Organising Sound with Audio Clothes: An interview with Benoit Maubrey

Benoit Maubrey’s work with audio art started in Berlin in 1982 with public sound sculptures, and he eventually turned to performative practices with portable audio embedded in clothes and costumes. His artistic practice currently spans site-specific and non-site-specific sound installations, locational and non-locational performances, as well as performed, interactive and non-interactive sound installations, and a comprehensive description of his artistic trajectory is planned for release in 2019: Benoit Maubrey – Sound Sculptures. His most well-known ensemble is The Audio Ballerinas, wearing tutus with a combination of solar cells, light sensors, samplers, radios, amplifiers and loudspeakers. The ensemble has been performing since its debut in Lille in 1990. Maubrey has developed a huge portfolio of audio ensemble performances on several continents, and an interesting thread of autonomy and critical reflection is running through his oeuvre. The costumes and their technical affordances have changed with new technological developments, and in this interview Maubrey explains these developments, and how he has maintained and extended his artistic focus.

Restricted Narration pada Penciptaan Iklan Layanan Masyarakat “Remaja Anti Narkoba”

Iklan layanan masyarakat ini, merupakan sebuah hasil karya seni audiovisual yang dibuat berdasarkan pengamatan sosial yang sedang terjadi di Indonesia, dengan judul karya “Restricted Narration (Penceritaan terbatas)Pada Penciptaan Iklan Layanan Masyarakat “Remaja Anti Narkoba”. Karya iklan ini menggunakan metode restricted narration (Penceritaan terbatas) dalam penyampaian ceritanya, sehingga selalu ada informasi penting yang dirahasiakan dari penonton dan akan ditampilkan pada saat yang tepat. Penerapan restricted narration pada iklan ini adalah melalui penceritaan tokoh utama yang selalu menggambarkan sebuah kehidupan seorang pelajar yang terlihat baik-baik saja dengan keluarga yang harmonis, namun pada kenyataannya, pelajar tersebut adalah seorang pengguna narkoba yang dihantui hukum dan akan menjemput kematian. This public service advertisement is a final assignment work of visual audio art which is based on the social observations that are taking place in Indonesia, with the title of the work “Penggunaan Restricted Narration (Penceritaan terbatas) pada Penciptaan Iklan Layanan Masyarakat Remaja Anti Narkoba”. This advertisement work used restricted narration method (penceritaan terbatas) to display its story, so that there was always important information that kept hidden from viewer and would be revealed at the right moment. The application of restricted narration in this advertisement is through main character’s story that was described as a student with a good life and harmonious family, but in reality that student is a drug user that would always haunted by laws and will die.

The Sound of Movement Wearables: Performing UKIYO

Although interest in wearable/mobile technologies in today's world of social networks, fashion and lifestyle industries is on the rise, the performing arts rarely integrate body-worn technologies into their dramaturgies. After some pioneering efforts in music and audio art, dance and theater practices have slowly begun to benefit from performance design investigating “sounding” garments that transduce the sensuality of movement gestures through the extension of wearable instrument-costumes. Describing their choreographic installation UKIYO (2009-) as an example of sound-motion-design research, the authors highlight integrated methods for creating particularized audiophonic, amplificatory and kinaesonic garments to be worn by dancers, actors and musicians in interactive/responsive environments.