Cristal

Frédéric Post (Geneva, 1975)
Collection : Fonds cantonal d'art contemporain (FCAC)

For the Collège de Drize, the Genevan artist Frédéric Post created a sound project that causes the school bell to ring in 256 different ways. In the course of the day, but also all year round, the rings succeed one another in the form of countless compositions that are heard inside and outside the building. To define a sound that is specific and different, recognizable and unique, the artist collaborated with the electronic music composer Christophe Polese, known as POL. Based on one four-note chord, the rings are infused with crystal-clear variations and the jangle of scraped glass. Announcing the beginning and end of classes, they are broadcast randomly, chosen by a computer program. A different ring is emitted every hour, diversely in each of the four areas of the building, by means of over three hundred speakers distributed throughout the establishment. Frédéric Post engages with alternative sites and the local scene, exploring music in its experimental, communal and utopian aspects, particularly the electronic music specific to nightlife. Parties, concerts and their associated iconography inspire a protean artistic production: flags, flyers, vinyl records and objects linked to drug-taking feed a half-subversive, half-ironic practice.
Article commissioned by P3Art
Notice: Séverine Fromaigeat, translation: Matthew Cunningham