The Ground

2019

Composition for 12 instruments: the Tricorde, the Optimet, the Wooden Drone, the Healing Soil – Compost, the Silberminus, the Motorized Bow no. 2, the Noise Print, the Spin Library, the Turntable Study, the Spin, the Duofluctus, the Spin Collector

Variable dimensions

For the first time, the Pinault Collection presents this extensive sound installation by Tarek Atoui in the Foyer of the Auditorium of the Bourse de Commerce, as part of its inaugural exhibition entitled "Ouverture".

Composed of musical or instrumental sculptures placed on stage risers, The Ground is a polyptych, the result of five years of travel through the Pearl River Delta in China, examining traditional and current agricultural, architectural, and musical practices. The artist uses both “poor” materials and the most contemporary digital technologies. The exhibition space is thus transformed into a space of experimentation where the artist and his collaborators compose and improvise freely, and the participatory work invites the viewer to listen in turn, so that, in the words of Rilke, “the void comes to this vibration that grips, consoles, and sustains us.”

The Ground was exhibited at the 2019 Venice Biennale and led to a cycle of performances at the Palazzo Grassi and the Teatrino in November of the same year, before being presented at the Bourse de Commerce as part of its live programming in 2021.
 

Exhibitions