Effusive Boundaries

je mets mon scaphandre

for bassoon, ambisonics, and reactive light design


The ‘leaky body’ is a concept from feminist theory that challenges notions of the human body as a fixed object; here, the previously well-defined boundaries of the body are made permeable and fluid, constantly changing relative to the environment.

Je mets mon scaphandre explores an indirect example of the ‘leaky body’ in the form of a concert-length work for bassoon, live electronics, and reactive lighting. The built-in spatialisation and ‘leaky’, unstable nature of the bassoon is brought into dialogue with this theory, amplified and translated with live electronics, and represented visually by a dynamic, live lighting system, which directly responds to the musical material.

This live system benefits from variation: at defined points in the piece, the performer must react live to the electronics, playing musical games and improvising, deciding which pathway to follow depending on what they hear. As a result, each performance of the piece will be unique.

The concert-length work is immersive, and uses „hyper“ amplification of the bassoon, zooming in to the small details on the instrument and amplifying them not only in volume but in dimension, with the sound being panned around the entire room.

The first version of this piece - for bassoon and ambisonics - to be premiered in Germany in March, is the result of a period of research and collaboration between British composer John Aulich and Irish/Berlin-based bassoonist Olivia Palmer-Baker.

In October 2025, a further collaborator, José Del Avellanal Carreño will integrate a live and dynamic light system into the work, which will be presented in it's final form on tour in Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast.