Iterations of an abyss
A short form audiovisual composition in which the movement of light in space is tightly connected to sampled and synthetic sonic components. An endless abyss of processed 16mm film images are fragmented and copied into a boundless kaleidoscopic space where colours shift continuously through physical light modulation. Diaphanous traces of the landscapes, seascapes and humans, flow through like fleeting glimpses into the past.
Harnessing angular real-time editing from a custom-made light control system, the modulated lights of three analog film projectors are interrupted with speed and precision, using hand-built obturators, electronics, and software. The projected images have gone through an array of transformations: beginning on Super 8 film, then transferred into digital image, converted back into analog video, digitized once more, and finally printed onto 16mm film. This layered circulation between photochemical, analog and digital formats became an essential part of the work, allowing the image to carry ‘paleontological’ traces of each transformation.
Concept, direction, composition, coding, and fabrication: Maxime Corbeil-Perron
Consulting and fabrication: Martin Châteauvert
Produced by Werktank (Leuven, Belgium) and Recto-Verso (Québec, Canada)
With the support of the Flemish Government, Recto-Verso (Québec, Canada), and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (CALQ, Canada)
OPTX.drips
Dual-screen a/v installation
Stereoscopic, 3D (red/cyan)
Aleatoric A/V loop
OPTX.drips is a media-archeological work that features an outdated optical technology and an obsolete media that has been revisited through digital technology. This installation is grounded in the notion of an optical texture that is only visible using stereoscopic anaglyph (3D, red/cyan) technology, thereby transforming flat projection surfaces into optical membranes that are rich in relief and depth, and is articulated through an abstract and expressive aesthetic.
Permutations (2026)
An audio-visual installation featuring analog projectors and custom-made light control system. The 16mm projectors have been stripped of their film and lenses and are now used solely for their light and sound. The media is absent, but an experience remains: chromatic aberrations, optical eclipses, and rhythmic bursts.
The work is a composition of indeterminate duration in which the underperformance of the digital components were used to cause a phase shift in the rhythmic sequences (inspired by the musical concept of permutations). Three simple, syncopated rhythmic motifs offset over time by the limitations of the technologies used to create the work. An analogous sound component akin to the projectors’ lights reverberates through the space to complete the composition.
Concept, direction, composition, coding, and fabrication: Maxime Corbeil-Perron
Consulting, fabrication, and technical support: Ief Spincemaille, Martin Châteauvert
Production: Werktank (Leuven, Belgium)
Video: Josiane Roberge
With the support of the Flemish Government, Recto-Verso (Québec, Canada), and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (CALQ, Canada)
INFRA
STRUCTURES PARALLÈLES
Stereoscopic A/V sculpture
Structures parallèles is a media-archeological project in which an obsolete media, in this case the Holmes’s Stereoscope, is creatively repurposed. This viewer was historically used to look at photographic figurative 3D images. Through an optical stereoscopic process, the stereo images would fuse into one image and give the illusion of depth, texture and relief. The device is now used to view abstract stereoscopic 3D moving images with full effects of depth, textures and relief on display. It can now also be used to create a form of stereoscopic optical colour blending.
Concept, stereo video image, design, fabrication: Maxime Corbeil-Perron
Advice, fabrication: Stephanie Castonguay
Supported by Hexagram (2019)
LA FIN DU MÉDIA
Audiokinetic installation (loop)
An exploration of sonic possibilities in relation to electromagnetic fields and obsolescent media. This work is part of an approach rooted in media archaeology, a creative recovery of media and technologies that have fallen into obsolescence. Like a prepared piano, CD players were hacked and transformed into instruments, generating a different sound, Their electromagnetic fields become music, being amplified and spatialized through an audiokinectic device.
Idea, concept, design, CD player hack, fabrication: Maxime Corbeil-Perron
CD player hack, fabrication and jewel box design: Stephanie Castonguay
Fabrication, help : Ira Lacdao
Structure fabrication (black box): Michel Fordin
Part of the FIMAV sound art exhibition, curated by Érick D’Orion.
With support from the FIMAV (Victoriaville, Québec, Canada), and the CALQ.
HOUSE
Interactive audiovisual installation
HOUSE is a work that mixes stop-motion animation, motion capture and live audiovisual modulation. This installation invites the visitor to move through the filmic space, letting them modify colour, sounds and create a plethora of audiovisual effects through simple gesture.
HOUSE premiered at the Cluster Festival, in Winnipeg, Canada.
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