by way of the phenomena of back and forth movement, rebounds, bounces, material and displacement games.

The silences between the sound sequences, hollows and rhythmic punctuations are the frames that allow the place, the life and anything outside the exhibition to keep being heard.

Hit the ball hard, stubbornly, alone in a huge and empty place.

Excerpt from the press release

Le ventriloque

Ce moment d'attente

The generic title Ce moment d'attente allows me to put several works together (in its entirety or in extracts) re-edited, remixed, unfolded and redistributed according to a new logic concretely linked to the place.

I wanted to use the whole concert hall : the entrance hall, the bar, the auditorium, the stage and the bridges. A volume, conceived as a set divided into five parts close to each other and at all times accessible. I also wanted to make the place as bare as possible, not entertaining, solemn, to provide the visitor with listening degrees between a wandering, a progressive aproach, a floating attention and concentration. The listener by his movements and his stops discovers connections between, in a hand, the voices (occasionnally localized or completely a far) and, in the other hand, the noises and musical atmospheres (diffused as invasive extended sounds). These connections articulate and make different levels remotely communicate (ground floor, balcony, stage, gateways), near and far, centered or peripheric, whose distribution depends each time on the listener’s position.
This wandering offers to hear a succession of sequences, interrupted with silences, which successively use a logic that takes time to unfold, different parts of a whole, and draw different shapes in space: a voice (alone in the silence), a figure and a background (a foreground voice and a background musical atmosphere), a duo (foreground voices and another voice perceived in the distance), an including atmosphere (which combines levels in pairs or all at once).

 

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Je parle (I talk) / 2

The installation called Je parle is located in a space all in one piece with a reverberating acoustics. The first two loudspeakers, standing on the floor and turned the other way round to face the wall, emit elementary and long musical sequences. They spread out thanks to the resonance of the place and fill up the whole space.

In between those sequences, alternately and as an echo, the two other loudspeakers, each one set on a stand, emit voices from the other side of the space to which they turn their backs (the middle part being left empty). There is a series of very short sentences, broken with long silences, with restrained and impeded words, most of the time reduced to one word: two children refusing to talk to each other.

Beside, in a window ganway, a screen which can be seen from the street, shows subtitles, a synchronous written translation (I talk) of the words being heard in the distance.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

À la merci (At the mercy) - documents

In 1988, I wrote a long sentence and I asked to a four-year-old child to say it. A child who didn't know the meaning of the words, even less the meaning of the sentence. A sound piece was made out of this.

By listening again recently this piece from 1988, I realized that it seemed to contain the announcement of what I was since going to do, of what I have done since. I have also listened again the recording I used for the editing of the piece. A document in which we can hear myself dictating the words to the child, one by one, sometimes syllable by syllable. And I was surprised to discover that there were a certain mode of play, of listening and an absence of dialogue in this method of recording and in the presence of our two voices which were not similar but close to some works I have done since.

Today, I have chosen to play the sound piece itself (the edited version, with the child's voice), then the original document before the editing (with our two voices) on a simple listening device (two loudspeakers in front of a bench) with an English translation (subtitles) on a screen located on the side, which reproduces the scansion, the stutter and the repetitions of the sentence under construction.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Miles Hankin

Proche, très proche (Close, very close) / 2

The installation Proche, très proche, is a version with noises of the piece Quant-à-soi. It consists of two separate sound levels.

A first set of four loudspeakers, arranged in an arched circle, placed on the ground and facing up, form a belt that faces you once you entered the gallery. They diffuse a series of noises, interrupted with silences, which move from one speaker to another. Each of these sounds is a gesture, a very brief action occurred on household objects in different ways. They follow a logic we can’t understand.


Further, the center of a smaller space, a fifth speaker is placed on a pedestal at ear height. The speaker diffuses a voice. This voice is hidden, we can only hear it once we crossed the first barrier of speakers. His discovery depends on our travel, our listening. Advancing, we can discover, more or less loudly and clearly by the distance, a series of short sentences, interrupted also with silences that are distributed exactly synchronous with the noise from the first four speakers (this synchronism can hide the voice : for every sentence is a noise). When that voice appears, links are revealed, the story can begin : a woman speaks, she speaks about invisible links she has trouble to define.
On entering the small area, the step of the way that leads from the sounds to the voice, a video screen on the wall diffuses the translation (Close, very close) written and synchronous from the words.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Aloof

The installation called Aloof remains hidden out from the listener. Behind a door, in a space plunged in darkness and which nobody can enter (blocked out and slightly ajar door), two loudspeakers emit a sound scene: in the foreground of a space that can be imagined as a reverberating inside one, a child emits unintelligible vocal signs (between scream, singing and breathing) which a man, standing next to him, simultaneously translates into an articulated language, namely into English and in reported speech. In the middle distance, some ongoing urban rumor.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

La main coupée (La mano tagliata) / 2

La main coupée is another version of the piece with noises Quant-à-soi. 

Four speakers, placed on shelves on the walls of a first room, diffuses at high-volume a series of white interferences interrupted with silences. The appearance of each mini-sequence is a surprise, a clash for the listener. The arrangement of the speakers produced an inclusive and disturbing presence that you can’t escape, but the high-volume diffusion offers the listener to discover the richness of textures.
Further, across a hallway, in a smaller room, a privileged point that we need time to discover, an isolated speaker in the center and laid on a pedestal, diffuses the voice of a woman. His talk, dotted, evocates invisible links, links between a part and a whole, a part of oneself as a hand removed. Every sentence converse with a sequence of noises diffused in the first room.

In an intermediate space, step of the way that leads from the noises to the voice, a screen set on the wall diffuses the Italian translation (La mano tagliata) written and synchronous from the words.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Quelqu'un par terre / 6

The architectural and acoustic qualities of the Church Saint Roch make me want the sound installation Quelqu’un par terre to be heard. Different sightings and tests in the place lead me then to adapt its device and to deploy (and at the same time to radicalize) its principle. In this installation deployed in several spaces chairs splinters hide raised voices. The visitor has to move from a space to another to listen to these voices which can only be heard once some sills crossed. Then, this phenomenon happens in the visitor’s ear : a metallic chair falling in turn produces a sequence of words. The visitor movement allows him to discover the two terms of the binomial speech / noises. This movement keeps the visitor free to chose the point where he listens : on one side, on the other, or in the middle. When voices appear, a narrative emerges, links are revealed.

Each sentence is linked to a chair splinter. I used synchronism and a strong formal similarity   to fuse together the two elements (the noisy one and the spoken one) Each of the chairs splinters is linked to a sentence which has exactly the same duration, the same progression, the same cutting : "ta-ta-ta-ta" = "quel-qu'un-par-terre", "ta-ta-ta" = "t'in-quiète-pas", "ta-ta-ta-ta-ta" = "tout-est-ou-bli-é", which creates a succession of two sided sequences. I should be precise that I registered each sound separatly without looking for mimesis. Mimesis is only revealed by the fragments precise choice and an editing operation, a combination disassociated during the installation. Different spaces and diffusion systems used for each sound  accentuate this disassociation. In the first large opened space with the resonating acoustics height sound-speakers on the ground diffuse the chairs splinters, diagonally, on both aisle sides. In the last space, more confined, with muffled acoustics (the final chapel), only one speaker on a pedestal diffuses voices.

It produces a duality between the visitor relation to what he perceives : in a side (the nave) he can cross a sound field, in the other side (the chapel), he can move away or closer from a localized point. The first space strong resonance produces an echo, a second sound extending each chairs splinter, sounding through the silence. And the visitor keeps earing it even once he moved away from the field. And by the synchronism set, when he moves close to the voices, the echo becomes the sentences’one, associated as a shadow.

A third sound is staged in a third intermediate space : the wind. Registered by a stormy day, the wind squeezes in the space, under doors , and make architecture sing. Unlike the two others it’s an ongoing sound which fluctuate and insinuate, never interrupted with silences.

One possible summary of Quelqu'un par terre would be : a talking chair, sentences fall, the wind which sings.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

La main coupée

La main coupée is another version of the piece with noises Quant-à-soi. 

Eight speakers, placed on the floor in the corners of various rooms throughout the course of the exhibition, broadcast at high-volume a series of white parasite noises interrupted with silences. The appearance of each of these short sequences is a surprise, a shock to the listener. The spread of the speakers produces a comprehensive and disturbing presence that you can’t escape, but the high-volume diffusion offers the listener to discover the richness of textures.

Exception to the course, in one of the rooms, and central vantage point that we put a time to discover, is a single speaker in the center and put on a base, diffusing the voice of a woman. His speech, dotted, evocates invisible links, links between a party and a whole, a part of oneself as a hand removed. Every sentence converse with a sequence of noises diffused in the other rooms and remotely perceived.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Je m'en vais

The sound installation Je m’en vais is divided in two parts : in the elbow of the entrance, a loudspeaker placed on a base at ear height, diffuses two voices (one for the narrative, the other in exhalations) interrupted with silences. Further, at the four corners of the main space, four speakers, on the floor, diffuse broken fragments of hubbubs sequences in which screams, calls, snatches of songs and music mixed with laughters, playing with the silences and the imposing resonance of the place. The exhalations (in the entrance) are directly connected and synchronized with the fragments of hubbub (of the main space), and play for each sequence the shutter and closing.

The story: a child evocates a start. She recites the various points of its strategy: to gather the necessary, and slip, without being heard from others, in the opening of the door.

Je m’en vais is one of four sequences of the exhibition 23'17, conceived as a partition taking place in time. Dominique Blais, Pascal Broccolichi, Dominique Petitgand and Jérôme Poret shared the desire to think together on the possible forms of a group exhibition of sound installations. Their proposals explore the conditions for listening and sharing the same space. Each work introduces a specific relation to the place, that can be perceived clearly by the series of sound pieces, successively released. The works are interdependent, connected to each other by a driving computer program, but the singularities are preserved.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Proche, très proche

The installation Proche, très proche, is a version with noises of the piece Quant-à-soi, here, showed outside, in a park. It consists of three separate sound levels.

The first level consists of natural sounds from the space, heard in the distance.

The installation is a dotted piece which lets the surroundings exist. The two other levels are produced by a set of nine loudspeakers.

A first set of height loudspeakers, arranged in arched circle, placed on the ground and facing up, form a belt that faces us once entered the wood plot and had few steps. They diffuses a series of noises, interrupted with silences, which move from one speaker to another. Each of these sounds is a gesture, a very brief action occurred on household objects in different ways. They follow a logic we can’t understand.
Further, the center of the plot, a nineth speaker is placed on a pedestal at ear height. It diffuses a voice. This voice is hidden, we can only hear it once we crossed the first barrier of speakers. His discovery depends on our travel, our listening. Advancing, we can discover, more or less loudly and clearly by the distance, a series of short sentences, interrupted also with silences that are distributed exactly synchronous with the noise from the first four speakers (this synchronism can hide the voice : for every sentence is a noise). When that voice appears, links are revealed, the story can begin : a woman speaks, she speaks about invisible links she has trouble to define.


Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Quelqu'un par terre (Someone on the ground) / 5

The installation called Quelqu’un par terre is made up of three sound parts which are secretly linked together (one sound concealing another) and emitted in three open adjacent spaces, with different acoustics and characteristics.

A first part, using two loudpseakers mounted near the floor against the walls of the entrance, allows the sound of the wind to be heard. The wind of a stormy day, blowing in from under the doors, is creeping in all over the spaces and makes the architecture sing (and is revealed in the silences). A second part uses four loudspeakers set up high against the walls of the main large and sonorous space. Like echoes, sharp sounds (clanking sounds of a metal chair violently hurled down to the floor) broken with silences are being heard boucing from one wall to another. Farther away, in a more limited space that is being discovered in a second time, a third part emits voices (comments, digressions about a body lying on the ground) from a unique loudspeaker mounted on a stand and in an indirect position. A sequence of short sentences, which have been concealed so far, can only be heard once the threshold has been crossed; they take up, in a perfectly synchronous way, the rhythmic motifs of the clanking chairs that are perceived in the distance. When the visitor hears the voices, a story appears and connections are revealed. Each sentence is associated with a clank, like a shade, a twin sound, an echo.

On a small side, a video screen hanging on a wall at eye level shows subtitles, a synchronous written translation (Someone on the ground) of the words being heard.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

La tête la première

The installation called La tête la première takes up a whole building, almost all in one piece: the upper floor is used as a gangway and the openings are not a limit to the emitting of the sounds. The voices find refuge in a small room on the ground floor which is plunged in darkness and on the gangway upstairs: loudspeakers at ear level. The other sounds (screams – songs, puffs, whistling, frequency, beats, impacts, suspended chorus) are laid out as if they were produced by the architecture itself: on the ground, up high on the beams (vault under the roof), under the stairs or behind a wall.

The installation divides out a range of sound elements from a whole to be pieced again together. It has no centre, does not use all the loudspeakers at the same time, plays with the distances, connects what is close with what is distant. It is made up of several sound pieces and silences, connecting together some of the different parts, in a way that is peculiar to each sequence. Sometimes a sound, or a musical element, from one end of the building to the other, accompanies a voice. Other times, it amplifies it, manipulates it or relativizes it.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quelqu'un est tombé

The installation called Quelqu’un est tombé over takes up three rooms and plays with their proximity, their natures and their acoustics. One layer at a time, a narrative, unfolding throughout the three spaces, is being built up. In the first large room, with a very sonorous acoustics, four loudspeakers set high up on either side of the columns emit a series of short sounds (bursts, stridences) broken with silences. In the small airlock in-between, also very sonorous, a loudspeaker standing on the floor and turned the other way round to face the wall emits flows of instruments, muffled puffs and vibrations, long and tensed sequences, all of them perceived as if they were some underlayer from somewhere beyond.

Finally, and this is the third stratum of the installation, a loudspeaker set on a stand in the last room, which for the occasion has been turned into a particularly muffled space (carpet on the floor and wall insulation) designed as if it were a box for words, emits voices. This loudspeaker stands indirectly: the space must be walked through and one must turn round to face it. The acoustic contrast of this muffled space enables the listener to add up the sound layers coming from the three adjacent spaces: the sounding bursts, the music flow, the words.

The narrative comes out, some figures stand out from the background, some bonds are revealed. A woman tells us that someone has fallen over, a child describes a fragmented landscape, another walks, trips over and endlessly falls down.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Je parle

The installation called Je parle is located in a space all in one piece with a very reverberating acoustics. The first two loudspeakers, standing on the floor and turned the other way round to face the wall, emit elementary and long musical sequences. They spread out thanks to the strong resonance of the place and fill up the whole space. In between those sequences, alternately and as an echo, the two other loudspeakers, each one set on a stand and turned towards an alcove, emit voices from the other side of the space to which they turn their backs (the middle part being left empty). There is a series of very short sentences, broken with long silences, with restrained and impeded words, most of the time reduced to only one word: two children refusing to talk to each other.

Each alcove, which for the occasion is acoustically insulated, becomes a muffled partition which dissociates each utterance into two faces: the word and its echo.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Exhalaisons

The installation called Exhalaisons is set outdoors. It is in a park and is located on a bench. Two loudspeakers standing on the ground behind the seating audience emit sequences which last a few seconds. They are broken with silences. Each sequence, introduced and concluded by textless voices (breathing, coughing, humming), deploys a rumor, as some unstable state which adds up to the sounds which are naturally produced by the place and the urban environment.

The listening of the place (the activities in the distance, nature, the road, the trains) is aroused, favoured, all the more retrieved as it is impeded for a short while (a few seconds). The sounds of the piece which is being emitted are like stimuli, underlayers, like a skin, halfway between what is inside (the sounds of the piece) and what is outside (the sounds of the place).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Les ballons

The installation called Les ballons is located in a huge space (here, it is a barn). Four loudspeakers set up in the corners of the space emit the sounds of balls bouncing against different materials. Those sounds make the architecture sound, represent the distances, and define the listening temporality through back-and-forth phenomena, bouncing ones, and plays with the materials and movements created all over the space. The barn is a porous shelter that lets the outside seep in. The silences between the sound sequences, hollows and rhythmic punctuations, are as many inverted frames enabling the place, beyond the walls, to keep on making itself hear.

Hit the ball hard, stubbornly, alone in a huge and empty place.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

La porte ne s'est pas ouverte (The door didn't open)

The installation called La porte ne s’est pas ouverte uses five loudspeakers. In a first space, a first loudspeaker emits a voice. It is like a dot in the space, mounted on a stand, at ear level. A child tells a story about a moment of dramatic change: a flaw opens up and makes way to fear. In a second space nearby, a larger and more sonorous one, four loudspeakers emit musical atmospheres. They delimit a field: they hang up high on the walls. The reverberation makes the emitted sounds flourish. The installation plays on the distances, the acoustic difference peculiar to both spaces and connects the voice, perceived as a figure, with the reverberated sounds, perceived as a background. When the child's story gets stuck, fear appears and the music begins. Three different musical atmospheres (shrills from an electric guitar / sharp and metallic shock waves / vibrations and pulsations) follow one another and give this fear various colours.

Somewhere, in the periphery, a video screen hanging on the wall shows the written and synchronized translation of the words (The door didn't open).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le bout de la langue (The tip of the tongue) / 3

The installation called Le bout de la langue breaks up, spaces out and loops the first part of the sound piece which bears the same title. It is an installation for one voice only. A unique loudspeaker emits a voice: a specific dot in the space, mounted on a stand at ear level, more or less in the middle of a space. Breathing, beginnings of sharply interrupted sentences, broken with silences. A woman is wondering, looking for something she suddenly does not remember. The duration of silences, depending on the context of the exhibition and the utilized place, gives the work a shape marked by stops and starts, making it both absent and present, first discreet then insistent to the ears of the listener who pays attention to it.

In the bilingual version called Le bout de la langue (The tip of the tongue), the (French) voice is no longer the only one. On a stand, a few steps from the first one, there stands a second voice, that of the translator. This latter repeats and translates, into English and in reported speech, close or far from the litteral meaning.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quelqu'un par terre / 4

In this version of the installation called Quelqu’un par terre, the four loudspeakers for the chairs clanking are in a sloping position in a first large space. As for the voices, they are emitted from a mezzanine which, for the occasion, has been turned into a muffled and protected space. The wind is emitted from behind invisible wings.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quant-à-soi (Aloof) / 5

The installation called Quant-à-soi, in its duo version, connects two voices and two acoustic perspectives: one close and one distant. In a first space, a loudpseaker emits a woman's voice. It is mounted on a stand, to be seen somewhere. It has the status of what is close. The voice talks about the invisible links that relate it to the others. Long silences between the sentences make way to the second voice. In a space that the visitors cannot see, on the other side of a wall, a second loudspeaker emits the voice of a man who yells in the distance; he rants and talks in an unintelligible manner. It has the status of what is distant and seems to come from a highly reverberating space.

The editing structures the non direct, invisible links between the two voices. A sung passage makes this agreement manifest.

In a small room beside the first voice and on the way to the second which is hidden, a video screen hanging on a wall at eye level shows subtitles, a synchronous written translation (Aloof) of the words being heard.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Les symptômes (Symptoms)

J'ai changé (I changed)

On a central (one voice: one loudspeaker on a stand) and peripheral (the sound and musical atmospheres: four loudspeakers on the ground in the annexes, one concealed behind a door) system, several sequences follow one another in various configurations: a voice only, a neighbouring voice with a concealed and distant voice, a voice with music, music without a voice, sounds only, silences.

On the side part in the middle, hanging on wall, a video screen for the translation.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Itinéraire (Itinerary)

Three loudspeakers, mounted on a stand and divided out in three open and neighbouring spaces, emit one voice broken up into three units. A long sentence (the story of a journey and its many stopping places) is cut out into short fragments (unlike most of the other installations, it is not broken with silences) and successively shared out onto the three loudspeakers, thus giving rise to three distinct acoustic perspectives. The different listening spots, movements and positions of the listener determine what is close, what is next to, and what is distant.

At a strategic place, which is central and equidistant between the three loudspeakers, a video screen hanging on a wall shows the written translation of the words, which are here put back together into a retrieved unit.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le sens de la mesure / 3

First version of the installation called Le sens de la mesure, for one voice only. A woman talks about her disrupted relationship to time, to finding her way and to measure. It is a long sentence that is heard one fragment after another and broken with silences.

A unique loudspeaker mounted on a stand like a specific dot in the space. Dotted voice radiating and ruling the surroundings (for the listening audience).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Un tout, dont je fais partie (A whole, that I am a part of)

The installation called Un tout, dont je fais partie of emits a series of spoken and musical sound pieces. In a particularly muffled L-shaped space (floor and wall insulation), two first loudspeakers hanging on opposite walls emit the fragments of different sentences which have been broken up into two symmetrical units entering into a remote dialogue. On the ceiling and on the floor, two other loudspeakers, set up crosswise, emit musical sequences either alternately or accompanying the words.

In a central position which is equidistant between the voices, a video screen shows the written translation (A whole, that I am a part) of the words which have been here unified and put back together.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Ce moment d'attente

The installation called Ce moment d’attente takes up a whole building and is located in an environment laid out into four spaces which open the ones onto the others. There is no centre in the installation. It divides out sound sequences through time, all of them involving different spots in the space, connecting different areas, mixing what is close with what is distant. The story is being built up around the synchronism that relates the voices with the remote sounds and the amazement and feeling of telepathy that this triggers in the listener as well as the mysterious kind of agreement that bonds the different parts of a whole.

In the first muffled space, a loudspeaker mounted on a stand in indirect position: a voice, sentences broken with silence. In the reverberating lobby, in the foreground, another loudspeaker mounted on a stand, for two other voices, and in the middle distance, four loudspeakers hanging on the wall for noises and music. In the basement, two loudspeakers, set up on the floor and turned towards the back, vibrations and reverberating waves. Behind the wall, a concealed loudspeaker for one voice (harangues and songs).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Je

The installation called Je takes up a space all in one piece. It is made up of four loudspeakers set up on the floor, turned upwards, mounted and oriented according to a logic we do not understand. They can be walked across. We can hear four characters (a girl, a boy, a woman, a man) in staggered rows describing in turns the actions they are carrying out. The architecture is one of short sentences broken with silences. Several stories appear, thread their way through the silences and cross each other through sentences which are repeated, swapped, associated and dissociated.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le sens de la mesure (Das richtige Maß) / 2

The installation called Le sens de la mesure is located in an H-shaped space: one central part and four peripheral sides. Two acoustic perspectives are produced ready to be listened to: a background and a figure. In the central part, a loudspeaker is mounted on stand, slightly off the centre: the voice (the figure). A woman talks about her disrupted relationship to time, to finding her way and to measure. It is a long sentence that is heard one fragment after another and broken with silences. In the peripheral parts, four loudspeakers are set up on the floor and turned towards the ceiling. They delimit a field (the background). The sequences, which last a few seconds, are juxtaposed, interrupted, taken back up and offer the listener vague rumors, vibrations, humming, breathing, music. The background and the figure interact according to some hidden logic.

Somewhere on the side, a video screen shows the translation (Das richtige Maß).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Les liens invisibles

The installation called Les liens invisibles is located in three adjacent rooms, all opened the ones onto the others. In each one of them, a loudspeaker mounted on a stand emits the fragments of a voice: a long sentence broken up into three units (three dots in the space, three acoustic perspectives that stand out and rise in tiers according to where the listener finds himself). Alternately with the spoken sequences and the different nooks of the place, four loudspeakers set up on the floor delimit a square (in reference to the general plan) and emit musical and sound atmospheres which fill up the whole place.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Etat liquide / Télépathie

Overlapping the inside and outside parts of a museum, four loudspeakers set up on the floor of the landing and turned upwards emit the musical piece called Etat liquide (the repeated melody of water drops and metallic hammering). Inside a glass airlock, at the entrance of the building, a loudspeaker on a stand emits the sound piece called Télépathie y, for one voice only (a woman talks on the phone with another person who cannot be heard).

The two acoustic perspectives add each other on each time a visitor steps into the museum.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quant-à-soi / 4

The installation called Quant-à-soi, in its duo version, connects two voices and two acoustic perspectives: one close and one distant. In a first space, a loudpseaker emits a woman's voice. It is mounted on a stand, to be seen somewhere. It has the status of what is close. The voice talks about the invisible links that relate it to the others. Long silences between the sentences make way to the second voice. In a second space that the visitors cannot see, on the other side of a wall, a second loudspeaker emits the voice of a man who yells in the distance; he rants and talks in an unintelligible manner. It has the status of what is distant and seems to come from a highly reverberating space.

The editing structures the non direct, invisible links between the two voices. A sung passage makes this agreement manifest.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quelqu'un par terre / 3

Here the installation called Quelqu’un par terre, is located in a network of nine very sonorous underground spaces, in a row and linked together by one opening only. Only the last space, where the voices are, abutment of the tour, is muffled (insulation) and plunged in darkness.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Proportions / 2

The installation called Proportions is a bilingual and musical version of the installation called Le sens de la mesure. A few steps away from the French voice, the addition of a translator's voice (English translation in reported speech between commentary and litterality).

The installation is located within two levels. It structures two acoustic perspectives and divides up the listening into two times: a background and a figure. On the ground floor, four loudspeakers hang on the walls (concrete sounds broken with silences). In the basement, two other loudspeakers mounted on a stand (the two voices) do not face each other; the second one is oriented towards the first which, to its turn, is oriented towards the middle section of the space. The sounds from the first level, which can be heard in the basement as coming from a distance, take on the aspect of some underlayer which would remotely interact with the voices.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Il y a, ensuite / 3

The installation called Il y a, ensuite takes up at least two spaces. One space for the music underlayer and nearby, one space for the two voices.

In this version, a partition draws a first space, an airlock, a first landing on which two loudspeakers, mounted half way up on a stand, symmetrically emit a music (scansion, alternated beating). Beyond, in a larger and more open space, from which the underlayer music can still be heard, two loudspeakers at a distance and mounted on a stand at ear level emit two voices: on the one hand, a child who describes on a one fragment basis a landscape to be pieced back together (panorama, close and distant details) and on the other hand, a woman who triggers off the story and relaunches it. The two loudspeakers for the voices do not face each other: the second one is oriented towards the first which is oriented towards the distance.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Cet empêchement

The installation called Cet empêchement takes up a rather small, muffled space all in one piece. A first loudspeaker, on a stand, emits a voice: a little girl (litany of the hitches, closing, constraints). Farther away, two other loudspeakers symmetrically set up on the floor and turned upwards open up a passage: music (a scaling motif that repeats itself like a tiny sequence to be, sharply stopped and endlessly taken back up).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le bout de la langue / 2

The installation called Le bout de la langue breaks up, spaces out and loops the first part of the sound piece which bears the same title. It is an installation for one voice only.

A unique loudspeaker emits a voice: a specific dot in the space, mounted on a stand at ear level, more or less in the middle of a space.

Breathing, beginnings of sharply interrupted sentences, broken with silences. A woman is wondering, looking for something she suddenly does not remember. The duration of silences, depending on the context of the exhibition and the utilized place, gives the work a shape marked by stops and starts, making it both absent and present, first discreet then insistent to the ears of the listener who pays attention to it.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quelqu'un par terre (Someone on the ground) / 2

In this version of the installation called Quelqu’un par terre (someone on the ground), the space has first been cut into four parts. A sonorous space (first room for the clanking), a passageway (corridor for the translation subtitles), a small muffled room plunged in darkness (for the voices) and the wings (offices, for the concealed wind).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

La cécité (Blindness)

The installation called La cécité takes up a lengthy space all in one piece with only one entrance and plunged in darkness. The entrance is left open, so the outside light can reach the first meters and then show the wayout to the visitor who, after being in darkness, turns his back. In the back of the space – pitch-black, a bottomless well – a loudspeaker set up at ear level and oriented towards the entrance emits a voice (the story of a journey, from darkness to light, from isolation to the return amongst people). In the middle of the space, four loudspeakers set up on the floor and turned upwards emit encompassing sound atmospheres (muted vibration then collective hubbub).

Outside and in broad daylight, there is a video screen for the translation of the words (Blindness) that have been heard inside.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Proportions

For this stereo version of the installation called Proportions, all the sounds have been gathered on two loudspeakers, mounted on a stand and in a non symmetrical position.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Un faible pour le lac

Sound diffusion, public listening session, one evening outdoors. The audience, gathered, sitting, facing two loudspeakers, for a stereo and frontal audition. Several spoken and musical sound pieces following each other up give rise to a long open and fragmented story.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Il y a, ensuite (There is, then) / 2

Version for voices only of the installation called Il y a, ensuite, from which the musical underlayer is substracted: the street down below and the traffic give rise to a rumor which can be heard inside the exhibition and takes up the space devoted to music. The great length of the glass roof enables the two voices from two distant areas to be emitted.

On one side, a video screen for the translation (There is, then).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le banc (Die Bank / La panca)

Several devices for a series of stereo sound pieces in trilingual versions. Around an editing specific to each story, three present languages: French and its translation (in reported speech) into the two languages (Italian and German) used in the city.

Daily broadcasts interrupting the news every hour on two local public radios.

Public diffusions – free collective listening sessions in a bar, a hostel or to organize at home.

Full page publications of a selection of transcriptions in local newspapers.

Access in the gallery, on headsets.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Con voci e senza

In the center, a loudspeaker mounted on a stand emits voices whereas in the periphery four loudspeakers (three on the floor on either sides and one hanging on the entrance wall) emit musical and sound atmospheres. The sequences follow one another in different configurations: voice only, voice with music, music without voice, noises only, silences.

On the floor, near the centre and in an indirect position, a video screen for the translation (in Italian for this version).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Mon possible

The installation called Mon possible is located a whole building and takes place in a space laid out into seven parts, all opened the ones onto the others.

Ball noises, broken with silences, make the place resound and through echoes, bouncing and back and forth movements, define the temporality and the distances which have been created inside the reverberating spaces (four loudspeakers set high up in some nooks represent the diagonals). Alternately with the ball sequences, in the hollow sections of the other parts of the space (four other loudspeakers set half way up), several musical atmospheres (frequency, metallic hammering, stridence) fractionally fill up the volumes. Finally the voices, remotely phrasing the music, are being emitted only in the muffled spaces (two loudspeakers at ear level, one in broad daylight, the other in the dark).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quelqu'un par terre

In this version, the installation called Quelqu’un par terre takes up a whole building, on three floors opened the ones onto the others (second and third floors used as gangways). On the ground floor, a reverberating space, there are four loudspeakers hanging on the walls for the chairs clanking. On the second floor, in a side room, there is a concealed loudspeaker: the wind snakes its way all over the building. On the third floor, a muffled space, there is a loudspeaker for the voices (which can be heard only once upstairs) which is mounted on a stand.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Il y a (Der er)

Il y a (Der er) is a bilingual version of the installation Il y a. In this version, diffused through helmets, in front of a window that reveals the city, the music is gone and the voice of a woman has been replaced with a voice of a translator who speaks Danish and resumed indirectly the child’s speech. The two voices, staggered and in turn, shell various fragments of a landscape.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Juliette Liautaud

Il y a, ensuite

In this version of the installation called Il y a, ensuite, which takes place in a symmetrical twin staircase, the music takes up the first landing and the voices the second one. The two loudspeakers for the music are symmetrically mounted on the window sill. For the two voices, upstairs, two loudspeakers are set high up on either sides of the major dividing line and they are slightly steeping towards the staircases. The visitor, who can decide to use the left or right staircase to walk up, first hears either the child's voice or the woman's. On the second landing, the two voices, equidistant between the two loudspeakers, merge together while the underlayer music from the lower floor can still be heard.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Expectoration à la clef (Extra expectoration thrown in)

Two loudspeakers connected to a computer screen (synchronous written translation). On a loudspeaker, one voice: a man, the story of a trying, panting race; he is gasping for breath and has a pain in the side. Breathing and sentences are interrupted, taken back up and manipulated by the musical sound (whistling and shaken frequencies) while being emitted on the other loudspeaker.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Voix blanches

The installation called Voix blanches structures two acoustic perspectives: a background and a foreground which are shown according to an inverted logic. At first sight, four loudspeakers concealed above the central space on an inner rooftop emit four musical and sound sequences which shower back down in the entrance and on the side parts and welcome the visitors. Further on, in the back section of an alcove, two loudspeakers set up on the floor in an indirect position emit two voices (a woman and a female translator recorded on the phone, speaking Italian in reported speech). When the visitor finds himself in the alcove, sat in front of the two loudspeakers, the sounds coming from the roof can now be heard like a background, against which the voices stand out in the foreground.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quant-à-soi (Terughoudend) / 3

This bilingual version of the installation called Quant-à-soi, is located inside a large lift with seats which connects the different floors of a museum. This space is a rest area, a break in the visits of the rooms. Its status is almost that of a public space. To the sounds produced by the lift machinery itself are added other sounds: rumors, vibrations, unspecified underground layers, all of them making music out of this whole and making the listener have doubts as to the origin of all he perceives. The duration of the silences endows the piece with a discreet, distruptive and unsettling presence.

In this bilingual version, the French voice is accompanied by a second one, the voice of a female translator who repeats and automatically translates in reported speech into the other language of the hosting country (Flemish). The translator's voice has been recorded on a phone. The recording background noise allows to hear the distance between the two languages and distinguishes the two voices.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quant-à-soi / 2

This bilingual version of the installation called Quant-à-soi, for which the female translator's voice has been recorded on the phone, can be heard with headsets lent on request to the visitor so he may walk along the street that connects, outdoors, the different stages of the exhibition.

The headsets that are used are called "open". Unlike "closed" headsets which do not allow anything else but what is recorded to be heard, "open" headsets allow to hear the surrounding noises. Therefore, the listener has a private access to the mixing between inner sounds and outer ones.

The two voices (in French and in Thai) alternately overlap according to a dotted pattern, like some commentary on the street events and activities.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

La gorge sèche

The installation called La gorge sèche takes up a whole building over several floors. Musical sequences (undetermined mechanisms and suspended chorus) from a series of air shafts connecting the different levels together and emitted by four concealed loudspeakers can be heard as if they had escaped from the basement. In the basement, two other loudspeakers in the nooks emit other sounds which associate themselves with the ones which have escaped. On the ground floor, three loudspeakers mounted on a stand alternately emit voices (several narratives in three voices). Further down, a door blocking out a passage conceals a loudspeaker from whose chink the sound of water flow and a metallic melody can be heard. All the sounds punctuated by silences get linked together from afar.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

A l'étouffée

In the first part of the space, there are four loudspeakers set up on the floor and turned towards the sides. Further back, at the end of the space, there is one loudspeaker mounted on a stand in an indirect position facing a wall of insulating panels. Several sequences follow each other in different configurations: one voice only, voice with sounds, sounds only, silences.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le sens de la mesure

First version of the installation called Le sens de la mesure, for one voice only. A woman talks about her disrupted relationship to time, to finding her way and to measure. It is a long sentence that is heard one fragment after another and broken with silences.

First version installation called Le sens de la mesure, for one voice only. A unique loudspeaker mounted on a stand like a specific dot in the space. Dotted voice radiating and ruling the surroundings (for the listening audience).

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Dehors

Dehors is a shorter version with headsets of Exhalaisons. Meant to be listened to outdoors, while walking about in a city, a park or by a lakeshore. The headsets used are said to be "open".

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Pleines nuits

The installation called Pleines nuits structures two acoustic perspectives. The first loudspeaker, set at the threshold of a chicane in broad daylight, emits a voice: a man who talks about how his periods of insomnia get started. Short sentences introducing the three long and encompassing vocal sequences (humming, shouting, singing at the top of one's voice, vague and unintelligible secular psalmodies) are emitted by four loudspeakers set up inside the space plunged in darkness.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Quant-à-soi

This duo version of the installation called Quant-à-soi, takes up the whole space of an empty theatre (off performance and rehearsal times) to which the ground floor access has been blocked up. The first voice, that of the woman, is located upstairs on the dress circle right in the middle of a row of seats. This is the only place where the visitors can go to hear this voice at close range. The second voice, that of the man (unintelligible yelling haranguer), is hidden out on the stage inside the prompt box and can be heard from afar, resounding all over the reverberating space.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Sommeils

The installation called Sommeils puts several stories into a succession. Inside a space all in one piece, six loudspeakers hanging on the walls and turned towards the centre emit various voices, musical atmospheres and silences. The place where the seat is suggests the audience a privileged listening spot towards which the many sound layers get mixed and converge.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Obstacles

Inside a space all in one piece, a centrifugal device made up of six loudspeakers hanging on the walls emits several sound pieces. The first loudspeaker is a central one for the voices (a woman followed by a man). The four others, on the sides, are for the musical atmospheres. A last one, set back, is for other voices perceived in the distance.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Les éditions

On each seat a headset to browse through the published records.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Epuisement

Somewhere inside, there is an interphone, nestled in a wall. The person who switches it on can hear a female voice. A woman who keeps on soliloquizing, without interrupting herself except when the switch is on. The discreet background (home rumor) behind the voice, makes the presence of a second space manifest, to which the listener finds himself (or seems to find himself) simultaneously and remotely connected.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le bout de la langue

The installation called Le bout de la langue breaks up, spaces out and loops the first part of the sound piece which bears the same title. It is an installation for one voice only.

A common hi-fi system with its speakers piled up the one on the other, amids other pieces, more or less in the middle of a space.

Breathing, beginnings of sharply interrupted sentences, broken with silences. A woman is wondering, looking for something she suddenly does not remember. The duration of silences, depending on the context of the exhibition and the utilized place, gives the work a shape marked by stops and starts, making it both absent and present, first discreet then insistent to the ears of the listener who pays attention to it.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

L'amorce des consignes

The installation called L’amorce des consignes takes up two spaces inside a public building. In the lobby, six loudspeakers set high up emit a repetitive musical atmosphere, whose volume and mixing vary according to the attention being paid to it. Further down, in an adjacent part beyond several doors, a loudspeaker hanging on a wall at ear level behind seats emits a voice (a little boy who makes a stocklist of the things to be taken in case of an impending disaster). The doors, which get opened or closed whenever the users of the place walk in or out, make the neighbouring voice and the music perceived from afar overlap, or not.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Le prévu, l'imprévu

The installation called Le prévu, l’imprévu takes up two symmetrical spaces, laid out on either side of a long corridor. Inside each one of the two spaces, two loudspeakers: a unique voice (a woman) and a unique haunting musical atmosphere. In the first space, the woman describes what makes the expectation and the excitement about an unhoped-for and unspoken event (Le prévu) while in the second one, she describes the acknowledgement and the devastation once the event has taken place (L’imprévu). Right in the middle of the corridor, the music which comes from either sides connects the two spaces.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Les phrases

On the local radio of a shopping mall and emitted throughout the circulation spaces, a very short sentence that lasts only a few seconds (randomly selected out of a set of fifteen) can be heard every quarter of an hour, interrupting the flow of music, activities and advertisement.

In one of the shops of the mall, inside the shop window, unlimited editions – records (La journée), post cards (Mon possible), inking-pads (Une douleur spéciale) – are displayed in stacks and sold, next to alarm clocks.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Son coin

On several floors of an administrative building, in several empty rooms and spaces (meeting room, waiting room, corridors, staircases, landings), portable record players, with loudspeakers and headsets, are set up, concealed or visible, and emit a series of stereo sound pieces.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Fringale

In the city center, next to a terrace, a sequence of stereo sound pieces emitted by two loudspeakers set behind a fence can be heard as if from inside by a listener who would be sitting outside on a bench.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Au pied du lit

In every single room (kitchen, bedrooms, attic) of an almost empty several storey house, portable CD players are set up on a chair, a table, a nightstand. On each player, a sequence of stereo sound pieces. The mixing of the different sound sources can be heard through the doors in the staircase and on the landings.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Certaines responsabilités

Two loudspeakers at ear level are set up in front of a row of seats in a film theatre. Listening is meant to be performed while seated, in stereo and frontal. On the same device, several sound pieces follow one another and deploy a long open and fragmented story.

Dominique Petitgand

Translation Jean-Charles Beaumont

Other works

Les pièces manquantes / The missing pieces

In ambient light, a slide projector casts a succession of 16 slides in a small format. Each slide presents a text that appears for the time necessary for its reading.

Each text corresponds to a sound piece that I was not able or did not want to make: a prevented recording, impossible edits, envisaged at one time and then renounced. For each, something that sticks (circumstance, inaptitude or conviction).

The installation exists in a French or English version.

Dominique Petitgand

Records

Mon possible

Track listing

1. intro Comptable

2. Itinéraire

3. La chambre sourde

4. Dehors

5. L'impossible

6. Quelqu'un

7. L'air qui rentre

8. La porte ne s'est pas ouverte

9. Le tour du cadran

10. Qui s'abat

11. Pleine nuit

12. Moi, qui

13. Lalalamour

14. La chaise

15. J'ai changé

Fatigue

Le bout de la langue

Track listing

1. Le bout de la langue

2. Tôt

3. Quelqu'étiquettes

4. La surdité

5. La porte

6. La dispute

7. La cécité

8. Par surprise

9. La centrifugeuse

10. Une douleur spéciale

11. Fringale

12. La brosse à cheveux (muette)

13. Cette chanson

14. 6 + 1

15. Je m'endors

16. Présage

17. Aupied du lit

18. Extinction

19. Visite imprévue, zéro

20. La tamponneuse

21. Bière

22. Soulagement / regret

23. Courants d'air

24. Au pied du lit (musique seule)

Le son du tonneau

Side A: Le son du tonneau

Side B: Le son du tonneau (musique seule)

Etat liquide

Le point de cöté

Track listing

1. Cette agitation

2. Au ventre

3. La rosée

4. A portée de main

5. Domicile

6. Linge

7. Plein air

8. En tête

9. Cet empêchement

10. Feu vert

11. Plomb

12. Les symptômes

13. Inciser

14. Etat liquide

Rez-de-chaussée

Track listing

1. Dimanche

2. Perruches / presse-purée

3. Soleil

4. Risques

5. Maison

6. Disputes

7. Chien

8. Faillite

9. Parfois

10. Mariage

11. Rue

12. Neige

13. Oui

14. Non

15. Suré

16. Bouteille

17. Biscuit

18. Souvenir

19. Marraine

20. Tapotements / tuba / mer

21. Guerre

22. Dire

23. Lamentable

24. Compliqué

25. Cagoule

26. Violence

27. Questions / porte-clefs

Le sens de la mesure

Track listing

1. Le sens de la mesure

2. L'amorce des consignes

3. Je descends

4. 1 / 79

5. La chaleur

6. Il s'est précipité

7. Mur

8. A l'étoufée

9. Exhalaison

10. Une protection

11. La tête

12. Pont

13. De l'éther

14. Je marche

15. 1 / 2 / 3

16. Ce lointain

17. Il dormait

18. Il y a, ensuite

19. Son coin

20. Epuisement

21. Du mercurochrome

22. Dire

23. Lamentable

24. Compliqué

La journée

10 petites compositions familiales

Track listing

1. Le prévu

2. En partance

3. Par terre

4. Comme tout le monde

5. On le retrouvera

6. Le visiophone odorant

7. La tête la première

8. Quelqu'un est tombé

9. La brosse à cheveux

10. L'imprévu

11 petites compositions familiales

Track listing

1. Il y a

2. Le plus gros juron

3. Un sacré paquet

4. Moi, qui l'aimais tant

5. Robe longue et p'tite cravate

6. Je ne sais pas

7. Une protection

8. Un faible pour le lac

9. Un rêve comme un cauchemar

10. Rêverie khmère

11. Train-train

V/A Collective

CD

The Plastic People Issue, Vibrö, Paris, 2009.

City Sonics, Transcultures, Mons, 2007.

Mercersound, Venice Biennale, Mercer Union, Toronto, 2005.

Vollevox, Komplot, Bruxelles, 2005.

Ten Years, Prohibited Records, Paris, 2005.

Pas attendre !, Shambala Records, Paris, 2002.

Mutations - Sonic City, Airplane Label, Tokyo, 2001.

Sampler, Ici d’ailleurs..., Nancy, 1999.

The Cocktail Event, Staaplaat, Amsterdam, 1997.

Sampler, Sine Terra Ferma, Ici d’ailleurs..., Nancy, 1997.

Sonderangebot, Staaplaat, Amsterdam, 1996.

The Answering Machine, Staaplaat, Amsterdam, 1996.

Hörspiele 2, La Muse en Circuit , France Culture, NDR Hambourg, Paris, 1995.

Musique’s Action 2, Vand’œuvre, CCAM, Nancy, 1995.

Bruits Blancs, Vand’œuvre, PDC, DSA, Nancy, 1991.

Publications

Installations (documents)

This monography dedicated to Dominique Petitgand' sound installations - with a selection of pieces from 1994 to 2009 - shows how the artist himself attempted to document his own listening and sound creation practice. Various forms of representation (sketches, exhibitions views, descriptions, text-pictures, transcriptions) go with a choice of notes and interviews.

Sketches, descriptions, transcriptions, notes by Dominique Petitgand

Interviews Dominique Petitgand with Vanessa Desclaux, Elodie Royer and Yoann Gourmel, Guillaume Constantin, Marinella Paderni

Translation by Jean-Charles Beaumont, Miles Hankin, Chet Wiener

Les pièces manquantes (The missing pieces)

The sound pieces I wasn't able to create, or decided not to.

Recordings that fell through, impossible editings, planned then abandoned.

In each case, a hassle - circumstances, incapacity or lack of conviction.

Texts by Dominique Petitgand

Translation by John Tittensor

La gorge sèche (documents)

Transcriptions by Dominique Petitgand

Text by Guillaume Désanges

Sketches by Amélie Codugnella

Notes, voix, entretiens (Notes, voices, interviews)

Rather than a catalogue or artist's book, this publication is conceived as a hybrid project, a collection of documents relating to the sound pieces made by Dominique Petitgand since 1992. It comprises a broad selection of these works, as transcribed by the artist, structured around two interviews, together with "listener's notes" by critics and other artists.

Its aim is to open up the body of work and to examine the different ways in which it can be represented, documented and transcribed.

Transcriptions by Dominique Petitgand

Interviews Dominique Petitgand with Guillaume Désanges

Texts by Dominique A, Claude Lévêque, Guillaume Désanges, François Piron, Grand Magasin, Loïc Touzé.

Translation by Brian Holmes, Chet Wiener, Charles Penwarden

Textes / sons (Texts / sounds)

With an Audio CD :

sound pieces excerpts, text by François Piron, interview with Yvane Chapuis, editing Dominique Petitgand.

Sketches and transcriptions by Dominique Petitgand

Text by François Piron

Interview Dominique Petitgand with Yvane Chapuis

Translation by Simon Pleasance

Video documentation

Credits

Sound pieces by Dominique Petitgand. Musics composed and played by Dominique Petitgand.

With the voices of Dario Alvarez, Dominique Ané, Camille Auvy, Colin Auvy, Georges Caruzzo, François Gobillot, Monique Gobillot, Louise Goutin, Bénédicte Petitgand, Jean Petitgand, Marie-Henriette Petitgand, Liza Maria Riveros, Paoulo Riveros, Edit Zakal and Norbert.

With the oral translations of Eric Baudelaire, Peter O'Brien, Daniel Darius Oskui, Ruth Gamper, Miles Hankin, Marina Melancorteci, Christine Melchiors, Sophie Nys, Massimo Prandini and Tatsanai Wongpisethkul.

With the written translations of Jean-Charles Beaumont, Carlo Fossati, Miles Hankin, Ruth Kaaserer, Nicolas Sergere and Chet Wiener.

With the musical and sound participations of Dominique Ané, Hervé Birolini, Antoine Carolus, Stéphane Janin, Fabrice Laureau, Marc Sens, Christine Ott, Yann Tiersen and Jean-Pierre Viazzi.

With the special participations of Julien Crépieux and Marie Vachette (video subtitles), Christelle Chalumeaux (sonic insulation architectures) and Kerwin Rolland (acoustic).