Dyslexia – prototype
Marie-Soleil Kerouac
An automatic typewriter—a poet in its spare time—triggers an unusual transformation of language. The keys activate motors and lights. The noise of its innards—cylinders, typebars, mechanisms—forms the matrix of a sound work.
In her project Dyslexia, Marie-Soleil Kerouac combines percussion, ambient sound, electronics, and computer science. During her undergraduate degree, Kerouac built a prototype of the work. Inspired by USB typewriters, she connected a 1940s Underwood typewriter to an electronic circuit. When a key is pressed on the typewriter, a different light comes on. In 2021, she received the Prix Avatar to develop her project further with the centre’s technical and artistic support. The artist reveals her personal relationship to words, which is affected by dyslexia, by using electronic devices to create an automatic machine. Since words speak to her differently, she shows them to us the way she perceives them through sound.
End of the residency | Tuesday, November 29, 5 p.m. at Avatar’s studio, Méduse Coop
Proud to encourage emerging art practices in Québec City, Avatar has been awarding the Prix Avatar since 2006 to a graduate student or group of students who have demonstrated an interest in media, sound, or electronic art during their studies and whose application shows talent and potential. In 2021, Marie-Soleil Kerouac won the Prix Avatar for her project Dyslexia.
