Elisabeth Tonnard

In collaboration with Guillaume Gaud of Publicis Luxe I created an interactive spatial installation based on my book of found conversational phrases A Dialogue in Useful Phrases.

It was shown in the exhibition Métamorphose(s), curated by Julien Frydman at Les Collatéraux in Arles during the opening weeks of the Rencontres d’Arles 2024.

Two chairs invited the audience to be actors in the work. By sitting down, a viewer automatically caused a series of conversational phrases to start appearing (basically a monologue, as if reading only the left pages or only the right pages in the original book). When a second person sat down in the other chair, a second series of conversational phrases started to appear in answer and a dialogue in useful phrases ensued. This serendipitous dialogue of miscommunications was different each time because it was influenced by when exactly each person sat down.

Some photos and a short clip by Guillaume Gaud below.