‘Fixin’ – Sylvain Darrifourcq

‘FIXIN’ is an ecosystem of low-tech projects, aiming at questioning the ambiguous relationship between man and machine through the subjective question of time perception, in a minimalist, immersive and industrial atmosphere. This project has been imagined by the percussionist and multi instrumentalist Sylvain Darrifourcq in collaboration with the digital designer Nicolas Canot, and can take on various  forms: concert, performance, installation, participatory experience.

The ‘FIXIN’ performance (giving its name to the ecosystem) presents a dialogue between an « enhanced » musician   and a set of digitally controlled motors. It questions the body’s relation to automation and repetition of the movement, through a minimalist and immersive sound environment.

Following on from his researches started with MILESDAVISQUINTET !, Sylvain Darrifourcq built  a sort of « meta-drum kit », where the various elements (tom, snare, cymbal…), some of which being prepared and motor-triggered (percussive solenoid, vibrator, rotary engine), are scattered in space.

What is at stake is the dialogue between those motors and the musician’s gesture, with constant back-and-forths between the machine and the body, through the double paradoxe of the human movement being mechanized and the machine being humanized (computer assisted programming), thus questioning the « who influences who ? ». The result sounds like some sort of industrial music : metallic tones, repetitive mechanical sounds, superimposed rhythmic layers.

The system is set in deep darkness and is progressively revealed thanks to a minimalist and epileptic light device, rarely unveiling the whole stage at once. 

‘FIXIN EXTENDED’ tries to complexify the relationship between man/machine, presenting three musicians imitating repetitive and machine-like types of playing.

In a process of ambiguous imitation/complementarity with a set of real-time controlled motors, the three musicians receive and send information through triggering pedals and ear monitors.

Questioning the gap between the man becoming a machine and the machine being controlled by a man is at stake. Who controls who ? How far can the body be transformed into a robot ? Where does the human body become flawed ? Can an algorithm created by a  human being be infallible ?

The ‘FIXIN’ installation, however, does not involve any activity from the musician. Everything is automated and the audience walks around in a space where their own movements create a particular sound environment.

→ Read intw in the Zéro-Deux review

‘FIXIN’

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Sylvain Darrifourcq : percussions, composition, conception
Nicolas Canot : digital conception
Max Lance : object design
Liz Santoro : choreographic advice

Duration : 30-35 minutes

Co-production : Hector / Full Rhizome, Nemo / Arcadi / le 104, Théâtre de Vanves, Le Cube, La Muse en Circuit, le Lieu Multiple
With the support of: Dicream, Adami, Spedidam