IT’S MY ISLAND
“It’s my island” traces the portrait of Ouessant through its soundscape and the stories of the residents of the island’s nursing home.
Between the quest for lost sounds, radio experiments by the elderly, and electroacoustic work, this is the account of a residency carried out on the island.
Capturing sound memory, in search of lost sounds.
What sound memory is constitutive of the island today? What remains of the sounds of the past, and how can their traces be found? How are they materialized?
Guided by these questions, we conducted a sound collection project.
We explored the territory, scrutinized its corners, and recorded sounds that seemed to tell something about Ouessant using specific devices: stereo microphones, a hydrophone to record the sounds of water, and a geophone to capture the sounds of the earth.
The question of sound traces was at the heart of our research. What resonances persist today on objects from the past? We recorded the variations of the wind on old rusty anchors, explored wastelands, bunkers, and an abandoned port that tell the story of another time.
In search of the sounds of today amidst the remnants of before:
This approach also guided our work of mediation: we tried to confront our precious collection with the voices of the past, those who today struggle to remember what once was. We recorded the sound memories of the nursing home residents, the last witnesses of a sound identity now vanished.
We also carried out in-depth work on listening with headphones, particularly with people experiencing cognitive disorders. We offered an immersion into the sensation of sounds that evoke past emotional states.
Listening thus became a powerful starting point for dialogue, a way to exchange about the sounds of the past and what we would like to take with us during the final departure.
soundcloud.com/juliettechartier/cest-mon-ile/s-EmLIkI6xUu8
IT’S MY ISLAND -A sound artwork by Juliette Chartier et Lorine Carton-Amor, 2023, 10mn06
With the voices of the residents of the Ouessant Island nursing home.
Sound recording, editing: Juliette Chartier et Lorine Carton-Amor
Thanks to à Ann Stouvenel, Marcel Dinahet, Elie Faure de Finisterrae, Harmony Suard et Lamia Zanna des Ateliers Médicis pour leur accompagnement.
Thanks to l’Ehpad Brusat, their résidents and Bruno Veret et Rose Orlach.
Thanks too the Cemo, Gaëlle and her staff, à l’Office de Tourisme, Éléna and her staff, Jean-Fanch ainsi qu’à Xavier Peuziat de l’Ilophone.
This residency took place with the support of the Finisterrae art center as part of the Tempête residency and the Culture and Health program of the Finistère Departmental Council, in collaboration with the Transat program of the Ateliers Médicis, supported by the Ministry of Culture – Cultural Summer.
