Emitaï
The din of Dakar sometimes veils the lucid harmony and charming curiosity of the sounds. However, you have to listen carefully to hear them. During the residency, my room turned into a place of experimentation. Its dimensions offered me several possibilities. By occupying a whole part of my dormitory, I had the impression of creating a palpable link between this space and myself. And it is above all this link that enabled me to design the Emitai installation.
My work material is made up of 8 calabashes, 4 infusion bottles, 3 clay vessels (Canari) of different sizes, 2 speakers, 1 bowl (stainless steel), 1 tube (stainless steel), 1 pot (stainless steel) 1 saucepan, 1 rubber bottle, 1 barrel (with a tap) and 1 hose.
On the ground, three clay vessels are arranged so as to create a triangle in the centre of the room. In the middle of this triangle is a tube amplified by a speaker above, which floats from a pot attached to a nail on the ceiling. From the same ceiling hang infusion bottles filled with water. They plunge half into gourds at the ends of which infusion syringes protrude. These syringes , at a slow and regular interval, drops of water which fall on various containers. The containers in question: a large metal bowl superimposed on a small clay vessel; a medium stainless steel pot inside the clay vessel; and a rubber bottle in the big clay vessel. The choice to diversify my tools allows me to let the materials create an acoustics of their own. The sound emitted by the impact of the drops onthe receptacles was different. I was trying to follow a rhythm. Concretely, the big canary was permanently supplied by a barrel of water connected to a tap out on the terrace. This caused the flow of drops to fall regularly. Thus, the tempo was regular too. On the other hand, for the other containers, the tempo was more or less jerky. Controlling water drops proved to be very difficult.
This hanging piece where water drips in various containers is inspired by the almost musical process of rain. Just as rain stops sooner or later, with this in mind the impact of the drops on the containers will gradually diminish. And at this moment, instead of silence, it is the sounds of metallic objects recorded in different places in Dakar (factories, streets, stations, workshops, etc.) that take over. In order to move the echoes, a loudspeaker is placed in the centre of the room. And to create a visual effect, another is placed at the foot of the window inside a clay vessel covered by a calabash.
The high position of the calabashes is a reference to the solemn gesture when water is offered to the mans. The arms are raised in the direction of the sky, a gourd of water between the hands, one bends a leg then one humbly places the libations on a wooden support.
The installation “Emitaï” invites you to focus on the voices of nature as well as on the subtle and innocent sounds of Dakar. Emitai is a sort of ode to my identity. An identity with cultural particularities that tend to disappear. At home, at dusk, we expose clay vessels, calabashes and other containers filled with water to the heart of the sacred wood to express our gratitude to nature and magnify its leniency.