Set amid natural environments and sites with unobstructed horizons, this audiovisual performance offers an intimate experience with the sky.
“EXO” explores the depths of night and invites the audience on a motionless journey through time and space. Composed in real time using astrophysical data, the work combines the light of a laser projected onto a hundred celestial objects with Julie Rousse's electroacoustic music.
During the performance, the celestial vault appears as a musical score composed by the diversity of objects present in the sky: planets, stars, exoplanets, galaxies, black holes, supernovae, pulsars, etc.
The movement of the laser beam, reminiscent of a record player's stylus, triggers a sound corresponding to each celestial object it points to. The audience, seated around the artists, can follow the names of these celestial objects and the distance in light-years that separates them from Earth in a printed booklet or on a screen.
“EXO” offers an experience of new frontiers and unreachable space-time. A relationship of scale is established between the horizon and the observer, who aligns their gaze with celestial bodies sometimes located thousands of light-years away. The two artists' project is part of the traditional link that unites humans with the sky and their natural environment.
EXO was presented at the Nuit Blanche in Paris in 2015 and at the Festival les Musiques at the Friche Belle de Mai in 2018.
A nomadic version, created in 2025, is adapted to natural settings for an audience of 50 to 80 people.
Video link
“EXO” explores the depths of night and invites the audience on a motionless journey through time and space. Composed in real time using astrophysical data, the work combines the light of a laser projected onto a hundred celestial objects with Julie Rousse's electroacoustic music.
During the performance, the celestial vault appears as a musical score composed by the diversity of objects present in the sky: planets, stars, exoplanets, galaxies, black holes, supernovae, pulsars, etc.
The movement of the laser beam, reminiscent of a record player's stylus, triggers a sound corresponding to each celestial object it points to. The audience, seated around the artists, can follow the names of these celestial objects and the distance in light-years that separates them from Earth in a printed booklet or on a screen.
“EXO” offers an experience of new frontiers and unreachable space-time. A relationship of scale is established between the horizon and the observer, who aligns their gaze with celestial bodies sometimes located thousands of light-years away. The two artists' project is part of the traditional link that unites humans with the sky and their natural environment.
EXO was presented at the Nuit Blanche in Paris in 2015 and at the Festival les Musiques at the Friche Belle de Mai in 2018.
A nomadic version, created in 2025, is adapted to natural settings for an audience of 50 to 80 people.
Video link
Exo N 43°18’34’’, E 5°23’26’’
Marseille, La Friche Belle de Mai, 2018
Audiovisual performance
10W laser, motorized mirrors
15 spatialized speakers
Duration
4 hours
Music
Julie Rousse
Scientific collaborator
Fabio Acero, astrophysicist
Astrophysics Interactions, Multi-scales Laboratory (AIM/CNRS).
Technical Director
Thierry Coduys
Development
Guillaume Jacquemin
Other Developments
Axel Chemla Romeu Santo
Martin Saëz
Charles Bascou
Co-production
Paris City Hall, Bipolar, Seconde Nature, GMEM.
With the support of
Diffusing Digital Art, Arcadi Île-de-France,
Marseille MP2018, DiCRéAM (CNC),
Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM),
IMCCE at the Paris Observatory, Laboratoire AIM (CEA).
Marseille, La Friche Belle de Mai, 2018
Audiovisual performance
10W laser, motorized mirrors
15 spatialized speakers
Duration
4 hours
Music
Julie Rousse
Scientific collaborator
Fabio Acero, astrophysicist
Astrophysics Interactions, Multi-scales Laboratory (AIM/CNRS).
Technical Director
Thierry Coduys
Development
Guillaume Jacquemin
Other Developments
Axel Chemla Romeu Santo
Martin Saëz
Charles Bascou
Co-production
Paris City Hall, Bipolar, Seconde Nature, GMEM.
With the support of
Diffusing Digital Art, Arcadi Île-de-France,
Marseille MP2018, DiCRéAM (CNC),
Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM),
IMCCE at the Paris Observatory, Laboratoire AIM (CEA).
