TITLE : Flying School
TYPE WORK : Sound Installation with automation
DATE : 2000
MATERIAL : umbrellas, harmonicas, motors, steel,
halogen lamp, MIDI controller, computer.
DIMENSIONS : each object : 20 cm X 60 cm X max. height 220 cm
(8 in. X 24 in. X max. height 87 in.)
ceiling projection : about 12 m X 12 m
PHOTO & VIDEO : Diane Landry
 VIDEO
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- Musée d'art de Joliette (Quebec).
- SolwayJones, Los Angeles CA.
- Bus 117, Melbourne, Australia.
- Avatar à Vooruit, during Courtisane Festival, Vooruit, Gand, Belgium.
- Francofffonies - Pleine Lune, Théâtre Châtelet, Paris, France.
- Rice Gallery, Houston, TX.
- Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC.
- hi-tech / lo-tech, Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA.
- during Stockholm-New Music, Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Definitely Superior, Thunder Bay (Ontario).
- during Mois multi, Productions Recto-Verso, Quebec city.
- Ace Art inc., Winnipeg (Manitoba).
- Mobius, Boston, MA.
- Mercer Union, Toronto (Ontario).
- La Biennale de Montréal, Montreal (Quebec).
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The work stands amidst empty space like an impenetrable island. From it sprout 24 multicoloured umbrellas attached to different rods at different heights, but always within the range of a person's stature. The umbrellas unfold and fold intermittently, slowly, like a person inhaling and exhaling. While apparently protecting themselves from an unlikely shower, they seem to chant a litany. The plaintive melody comes from little motor-driven accordions, of my making, that lie at the base of each umbrella. They further accentuate the “lung” effect and, often, the spectators adjust their own breathing accordingly. After a while, one also notices the silhouettes that the halogen lamps cast on the ceiling. These moving silhouettes, projected upwards, resemble a flower opening and then closing. The field of umbrellas moves unpredictably, its vagaries much like those of our climate. The motion follows an ambiguous sequence that echoes the accordion sounds, thus capturing the audience's attention and altering the way they perceive the work. To animate Flying School, each umbrella-accordion is hooked up to a controller that in turn connects to a computer. A program enables me to compose a sequence that makes the umbrella-accordions unfold or fold one after another. The umbrella-accordions are a hybrid of light and sound, infused with elements of sculpture, musical craftsmanship, and electronics.
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