Xavier Ménard and Camille St-Amand

ON/OFF (1,0)
05.10–06.16.2018

On/Off (1,0) is an audio installation that makes the performance of electroacoustic music accessible to all. A switchboard in the form of a 1960s-style synthesizer allows users to start and stop various sound tracks through six switches. The tracks were created using different sounds from digitally-processed switches.

Inspired by Xavier Ménard’s electroacoustic composition On/Off (1,0), this audio installation is based on the relationship between electro-mechanics and digital electronics. Ever since the industrial era, audio editing has been based on the logic of On/Off, which allows different processes to start and stop. In the digital era, this logic is known as binary form (1,0). To better grasp this concept through composition, Ménard recorded the On and Off sound of nine different switches. The “electro-mechanical” sounds were then digitally altered, enabling us to compare the activation of industrial or digital processes via different combinations of On and Off (1,0). The action of starting and stopping each sound track through reel switches makes the experience of composing more tangible, thanks to the performative aspect of the switchboard designed by Camille St-Amand.

(translated by Jo-Anne Balcaen)