Evelyne Drouin (Dj Mini) & Jeffrey Dungen

Présences périphériques
01.11–02.17.2018

Présences Périphériques is an installation that gives sonic presence to interconnected apparatuses worn by viewers within a space that is “under surveillance.” These apparatuses emit Bluetooth signals that travel through the space, are captured by a receiver and then transformed into sound and light sequences.

The anonymous emission and inventorying of this data triggers sound sequences associated with various types of equipment and their identifiers. Some of these peripheral devices have their own rhythms, emitting ‘data packets’ at regular intervals, while others produce completely random tempos, or ones that repeat at different intervals. The proximity of these devices and the relative position of the Bluetooth waves they emit alters the volume and strength of the sound and light sequences. Présences Périphériques allows us to see and hear the correlation between the transfer of data through sound and light via an installation that uses “calm technology.”1 A person’s presence becomes the instrument; a creator of rhythms through the devices that surround us. Présences Périphériques invites us to reflect on technology’s imprint and the connectivity of our movements as quantified by increasingly intelligent spaces that have the ability to track us, often without our consent.

This project was created in collaboration with the programmer Jeffrey Dungen [reelyActive].

[1] Calm technology refers to a kind of technology that provides information without demanding the user’s attention.