Eric Raynaud, known by his artist name Fraction, is a composer, sound and new media artist based in Paris, France. His practice has evolved from a background in spatial audio which has led him to develop an interest for multidisciplinary creation in the field of digital arts creating now for various mediums through the use of computer code.
Raynaud often engages in experimental phases and partners with internationally recognized research institutions to further his work. His pieces are known for combining complex scenography and hybrid digital writing with visual, sound, and physical media. He aims to create abstract and radical experiences that link immersion, mixed realities, contemporary art, and architecture.
Raynaud's fascination with sound intensity and energy is evident in his work, and he has found that immersion provides the ideal platform for conceiving atypical and often striking pieces. His immersive audiovisual performance, DROMOS, which he created with the support of the CNC in 2011, was featured at the Mutek festival in Montreal and caught the attention of Apple, who used it in their 30th-anniversary video in 2014.
He has received numerous awards and residencies in recognition of his innovative work. In 2014, he was awarded by the Institut Français in Digital Arts, and in 2017, he was nominated for the SHAPE 2017 European network of festivals and arts centers, which supports multidisciplinary artists with innovative approaches. Entropia, the immersive experience, which he created during his research residency at the Society for Arts and Technology in Montreal, became emblematic in the field of audiovisual performance and toured the world from 2016-2018. In 2018, he was a laureate of the 4DSound residency program in Budapest, allowing him to deepen his understanding of spatial sound and its potential in immersive sound writing. That same year, he was also a laureate of the IRCAM artistic research residency program, investigating the possibility of a cross-language platform for immersive audio and generative art.
Raynaud's multidisciplinary approach allows him to take an artistic direction on the projects he creates or collaborates on, enabling him to work with various digital media in coherence with the writing that remains at the heart of his approach. His creations cover a wide spectrum of aesthetic language, with a focus on sound as a crucial element.
Whether collaborating with others or working on solo projects, Raynaud's skills and creations are regularly featured in major new media and sound art-related events around the world.
In 2024 he was nominated associate composer at the Hexagone Scène Nationale by the French Ministry of Culture.