La Prophétie est une mémoire, 2025
Sound, stereo, 18 min 41 s, loop
Collaboration between Mona Young-eun Kim and ilia Osokin, composer
Work conceived as a pair with the film La Croyance est synthétique
Presented in parallel with the video La Croyance est synthétique, this sound work offers an auditory interpretation of anesthesia.
Inspired by medieval medical manuscripts, Mona Young-eun Kim imagines music as one of the earliest forms of anesthesia capable of soothing suffering bodies in an era devoid of modern chemistry.
To give form to this hypothesis, the artist collaborates with composer Ilia Osokin. Together, they reinterpret musical scores from the Chansonnier de Montpellier (13th century) that address pain and healing. Far from a classical reconstruction, the melodies are not performed using traditional instruments, but composed from recordings made in contemporary medical environments: dissection rooms, operating theatres, recovery rooms, and intensive care units. The sounds of machines, alarms, and sterile ambiences thus become the very material of the composition.
The piece unfolds according to a precise cycle, mirroring the trajectory of medical care—from dissection to resuscitation. Musical transitions between these phases are generated by the artist’s own body.
Using bioelectrical sensors (biosignal-to-MIDI) during physiotherapy sessions, micro muscular currents are translated into sound frequencies, transforming therapeutic contact into music.
Between medieval musical heritage and contemporary medicine, the work composes a sonic passage through the body, where music becomes a space of anesthesia, memory, and transformation.
For those wishing to listen to the work, please contact the artist directly.
Credits
Concept & Field Recording: Mona Young-eun Kim
Composition & Mixing: Ilia Osokin
Physiotherapy: Aurore Hug
Locations: University of Montpellier (Dissection Room), CHU Saint-Éloi (Anesthesia–Intensive Care)
Acknowledgements: Gérald Chanques, Gisèle Clément, Brice Duisit