Evidence, Patti Smith’s immersive exhibition, Paris

Modulo Player powers Evidence, the immersive exhibition by Patti Smith & Soundwalk Collective

From October 20, 2022 and until March 6, the Centre Pompidou is hosting “Evidence”, a multidisciplinary and immersive exhibition designed by musician and poet Patti Smith and the Soundwalk Collective. Throughout the exploratory installation, visitors are immersed in a poetic journey through objects, texts and photographs, as well as the projection of films accompanied by the exhibition’s soundtrack. The exhibition’s audiovisual setup is based on Modulo Pi’s Modulo Player media server solution, synchronized with the Usomo interactive spatial audio system.

The “Evidence” exhibition is an extension of Perfect Vision, a triptych of albums co-created between 2017 and 2021 by American musician Patti Smith and Stephan Crasneanscki of Soundwalk Collective.

In a space of +400 sqm within the Centre Pompidou, the immersive exhibition transcribes the poetic universe of the albums recorded in the Sierra Tarahumara in Mexico, the Abyssinian valley of Ethiopia, and the Himalayan Summit of India.

The exhibition space presents objects, works produced in situ, as well as photographs, texts and original artwork by Patti Smith.

To support the immersive experience, an audiovisual system combining video-projection and spatial audio has been deployed. Before entering the exhibition hall, each visitor is equipped with an audio headset which plays the sound creation of the exhibition. Based on Usomo spatial sound technology, the system is intended to be interactive, with sounds that change according to the visitor’s location in the room.

In addition, multiple landscapes are projected on three sections of walls thanks to 5 x 20K EB-PU2220B video projectors from Epson, powered by 2 x Modulo Player media servers by Modulo Pi. The media servers are used to manage soft edge blending, as well as the playback of videos in Apple ProRes format.

To make the immersive experience complete, Modulo Pi has developed a function to support the proprietary timecode of the Usomo spatial sound system. Thus, Modulo Player ensures perfect synchronization between the projected media and the soundtrack played in the audio headsets.

Initially scheduled until January 23, the “Evidence” exhibition has been extended until March 6, 2023.