Layers of Resonance:

The Restigouche and Matapédia Rivers in April

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The project involves creating a sound composition within a short timeframe and at what may be a critical moment. Over the course of about ten days, while ice may still be present on the Restigouche and Matapédia rivers, I hope to take the pulse of these waterways. Specifically, I want to conduct a phenomenological and sound collection by working alongside the rivers using the same approach I employ for the St. Lawrence River.

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I wish to encounter the Restigouche and the Matapédia, to honor them. To move beyond the intimidating aspect of the Restigouche—one of the world’s most renowned rivers for its salmon stocks—and the Matapédia River, the most famous of the dozen or so tributaries of the Restigouche. The questions guiding my fieldwork are: What are the sonic signatures of these rivers? What impressions do they make, what imprints do they leave on the mind, body, and heart? What are their effects?

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I will be out in the field early in the morning, when there is less background noise, to collect sounds. I will spend time by the rivers at other times of the day to gather impressions and search for cues that reveal the essence of the rivers. In the evening, I will write texts that capture the poetry emanating from the rivers. I will record excerpts of these texts being recited. Halfway through the project, I will interview an expert on these rivers, Carole Anne Gillis, Director of Research at the Gespe'gewa'gi Institute of Natural Understanding, to incorporate an element of science into the sound montage, as science helps give nature a voice.

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I will then create a montage blending the sounds of rivers, my voice whispering poetry, and the researcher’s voice. I will compose a piece lasting five to ten minutes. The vitality, power, and agency of the rivers will be highlighted. Their unavoidable and uncontrollable presence will permeate the composition. The layers of resonance of the rivers will be revealed through sound, poetry, and science.

At the end of the residency, I would like to host a public listening session for the composition. The discussions following the listening will echo the different levels of resonance of the rivers: people will share their varied relationships with and personal experiences of these rivers—are they neighbors, backdrops, hostile presences during floods, sources of inspiration, or markers of identity? A public listening session of a sound composition amplifies complicity and a sense of kinship. The waves of the rivers and the people will reverberate, the collective affect will vibrate, humans and non-humans together.

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Audio links

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Intime des glaces 

« Immersion dans le froid, les micro mouvements et le grain des voix. Ici, même les sons inaudibles font vibrer le corps. »

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https://soundcloud.com/user-630172892/intime-des-glaces?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

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Bécasseaux! 

« Le phénomène et la phénoménologie des bécasseaux. Art et science. Coexistence. »

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https://soundcloud.com/user-630172892/becasseaux-1?in=user-630172892/sets/corps-a-corps-avec-le-fleuve-2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Marées basses 

« Humains, autres qu’humains : un seul cœur qui bat. »

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https://soundcloud.com/user-630172892/marees-basses?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

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