Tomoko Sauvage Turns Water into Sound at Tokyo and Vancouver Museums
Tomoko Sauvage, a sound artist residing in Paris, crafts immersive auditory experiences through her innovative Waterbowls—porcelain vessels filled with water that respond to touch and movement, enhanced by underwater microphones. Her work spans multiple disciplines, combining performance, sculpture, installation, and experimental music, with elements like water droplets and vibrations playing crucial roles. She is set to showcase new versions of her video piece Barrissando and the Buloklok glass sculpture series at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in February and Vancouver's Gibson Art Museum next year. Influenced by the jalatharangam, a traditional South Indian percussion instrument, Sauvage's art delves into themes of control versus chance, migration, and the significance of listening.
Key facts
- Tomoko Sauvage has spent two decades developing Waterbowls, porcelain bowls filled with water and amplified with underwater microphones.
- She is based in Paris and her practice includes performance, sculpture, installation, and experimental music.
- Upcoming presentations at Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (February) and Gibson Art Museum in Vancouver (next year).
- At Tokyo, she presented a new iteration of her video work Barrissando, placed inside a mirror box to emphasize acousmatic sound.
- For Vancouver, she plans a new iteration of Buloklok, glass sculptures emitting amplified air bubbles in water, themed around bells and time.
- Sauvage was inspired by the traditional South Indian percussion instrument jalatharangam.
- Her Waterbowls are made from Limoges porcelain.
- She describes her role as a performer like a gardener, carefully preparing the environment for the instrument.
Entities
Artists
- Tomoko Sauvage
Institutions
- Whitewall
- Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
- Gibson Art Museum
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Tokyo
- Japan
- Vancouver
- Canada
- Limoges