Tom Jacques, Eunsil Noh

Tom Jacques and Eunsil Noh met recently on Tom’s first trip to South Korea. Their meeting was marked by instant musical chemistry and camaraderie. Their duo project, Oh ! Pebbles, consists of their complimentary singular practices in musical improvisation. Their sound centers on fusing minimalistic noise coming from mundane objects triggered by vibrating mini-motors and the re-actualisation of the storied history of voice art in the Pansori tradition. This combination, often supported by harmonium drones, leads to a theatrical, mysterious and enveloping live performance experience, aiming to create visceral reactions for the audience.

Noh Eunsil is a performer, sound artist, and vocalist who is building her own artistic language through the medium of the voice. After majoring in pansori and art history at Korea National University of Arts, she studied abroad in the Czech Republic and has been presenting performances that combine pansori’s theatricality with objects in Korea and abroad. Recently, she has been experimenting and trying audiovisual performances using voice as a material to surpass her expressive limits, and she has been trying sound performances and improvised collaborations based on her concept of voice art. She is looking forward to the day when she will be able to communicate the raw energy and beauty of the voice with the audience, and is gradually expanding the world of voice expression.

Tom Jacques’ artistic approach evolves between composition, improvisation, interpretation and the design of sound devices. His works are rooted in a variety of practices, including music, sound installation, lutherie, digital art, craft and visual arts. The fabrication of new devices is at the center of his compositional and improvisational approach. Choosing to stay in his home town at the beginning of his career was an act of resistance to rural exodus. Today, he is still developing the majority of his projects in the Bas-Saint-Laurent (Quebec, CAN), convinced that contemporary and experimental art must exist outside the major urban centers and develop in a singular way.