Exhibition: Stone Speakers, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2024

Stone Speakers
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France, 2024

17 October 2024 – 1 May 2025
Curated by Daria de Beauvais
SAM prize for contemporary art 2022

Stone Speakers is an immersive multimedia installation produced in collaboration with Felix Deufel and Victor Mazon. The piece uses a 4D sound system that transports the visitor to the surface and depths of six distinct volcanoes. Based on field recordings from Mount Etna (Italy), Litli-Hrútur (Iceland), Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia), Erta Ale (Ethiopia), Mount Sindoro, and Mount Bromo (Indonesia), the sound composition is constantly transforming, modulated by transitions between the volcanic sites, their activity, and live data streams from local seismic monitoring stations. At the heart of the exhibition is A Stone Dream of You, a series of sculptures made from volcanic rock and obsidian glass.

Through the sonification of live seismic data, the installation transforms the Palais de Tokyo into an eco-chamber where volcanoes can express themselves and be heard. This process allows the raw, energetic power of the planet to become palpable, bridging the distant, unseen geological world with the immediate, sensory reality of the visitor in Paris.

All images are © Julian Charrière / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. Photos by Aurélien Mole.