Gilles Aubry's composition "L'Makina" is a haunting soundscape that combines AI-generated sound textures with modular synths. Structured in two parts, the piece explores the spectral possibilities of a virtual sound model developed using a machine learning algorithm, in collaboration with Moroccan musicians Ali Faiq and Idr Basrou.
The title, L'Makina, references a 1930s song about the phonograph by Amazigh musician L'Haj Belaid. In the original song, Belaid marvels at the machine's ability to replicate human speech with uncanny precision, prompting the poet to question whether he should continue composing verses. This reflection resonates with current debates surrounding artificial intelligence and the interplay between humans and machines.
The composition features sounds created with a machine learning algorithm for timbral analysis (RAVE), using rwais instrument recordings as input data. The work prompts questions about artificial intelligence as a non-human entity in co-creative processes. It also underscores the limitations of a technology that has yet to fully comprehend essential aspects of human expression, such as the social function of music and ethical transmission of information.
Gilles Aubry (born 1973 in Switzerland) is an artist, musician, and researcher based in Lausanne and Berlin. He holds an MA in Sound Art from the Berlin University of the Arts (UDK) and a PhD in social anthropology from the Bern University. His work explores sound and listening as embodied, social, aesthetic, and ecological practice. His installations, films, live performances and compositions have been presented in numerous art exhibitions, film festivals, and music venues. Aubry's book
Sawt, Bodies, Species – Sonic Pluralism in Morocco (Adocs 2023) offers an account on sound and aurality in Morocco across a wide domain of activities, complemented by audiovisual essays in collaboration with local musicians, artists, and scientists. He teaches at UDK Berlin and ZHdK Zurich.
Gilles Aubry's work has been presented in numerous international exhibitions. As a musician, he released several albums, under his name and with the experimental noise band MONNO. He collaborated with other musicians in various projects, including
Tomoko Sauvage,
Audrey Chen, Jasmine Guffond,
Rob Millis, Ali Faiq,
Valerio Tricoli, Ale Hop, Gabisile Motuba, Sabina Leone, Aya Metwalli, Dave Phillips, Antoine Chessex, Nicolas Field, Karen Geyer,
Alexei Borisov, Lethe,
Keiji Haino, Fe-Mail,
Axel Dörner, Klaus Filip, and many more. His records are available on Adocs,
Corvo records, Winds Measure, Cronica Electronica, Gruenrekorder, Universinternational, Schraum, Creative Sources, and Absinth Records.
