100 Millions

100 Millions is a new collaborative work from artists SUE-C, Paul DeMarinis and Laetitia Sonami. Originally broadcast on Twitch as part of the Experimental Sound Studios “Dreamstream” fundraiser on July 17, 2020. It was the first live-streaming performance that any of the artists were a part of.

Loosely based on Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics”, the film plays on the dispersion and reception of signals, self-preservation and fabricated realities.
It takes 100 million years for another galaxy to receive a signal transmitted from earth, at which point one's intentions may have changed, then another 100 million for the comments to come back - this on good days, not counting all the galaxies where signals just get lost or ignored.

Inspired by the possibilities of performing from their studios, Paul resuscitated his Serge synth, Laetitia her PAIA/Curtis chip synth, together with early Yamaha and Casio keyboards, Paul's hand-cut picnic plate records and Laetitia's latest instrument, the Spring Spyre. SUE-C invented a unique way of incorporating the performers collaboration over Zoom into the film itself. Using a high quality audio plug-in (AudioMovers), each musician’s audio feed is streamed to SUE-Cs studio where she combines them with her live hands-on manipulation of imagery, creating an accompanying visual story. 100 Millions tests the boundaries of today's communication systems, and possibly tomorrow's.

100 Millions is the first collaboration between these three artists. DeMarinis and Sonami created and performed Mechanization Takes Command which was premiered at Ars Electronica in 1991. SUE-C and Sonami’s two live film performance I.C.You and Sheepwoman, were performed in venues across the United States and Europe in 2006-2010.