B o o k C o n c e r t o i n E i g h t A c t s
A performance in two parts
Two performances. 8 different books. 40 copies. 20 people. 2 languages. 1 conductor.
A new Book Concerto like never seen before!
This work is part of a series of performances coined by the artist as Book Concerto. It comprises of the entirety of a book’s pages being simultaneously read and then turned to create an ensemble of pages in turn. The work explores the possibility for a whole novel to be read in the space of ten minutes, as the performers engage in a collective act of reading. The reading is orchestrated by a conductor who instructs each reader to read several pages from a chosen book simultaneously. The book becomes the musical instrument for the performance.
Through an extremely physical though ephemeral manifestation, Book Concerto in Eight Acts turns an every day object into a sculptural and sonic experience.
This performance was specially created for the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès & Actes Sud’s artist residency book launch. The performance took place in the Hermès Boutique Rive Gauche (formerly the Lutétia swimming pool).
This particular presentation of my series of ‘Book Concertos’ unfolded like a promenade through the space. Dispersed performers mingled with the audience: the encounters ranging from unexpected to intimate, collective to disparate. The sonic experience was equally polarized, at times conducted to resound through the whole audience and other times, fragmented and personal, as individual guests encountered individual performers (flaneurs).
More information on Book Concerto series of performances
Librairie Chaîne d’Encre
Magasin Hermès Sèvres, Paris, France
Performance for the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès
and Actes Sud