Nature and technology can seem like different worlds. However, could these worlds cross over and combine into new forms?  What can we learn from the patterns of nature and, in reverse, what can we offer nature? Could the subtle boundaries between artificial and natural worlds hold keys to new kinds of harmony in our expanded, turbulent world? 

The workshop is about sound and light, human-made and natural. We’ll experiment in order to create a hybrid sound and lightscape in an installation that achieves to find new conversations with the world of nature. In a series of talks and explorations, we will reflect on some of the endless connections and endless transitions that can be found in the world. We will create fields of new space by using artificially created sounds and tones, interwoven with our own lights and shadows. Within whispering sounds, new voices might be heard.  Within glimmering shadows, dream-like worlds might be seen. This will be about listening and watching carefully, understanding and answering. We hope to create a deeply interwoven new world, operated with the support of technical and digital devices and installed within Boisbuchet’s unique architecture and nature.

Philip Beesley and Rob Gorbet's Toronto-based sculpture and interactive systems studio is working with the international researchers of the Living Architecture Systems Group, preparing kits of simple electronic devices and geometric constructions to equip students for the workshop. We will bring these to the workshop and share them to make electroacoustic and lighting devices that explore the boundaries between sound, light, and motion. Simple electronic controllers will be shared, with coding that can be manipulated by beginners without prior training.  Devices for creating movements and sound will be included. Geometric kits can be extended by using materials found within the grounds of the Domaine. After an introductory day where we follow kit patterns that introduce some specialized ways of working, individual exploration will follow.  In the last days of the workshop, we will draw these explorations together into a collective installation and performance. Students in the workshop will also contribute to an open-access publication documenting the work.