Ultima Thulé

series of 4 videos, 2013

Series of 4 videos, 2013
Created with Augmented Window 03 project, Marseille, 2013
Christine Breton, Jean Cristofol, Thierry Fournier and Jean-François Robardet

The Ultima Thulé series consists in four video loops shot in Northern districts of Marseilles: the Viste ravine; Oppidum of Castellas ; the Tour Sainte district and the Lyon and Zoccola streets with the Coptic church and the clandestine flea market. The viewer access to the course of a view drawed by a body in these urban spaces.

The Greek explorer Pytheas, who was based in Marseilles, is the first to have written of “Thule” after his travels between 330 BC and 320 BC to the undiscovered islands of the North beyond Britain. Since the Medieval period, the word refers to the borders of Europe and by extension to the farthest lands we could point out.

Production : Zinc / Friche de la Belle de Mai, with the support and guidance of Dominique Poulain in Höfn. Many thanks to Emil Elias, Father Aghnatyous Ava Mina and the community of the Coptic Church of Marseilles.

Architecture of Paradise

music for an installation, 2000

Musical piece (4 voices and electronics) for an installation by Marie Sester, 2000

Architecture of Paradise is a five section piece for 4 vocal soloists and electronics, created within Marie Sester’s installation presented at the SFMOMA in 2000. The piece is based on excerpts of Plato’s Timeus-Critias, which describes the role and story of Atlantis. The text is sung in its English version, by the soprano and alto. It is read in English and French by the two actresses. Beyond its original context, it evokes the concept of an ideal city, and its consequences in matters of political domination – considerations which remain absolutely topical. The piece develops a circular tension between several parts: the soprano-alto duo, the intimate reading of the text by the actresses, the electronics (oscillations, filters and saturations) and the real time transformations of the voices.

Excerpts:


Image © Marie Sester 2000. Performers: Armelle Orieux (mezzo-soprano) Laura Gordiani (alto), Vanda Benes et Lyndee Mah (spoken voices).