Damastes Path

Damastes Path is an kinetic  installation that was first created in 2006 with the group of artists LFKs-Jean Michel Bruyère. 21 hospital beds are controlled by a computer based musical sheet into a choreography of 10 to 15 min. Each bed is equipped with a speaker to diffuse sounds in synchronization with the movements, the sound is generated in real time from a synthesizer, but the numerous variations of creaks produced by the lattice structure under the beds in the effort to lift them compose the very music of the piece and its ballet.

84 electromechanical relays control the movements of the beds through 20 electronic interfaces which transform the MIDI information in electric impulses. In this way the beds are controlled by a MIDI musical sequencer (84 tracks) which determines the amplitude of the movement and the duration of each of their motors. The system uses 500 meters of cable to link the beds to the robot (relay + MIDI interfaces) and a sound card to enable the computer and the robot to communicate.

The installation can also be play live and is regularly used for musical performances with other “instrumentalists”.

Over the years, the installation has been shown in Avignon, Tokyo, Shangai, Benjing, Paris, Linz, Anvers, Berlin…

Credits:

LFKs/Jean-Michel Bruyère

Epidemic

GetSound/GetLab

with the support of the Fondation BNP-Paribas Paris, La Friche la Belle de Mai Marseille and Mark Hubbard