“The Ipotêtu’s tightrope walkers” propose to think, from Latin pensare “to weigh, to weigh up”, or to think, to bend again, the notion of link and connection.

Here, we rely on the physical reality of the buildings, by connecting certain architectural elements together, by straps, like so many crossings. The itinerary is less obvious, the likely fall; the fact of trying and then starting again, everything is part of the project. The bodies, traversing these lines, form relationships.

In balance, the tightrope walkers suggest that the architectures are put under tension. The vibrations obtained by walking, trace sound trajectories. The strap becomes a string that we play, it records the fragile steps, the precarious balance.

Course of the workshop

Social networks induce a spatial dimension in the reading of exchanges between people and define how places are interconnected.

This workshop would not have been possible without the help of Olivier Arette-Hourquet, a sports teacher at the high school, and the Slackliners association, which took part in it.

After introducing the workshop, I suggested to the students that they make a report to document it through photography and video.

We took over the courtyard space and stretched the straps by leaning on the columns. The straps crisscrossed the space, the configurations changed as they went along, creating different routes.

Traffic, each time new, forced the habit, especially at the time of recreation. The architecture of the high school is being rediscovered. Walking on the straps is a real learning experience, the pupils were initiated by the 4 people from the Slackliner association.

Each strap width and length produces a different sound. Olivier Toulemonde made several sound recordings with the pupils, who in turn held the boom, set up the microphones, listened to the headphones,… We were looking together for sound variations: walking barefoot, with socks or rigid shoes… Every day we organised a listening session with the right conditions that we meet in the multi-functional room.

The slackliners stretched a very long strap that went from the courtyard to the entrance: flexible, stretched, 100 metres of challenge. Etienne from the Slackliners played the violin while walking on the strap: so many sound materials obtained to mature and work for post-production. In addition, work on the photographic image of slacklines in the city space has been initiated in the surroundings of the high school.

Photographs and sounds to be found in the work “Performer la façade” in the courtyard of the Musée d’Ipotêtu.