Maxence Martin

"Symphonies boréales" has its origin in a desire to merge arts and sciences, in order to allow the popularization of Maxence Martin's ecological research topic: the dynamics and diversity of Canada's old boreal forests. The heart of this project is to give a voice of these forests, allowing them to sing their own story.

"Symphonies boréales" then acts as an intermediary, offering an intimate and unique connection with multicentenary forests. To do this, the annual growth of more than hundreds of trees composing dozens of old forests has been transcribed into melodies whose variations in tone illustrate the growth dynamics. Thus, the stronger the annual growth of the tree, the higher the note; on the contrary, the less growth is strong, the worse the rating. Each of the melodies obtained was then grouped by settlement, leading to the creation of dozens of symphonies whose harmonic variations testify to the experience of each of these old forests over the centuries.

A team of artists and scientists gradually gathered around this project in order to enrich it, each bringing their own skills and perspectives. The result is a structured, understandable and readable approach to the subject, where the poetry of the symphonies is distilled into its visual identity. Through this work, we explore different ways to lead to a better understanding of forest ecology and the dynamics of Quebec's old boreal forests. It is a scientific, pedagogical and human commitment, where we seek to make the viewer feel the complexity and vitality of these ecosystems so that he can understand for himself their importance.