Machine à Crier explores conflict, sound and media

Machine à Crier was presented as part of the Materialities of Media and Aesthetics Conference Cycle, an initiative that brings together artistic research, technology, sound, and critical reflection on contemporary media.

The interactive installation is built around a central idea: conflict as an aesthetic, sonic, and media phenomenon. The title itself refers to how the work functions, capturing sounds or screams through two symmetrical cones and transforming the surrounding soundscape in response to audience participation.

More than a work to be simply observed, Machine à Crier offers an active experience in which the presence and voice of participants directly influence the installation's sonic behaviour. In doing so, the work explores the relationship between the body, the machine, sound, and perception, bringing the audience closer to the creative process.

The presentation formed part of the FilmEU Enact-Now project, which investigates the so-called "aesthetics of conflict" and the role of images, archives, media, and digital materials in constructing narratives about past, present, and future conflicts. The project combines artistic research, fiction, image, and sound, with a particular focus on materials such as found footage, archives, digital remnants, and big data.

The Materialities of Media and Aesthetics Conference Cycle, organised by Universidade Lusófona — Centro Universitário Lisboa, aims to explore how technological systems and media devices shape artistic creation, perception, and cultural experience. The initiative brings together researchers and artists to examine the relationships between media, technology, and aesthetics across fields including music, literature, theatre, and performance.

Within this context, Machine à Crier embodies many of the conference cycle's central themes: how technology transforms artistic creation, how media shape sensory experience, and how contemporary art can reflect on conflict through sound, interaction, and collective participation.

Text
Filipa Cávem

Video (Coverage)
Marco Migueis and Matilde Gomez

Video (Editing)
Rui Simões