Eric Arnal Burtschy & Laura Muyldermans – Play With Me

Play with me is a place to meet and share that draws on our natural tendency to experiment and be caught up in play. It takes the form of a set of devices activated by the users’ swaying, walking or bouncing. Each of these devices produces a different rhythm, melodic sequence or harmonies, parts of a musical composition that can be modulated by the amplitude of movement and hand pressure. The arrival of a second user makes it clear that it is possible to develop a close complementarity, encouraging people to play with it and to experiment more through the body and the music.
The intuitiveness of the device is thus one of the keys to the project, as is the musical logic. The latter is based on sequences that can be easily combined with each other so that a non-musician can easily appropriate the object. The possibility of modulating these sequences and the rhythm offers an important variety of compositions in order to give the sensation of composing a piece, a bit like one could do in a small orchestra. The overall logic is to offer a simplified version of this orchestra so that anyone can be part of it and feel connected to the other participants, encouraging listening and sharing.
By creating a collective and spontaneous experience and playing on the excitement produced by the game, Play with me gives the possibility to free oneself from the social barrier linked to the interaction with strangers and creates the conditions for a possible exchange, whether it is with friends, with people one has sometimes met for years without really knowing them or with complete strangers. The project thus lies somewhere between playground, art installation and performance, returning to the original etymology of the term concert, a ‘group of musical instruments playing together’ which are here activated by the whole body and bodies of the participants.