Who are Céline Garnavault and Thomas Sillard?
Thomas is a sound artist. Céline is a creator and actress-puppeteer. Together we create a theater of techno-hacked sound objects.
A “theater of techno-hacked sound objects”: what is it?
It is a theater made from objects that we bring to life through technology and sound, in a way of thinking close to DIY, in the sense of making do with what is at hand, empirically, with curiosity and a sincere attention to the objects and what they offer us.
All the technical and technological aspects of your work are fascinating, especially since they do not prevent people from feeling a deep empathy for your objects... What kind of relationship do you want to establish with the audiences?
Our objects are indeed technological, but they are primarily tools, and what we choose to create with these tools is about relationship, dialogue, and emotion.
In AFFECTS (2026), we will give voice to our materialized emotions in living and sovereign objects to establish a dialogue around the taboo of mental health and the necessity to collectively welcome our vulnerabilities.
In BAD BLOCK (2024), we choose to embed intuition, randomness, and collective intelligence - which works by bouncing imaginations off one another - at the heart of the experience with the audiences. These objects will indeed connect us, and the show includes a time for exchange and expression from the audience that is an integral part of its writing.
In TRACK (2021), we invite the audience close to a managing train circuit, to listen differently, to physically feel the music, the space, the movements of the objects, and to be surprised by the wonderful that can arise from any tiny event.
In BLOCK (2018), we tell the city as a landscape in constant mutation. The scenography of the 60 sound and light objects allows for multi-spatialization and visualization of these sound landscapes: it is both a decor, a sensory cocoon, but also a game engine and a true partner of the performer.
You place a great emphasis on research in your work?
Absolutely! Each creation is born from a long process. We design everything from A to Z, often over several years. For LISTENING TO OBJECTS, our Franco-Quebecois research project award-winning in 2025 from the DGCA, we work with three researchers and a mechanotrician!
What are the other current events of the company?
We will celebrate in October 2025 the release of LA TÊTE a geek song tour for a half-tire half-punk machine. In this musical format, LA TÊTE, a new techno-hacked creature by Thomas Sillard, will be surrounded by 9 giant robotic mouths as choristers, with a setlist of original songs composed specifically by the prolific Kim Giani. This creation is supported in production by SACEM.
We are preparing our future creation AFFECTS (November 26) which will blend robotics, sound arts, theater, and contemporary animated forms. In AFFECTS, the emotions will be materialized in an assembly of hacked, soldered, tangible, vulnerable, ambiguous objects, sometimes funny and often clumsy, they will raise the question of cohabitation with what burdens us, overflows us, but also shapes us.
An English version of BAD BLOCK is currently in preparation, indeed the award-winning 2025 of the PARI! pathway supported by the Ministry of Culture and the French Institute, the company wishes to develop its artistic presence internationally.
Our shows BLOCK and TRACK continue their tours with beautiful highlights such as the Théâtre du Châtelet in October 2025 for TRACK.
We also created an interactive EXPO last season that is scheduled in parallel with our shows, this season in Albi and at the Noob festival in Pont-Audemer.
The company La Boîte à sel is associated for 3 seasons (23/24 - 24/25 - 25/26) with l'Espace Jéliote - National Center for Puppetry of Oloron Sainte Marie (64), with L'Hectare - National Center for Puppetry of Vendôme (41) and at Théâtre des 4 Saisons de Gradignan (33).