It is a 8 x 100 W sound system, bound to a cart, amplifying 32 piezoelectric microphones rubbing the ground. The system is powered by an on-board 12 V battery. The cart is pulled in the streets by one or two people. The whole is kind of a music/noise instrument amplifying intensively the sound of the ground (the piezoelectric microphones shock the ground, creating the signal that is amplified).
This project wants to be a party one. But more about this kind of greek parties when you break plates on the floor. Of course there is always the matter and its crash..and of course it is always beautiful and impressive..rubbing, chips, bumps, altercations with asperities, squeaks, pops, etc...always within a disproportionate amplification.
The microphones are schocking the ground. By doing so, the piezoelectric material is deformed and creates a signal wich is amplified to move the speakers.
When the cart is immobile, the microphones dont move. So the system is silent. To make it play you have to pull it.
Here microphones or sensors don’t inform about any object to capture. They just play their own materiality, like glasses that fog up. They are directly plugged into the amps, without preamplification. The amplifiers play at full volume.
It is about rawness of technics and walking the streets.
© Eyelevel BQE © Eyelevel BQE

drawing by C. Howland
This installation is built on some experiments made in Festival d’Aurillac 2008

The whole project started in Pau for the 2007 Fête de la Musique in collaboration with Antoine Dudouyt :