Collaborations

ENSIM-HydroArts 2025: The Well of Memories

The Well of Memories invites the public to experience water as a space where memories accumulate and overlap. Visitors may leave a trace of their presence through their voices, recorded and transformed into motifs on a pool of water, so that the blended echoes and ripples fill this space of collective memory.

The piece was created by Oanell Morvan, Emanoela Flôres Teodoro, Lorenzo Figoli, and Tom Gsell (ENSIM), as well as Andrei Solovev (TALM), with the support of Adrien Pelat and Pierrick Lotton (ENSIM) and Anna Street and Isla Borrell (HydroArts).

ENSIM-HydroArts 2024: Cymascope

Cymatics is the art of making sound waves visible. This cymascope gives form to an original soundscape composed from aquatic and submarine recordings. The installation enables us to perceive sounds that are usually inaccessible for humans, and raises awareness about the effects of manmade submarine pollution.

Inspired by an experiment conducted at LAUM by Jean-Michel Genevaux, the scientific principle is based on a sound field causing vibrations in the upper surface of an acoustic cavity, which is covered by a film of water. The vibrations cause Faraday instabilites which make interference patterns appear, enabling visualisation of the vibro-acoustic couplings at work.

The installation includes sound spatialisation and lighting, creating an immersive, multisensory experience. The public can also interact with the cymascope using a musical instrument.

This project was developed by acoustic engineering students from ENSIM in collaboration with sound design students from ESAD TALM,  as part of the research project “HydroArts: Performing Water in the Arts”, which explores the ways that water can be recognised as a creative partner in the artistic process.