Xavier Hautbois

Synopsis

TombeauX was conceived as a visual response to the electroacoustic work of French composer Pierre Albert Castanet, which reflects on the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The horror of the tragedy is evoked through abstract imagery rooted in a form of lyrical abstraction, as certain shapes remain suggestive: grimacing faces, contorted, huddled bodies, and a mass of flesh and metal.

In the spirit of generative art, our visual approach — which we describe as a “melody of forms” — is based on a single mathematical formula, graphically deployed in countless variations: from unified organic shapes to intricate textures. Yet throughout, a trace of the original formula remains, anchoring the entire visual sequence. This use of mathematics serves as a tool for formal expression, a form of lyrical and dynamic abstraction that distances itself from mathematical coldness.

This film is both a visual requiem and a meditation on collective trauma.

Biographies

Xavier Hautbois is a French researcher, composer, and multimedia artist. His work explores the intersections of sound, image, and interactivity, often in collaboration with other artists. Notable projects include La Grande Accélération (2021), an interactive installation on Antarctic ice melt — a project awarded the 2020 “Expérimentation” grant from Université Paris-Saclay; Mes mains écartent le jour (2017), a real-time image and sound synthesis system based on the poetry of Anne Hébert; and Elpénor (2015), an interactive poetic installation that has been exhibited in Paris, Madrid, Dubai, Porto, Victoria, and other cities.

His latest work, TombeauX (2023–2024), is an animated film set to music by composer Pierre Albert Castanet.

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Composer and musicologist, clarinetist and performer, Pierre Albert Castanet is Professor Emeritus at the University of Rouen Normandie (Department of Musicology) and Honorary Associate Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. A full member of the Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Rouen and a specialist in contemporary music, he has published hundreds of articles across Europe and authored around thirty books.

As a composer, Pierre Albert Castanet has written numerous chamber works (including Octimbres, Amor, L’Invitation au voyage, Hölderlin Trio) and orchestral pieces (Hymnus, Sternverbundene), as well as a large-scale oratorio (La Passion de Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud) and several works of musical theatre. His catalogue also includes electroacoustic compositions (TombeauX, Four Seasons, Les Dialogues d’Iconophone), pieces using ready-mades (Teoratorio, Water Games), and works based on improvisation and graphic or verbal notation (La Fleur de gravité, Livre ou Verre).