Mathias Arrignon – Brief elegy to the pale
Tuesday, 8 September⋅11:00 – 11:30am
At 11am – A ‘Brief elegy to the pale’ by Mathias Arrignon – an artist from Val-de-Marne France, now based in Glasgow and working internationally. Driven by listening, he uses this sensitive language to foster environmental care and to narrate realities which suffer from invisibilation.
“If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again.” — Gabriel García Márquez
This sentence forms the basis for brief elegy to the pale, reviving moments of momentum and suspension experienced by Mathias Arrignon during an expedition to the Svalbard archipelago in May 2025. Oscillating between the 76th and 80th parallels north, between land, ice and sea, this journey amassed a collection of recordings, crystallising a profound connection that the author wove with the Arctic landscapes. By emphasising these sound recordings through editing and electroacoustic composition, the piece explores the ambivalent feelings of fascination and mourning that emerge in the face of the disappearance of polar landscapes. Through a textured and structured sound language, it invites the audience to feel the environmental dramaturgy of this remote world.