Pluies d’Été
From the heights of the Saint-Esprit chapel, drops of water fall onto one hundred metal drums. Each drop triggers a sound, creating a gentle and constantly changing melody that invites us to listen to the place differently.
The installation brings together one hundred metal bowls, one hundred drip systems and earthen elements. The clay basins collect the water as it slowly falls from the sky. They hold it for a while before it evaporates and eventually returns to the ground as different drops. These temporary reservoirs become natural mirrors of the place, reflecting the landscape that surrounds them.
Since stones cannot speak, the inhabitants of Auray were invited to share memories of moments they had experienced in this place, at different points in its history. Each drum in Pluies d’Été carries a fragment of one of these memories. The installation thus brings together a selection of one hundred memories collected from local inhabitants.
Activated by the drops of water, these individual memories resonate with one another and form a collective memory. Between presence, disappearance and resonance, Pluies d’Été creates a space where water, sound and memory become intertwined.
A project in collaboration with Yola Couder as part of the Sonorités d’Été exhibition in Auray (France), with the Centre Culturel Athéna.
With the invaluable help of Olivier Picot, MC3 and Anoé Couder for the conception and realisation of the installation.
BOOK Available in PDF here
Created by Yola Couder, with the artistic collaboration of Bureau Falaise workshops in Brest for the use of a manual letterpress and bookbinding instruction.
With thanks to the witnesses whose memories have written the pages of the book : Angèle Bernard-Dourneau, Claude Bernard, Gérard Betrel, Pierre Bonnec, Bruno Botti, Léon Burguin, Daniel Bussonnais, Yvon Coroller, Jean-Pierre Dupuich, Josiane Guegan Tanguy, Anne-Claude Guillerme Tanguy, Marie Martine Guillo, Geneviève Hamon, Brigitte Kergosien Cousin, Daniel Lambert, Lucie Claire Lambert, Renée Le Barh, Thierry Le Falher-Le Bourser, Léna Le Frapper, Mary Le Frapper, Françoise Le Gloahec, Jean-Luc Le Guennec, Yves Le Moing, Christian Le Yondre, Jacques Letallec, Danièle Lochet-Dourneau, Kristell Olliveaud, Armelle Perez Vera, Olivier Picot and Cécile Thomas.