Germans, French Unite In Atlanta For Multimedia Project

Friday and Saturday at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, two German men and two French men will join forces to create an immersive multimedia experience. 

United through the theme of war, “Poèmes Electroniques” combines texts, images and electronic soundscapes.

Christof Veillon, the co-artistic director of Théâtre du Rêve, directs the project, but “Poèmes Electroniques” is more of a collaboration between artists and nationalities.

Dual citizen of France and the United States Marc Fleury and German vinyl-spinning musician baze.djunkii create the sound architecture for the piece. German Uli Sigg does the visuals.  

Veillon recites poetry and texts. The texts include classical and contemporary poetry, dada and surrealist texts, first person recollections from World War II and Operation Desert Storm veterans, and an account from a drone operator. The texts range from the historical context of the 1870 Franco-Prussian War to contemporary narratives.

This project was inspired by one of the first multimedia pieces that mixed electronic sound and visuals. In 1958 at the Brussels World’s Fair, “Poème Electronique” was performed inside an immense structure meant to resemble a stomach to give the audience a literal gut feeling.

Instead of inside a stomach structure, this 2015 “Poèmes Electroniques” will be performed at MOCA GA tonight and tomorrow. The doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m. Run length is one hour.