Rather than the story of a specific sequence of events, Marcel Proust’s epic “A la recherche du temps perdu” is not particularly interested in the memories of the narrator, but in a reflection on literature, on memory, on time.
Louis-Philippe Scoufaras has been recording the entire oeuvre of the Parisian writer, amounting to approximately 140 hours of loud reading. The soundtrack is then sent to IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), a partner institution of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, dedicated to developments and experiences with contemporary sounds. In collaboration with the artist, the recording is then compressed to 16 minutes for each volume with a 16 minutes pause that mark every four volumes of the Pleiades’ edition. However abstracted and trivialized, the final sound retains a sophisticated literary texture and human resonance. In line with grand gestures of Minimalism and critical exercises in reductiveness, this sound installation acquires a monumental dimension from its lengthy and complex process and the ongoing significance of its classic source.
“Temps perdu”, 2013, sound, 128 minutes (excerpt)
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