marta beauchamp
works artistic research about contact

hic sunt dracones
(2024)

concert

e-bass, electronics, midi-solenoid percussion machine, ping pong balls, tubes, cypriot limestone dust, glass of water


Photos © Giorgos Dimoglou, CYENS Center of Excellence


The title hic sunt dracones references the medieval tradition of marking the edges of maps with monsters to symbolise potential dangers in unknown territories.
In this performance I use design elements from my poster from the PhD group exhibition as a map for the concert, treating uncharted territory as a utopian space for performance. By blending the iconography of spatial cartography with that of musical scores, the notation hybridizes depiction traditions of space and time. Sound becomes the medium through which the map’s areas are enacted over a duration of time.

Thank you to: Xaver Fuchs for the development of the custom-built midi machine and for technical advice, to Stefanos Arestis for supporting the show with his versatile and empathic sound technician skills, to the critical data group for hand weaving a belt for me and for the WIP festival team for organsing a bass for me.