Alexandre Babel’s The Drift Between is a work for drums and pre-recorded drum sounds, exclusively musical, with no visual elements. It is nourished by the experience of observation. What happens to a sound between its initial state and its movement from one plane to another? Does our perception allow us to isolate an object from its context, or to become aware of the overall landscape?

‘Walking through the streets of Berlin one morning, I noticed a bright red light in the distance. After a closer look, I realized that I knew very little about long-distance perspective in this city. So I became interested in training the eye to look for objects in the distance. By doing so, it occurred to me that when the eye observes distant objects and becomes aware of a wide environment, the perception of closer objects begins to change. I kept doing it and started moving the eye from one object to another, exploring the depths. The relationships between the multitude of objects observed became dynamic, creating their own temporality and undergoing transformations. One evening, this little game of perception took place in a rather dark neighbourhood, where distant lights stood out against nearby elements. The links between the different points became fluid and rhythmic.’

Premiered at INA grm (2023) in Paris, France.
Further presentations: Gibanja festival 2024 by KONTEJNER in Zagreb, Croatia.

This work is available for touring.
Contact for presentations: grm@ina.fr