TRAPPIST-1, being a relatively long music-theatre piece for a solo flautist (50’), relies heavily on performativity. How the material is presented and performed was discussed with the collaborator, Gavin Stewart, from the early stages of its creation. The surround system defines a performance space where sonic events are happening that the performer can respond to and that can have a metaphorical meaning. This is established from the very beginning of the piece, with the presentation of the system rotating around the audience. The strategy of “embodiment of data” discussed previously[30] is performative. The absence of the flautist at the very beginning of the piece, as well.
This first scene of TRAPPIST-1, “Exoplanet hunter”, is a metaphor for the scientific method. First, we experience the system by itself. It is there, naturally. Eventually the flautist, representing an astrophysicist, enters the space, moves to position 1 (in front of the audience), and starts observing the rotation of the system and making hypotheses. This is reflected in the accurate playing of notes representing planets at the exact time they pass above the flautist. This passive attitude is followed by an active process of "catching" the planets. This reflects the experimental part of the scientific method. The flautist moves between positions, predicting when and where each planet is going to be and playing the exact note with the most adequate instrument. This carries on until the last note of the scene, in which the flautist is playing and moving between positions following the rotation of one of the planets.
The rest of the piece is a continuation of this metaphorical process of the discovery: Scene 2 focuses on the human experience (in this case, Dr Amaury Triaud's) during the observations[31], Scene 3 represents the analysis and understanding of the data[32], and Scene 4 deals with the announcement and the publication of new knowledge[33].
Example #7
Example of the changes in position of the flautist in Scene 1, "Exoplanet Hunter". The movement between positions is marked in the score and responds to a specific floorplan.