Sound carpets and natural wool floor mats, papier-mache, floor chromatography, loudspeakers

Installation created as part of a residency at the Gratham Foundation, Quebec.

The sound installation Toucher terre, by Karine Bonneval, invites us to listen to the ground. The patterns of the six natural wool carpets laid out in the space are inspired by the soil maps of the Centre-du-Québec region, whose function is to reveal the subterranean composition of the territory. Made audible by a custom-made contact sensor, the resonance of sand is distinct from that of peat or black earth, inhabited by different living organisms. In the room, each carpet broadcasts field recordings made within the same biotope: forests, riverbanks, gardens, food crops, meadows, fields. The mats also present visual “portraits” of these soils, obtained using the principle of chromatography. In Toucher terre, the map becomes soft, warm and welcoming. It invites us to lie down and discover what otherwise eludes us.

Josiane Poirier