Nuisances

NUISANCE(S) is a cycle of plastic and sound projects by Hugo Titelein exploring the various layers of noise pollution: from acoustic pollution to the effects of sound on bodies, from recordings of industrial sites to electrical distortions and "buzzing".

The project evokes both the crackle of an amplifier and, in reference to Parasites by Dominique Quessada, the saturating white noise of all-digital: a permanent sound background characteristic of the era of constant information, the death of democracies, and the loss of truths in a pervasive din.

Forms and Devices

Taking various forms across different mediums — sound installation, acousmatic concert, and film — the project questions our relationship with sounds and images, as well as their connections to the psyche and bodies.

It documents the memory of production spaces and the traces that industrial noise leaves in consciousness, revisiting the melodies of the derelict machine temples in the North of France — a great French, even European, symbol of the end of an industrial era, at the threshold of a new one where rhythms only accelerate.

Origin and Context of the Project

Launched in early 2025 thanks to the “Emergence” program of the Grand Est region and supported by Césaré – CNCM, NUISANCE(S) constitutes a continuation of a thesis written by the artist on psychoacoustics (cf. Juliette Volcler), as part of his DNSEP at the ESAD in Reims.

Informed by his experience in logistics warehouses where he worked to finance his studies, and by his cultural background from the North, the project articulates:

• field recordings,

• electroacoustic compositions,

• singular listening devices related to video mapping,

in order to reveal the political dimension of sound, music, and information.

Issues and Artistic Approach

NUISANCE(S) highlights:

• the devastating effect of machine vibrations on our bodies,

• the dissonances of continuous information and image on our collective reflection.

Through this sensitive investigation, Hugo Titelein draws on the work of Juliette Volcler, concrete music, ambient/noise, and streams of constant and derailing images to document a deaf and ongoing violence: that of permanent ultra-acoustic environments, designed for productivity and control, to the detriment of those who inhabit them, of what remains of our cultures, and of our discussions rendered inaudible in a constant din.