FÉLIX BLUME « Andante »

FÉLIX BLUME

France | World Premiere
– FREE –
RUE DE LA GARE

“Andante” is a co-production of the Avatar Center and a co-presentation of FIMAV and the Avatar Center. Project initiated in 2022 as part of the Pivô Research residency, with the support of the Consulate General of France in São Paulo.

Here, several shoes enact the various tempos of city walkers. Each shoe has its toe lifted before it strikes the ground, propelled by a mechanism that marks the steps of passersby at specific city locations. For one hour at each site, the walking tempos of pedestrians has been recorded and studied to calculate the average pace. This concert of solitary shoes, each mounted on a plinth, invites us to listen to the pulse of the city.

About the Artist

Félix Blume is a sound artist, a sound recordist, and a sound engineer. He currently lives in a small village in the south of France, where he grew up. He has worked on numerous projects in Mexico, Brazil, and other Latin American countries.

He shapes sound as material for his sound pieces, videos, actions, and installations. His creative process is often collaborative through engagement with local communities. He uses public space both as a site for experimentation and as a venue for presentation. Listening is at the heart of his practice, a process that goes beyond sound and invites audiences to grasp the imperceptible and fosters encounters through sound. His work focuses on the beings that surround us –– the buzz of a bee, a turtle’s footsteps, cricket song –– as well as the dialogue between humans and the natural or urban contexts they inhabit. He is interested in myths and their contemporary interpretation, and in what voices tell us beyond words.

His works have been broadcast on radio around the world, and he has presented his work at numerous international festivals and exhibitions.

He was awarded the ‘Paysage Sonore’ prize (2018) for his video-sound piece Curupira, bête des bois and the Pierre Schaeffer Prize (2015) for his work Les Cris de Mexico at the Phonurgia Nova Awards festival. His film Lumières du Désert won the First Prize for International Short Film at the L’Alternativa CCCB festival (2021) and the Grand Prix for Video Art at the Côté Court festival (2021).

He has presented his work at international festivals and museums such as the Thailand Biennial (Th), Manifesta (Es), Museo Reina Sofia (Es), Centre Pompidou (Fr), CTM Berlin, Domaine de Kerguéhennec (Fr), Berlinale Forum Expanded (De), Rotterdam IFFR (Nl), LOOP Barcelona (Es), Sonic Acts (Nl), Donau Festival (At), Tsonami Arte Sonoro (Cl), Fonoteca Nacional (Mx), Ex Teresa (Mx), CCCB Barcelona (Es), Laboratorio Arte Alameda (Mx), among others.

His works are part of the collections of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (Fr), the Universidad Autónoma de México (Mx), Klankenbos (Be), the Musée Réattu (Fr) and the Institut National des Beaux Arts du Mexique (Mx), among others.