Zabo ChabilanD

VISUALS ARTS FR
Anatoms sonores
Neuzusammensetzung
Anatoms
Corps en suspens
Read Lips
Etudes
The black project
Profiling Watermarks
Polyptyque
VOID Project
SOUND PERFORMANCES

CVBio Texts Infos News

© Zabo Chabiland 2024

ANATOMS SONORES
Edition of 250 discs pressed on X-ray film
A tribute to bone records from the Soviet Union
2024

During the Cold War in the Soviet Union, bootleg records pressed on discarded X-rays from hospitals were circulating illegally under the name “bones records” or “music on ribs” as an act of cultural resistance. They contained music from the West, in particular rock 'n' roll and jazz, but also Russian folk tunes, considered by the authorities to be “low culture”. The edition “Anatoms Sonores” was inspired by this unique episode in the history of music and merges two essential mediums in my artistic practice: photography and sound performance.

In 1997, analog photography led me to medical imagery, I established a bridge between the two techniques and started using X-ray film as a main support and pursued an exploration that has continued to evolve ever since. For this project, I used analog X-ray films from my own production, pressed with an extract from the performance “Microsillon X” specially conceived to challenge the microgrooves.

The edition of 250 records is composed of 20 images, printed in an edition of 12 unique prints with a wide range of variations, depending on the type of X-ray film (for veterinary or hospital use) the brand and the expiration date (ranging from 1997 to 2024). A further 10 records were pressed on blank X-ray films.

Performance Microsillon X

A

The set up for the performance consists of a roll of X-ray film placed between an electric massager and the
soundboard of an upright piano. X-ray film becomes an instrument in its own right, amplified by the vibrations of the electric massager and the soundboard. I play by swinging my body with force and restraint, in a regular movement, delicately directing the electric device in a rotating mouvement on a brass screw affixed to the piano's soundboard at the paste of one microgroove.The circular and repetitive sounds that this action generates will find their way naturally within the microgrooves , whatever their condition (wear, type of turntable, dust, etc.) will evolve in random loops.

ANATOM SONORE 00