France
Integra Commission: Respire (Breathes)
Duration: 14:36
Resources: Bass Flute/Alto Flute in G; E-Flat Clarinet; Trumpet in C; Trombone; Percussion; Electric Guitar; Electric Piano; Violin 1; Violin 2; Viola; Cello; Bass; Electronics and Video
Electronic Specification: Click This Link
Integra Ensemble: Ars Nova (Sweden)
Integra Research Centre: NOTAM (Norway)

Jodlowski Integra by IntegraLive

Programme Note

Commissioned by Integra, this work is the first of the cycle Breathes/Eats/Sleeps, a collection of audiovisual compositions which examines the place of the body in our world; a body that has become socially constrained by its rituals, prerequisite forms and norms. Our Western and homogeneous society is transfixed by the cult of a perfect healthy body, without illness or porosity. It wants to impose a ‘natural’ lifestyle, but it actually stifles it by its own contradictions and censorships. This project, created with the artist David Coste is divided into two main sections; the first focuses upon the breathing itself, the movement of the stomach becoming the object of an unrelenting machine taking the musical material towards an incessant pulsation. The second part is a trance-dance. We filmed the dancers after suggesting to them the following imaginary scenario: “I am in a night-club; I start to dance convinced that I am in a group and, as the music invades the space, I become aware of my extreme loneliness”. From this ‘constrained narrative’ each dancer gave us his or her version: sometimes an explosive reaction and sometimes, conversely, an intimate withdrawn submersion. At the end, the bodies are merged into the video, creating a purified, empty white space where they allow themselves to be carried along by the lengthy repetitive crescendo.

Text, Concept, Composition: Pierre Jodlowski
Video (1st Part): Pierre Jodlowski
Video (2nd Part): David Coste
Moving Bodies Filmed: Dancers from the Compagnie Myriam Naisy

Biography

Pierre Jodlowski was born in Toulouse (France) in 1971. After studying composition at the Conservatoire of Lyon and IRCAM, Pierre Jodlowski founded the collective éOle and the festival Novelum in Toulouse. His work as a composer led him to perform in France and abroad in most places dedicated to contemporary music but also in parallel circuits, such as dance, theatre, visual arts and electronic music. His work unfolds today in many areas including the outskirts of the musical universe; he has worked on imagery for interactive programming facilities, staging and seeks above all to question relationships in dynamic performance spaces . He now considers the practice of “active” music in its physical dimension [gestures, energy, space] as psychological [evocation, memory, cinematic]. In parallel to his compositions, this mode of thinking is found in his performances, be they solo or in formation with other artists.

His projects include collaborations with Ensembles Intercontemporain; Ictus – Belgium; KNM – Berlin; the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain; the new Ensemble Moderne – Montreal; Ars Nova – Sweden; and Proxima Centauri. He also conducts collaborations with musicians such as Jean Geoffroy – percussion; Cedric Jullion – flute; Wilhelm Latchoumia – piano; and Jeremy Siot – violin. These collaborations often involve research into new instrumental capacities. He recently produced a trio with Roland Auzet (percussion) and Michel Portal (clarinet). His work has led him to develop collaborations with visual artists, in particular Vincent Meyer, and David and Alain Coste Josseau. He has also worked with the stage designer Christophe Bergon on several projects at the intersection of theater, installation, concert and oratorio.

His works are partly published by Editions Jobert and are the subject of several publications and video recordings. He has received commissions from IRCAM; Ensemble Intercontemporain; the Ministry of Culture; CIRM; the GRM; the Donaueschingen Festival; Radio France; the Piano Competition in Orleans; GMEM of GRAME; Siemens Foundation; and the European project Integra. He has won several international competitions including the Prix Claude Arrieu SACEM in 2002, and was in residence at the Academy of the Arts in 2003 and 2004. His works and performances are broadcast in key places devoted to contemporary sound arts in France, Europe, Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan and the United States

NB

This piece was composed during the first phase of the Integra project and as such does not use the Integra:Live software.