2nd Re:place seminar

The second Re:place seminar will take place at the Grieg Academy May 2-3. We have started adding information on the seminar, and as the schedule is finalised, all details will be available here. This seminar will examine how issues of place are being negotiated in contemporary sound and music, and question how this resembles or differs from the dealing with place in fine arts. Participants in the Re:place project will also use the workshop for further planning of the upcoming exhibition at KinoKino and Sandnes kunstforening, and discussions on how to proceed on the issue of critical reflection within the project.

For anyone that want to substitute the usual crime books for more relevant readings over Easter in preparation for the workshop, here are a few suggestions:

Digicult has a lengthy interview with Daniela Cascella, one of the invited guests.

The PhD thesis from 2008 by Sun-Jun Kim proposed a quaternary framework for listening to electroacoustic music, inspired by the model put forward by Krauss in "Sculpture in the Expanded Field":

In particular for anyone coming from the fine arts, I believe that this text gives an excellent introduction to a number of core topics, terms, thought and discourses within electroacoustic and acousmatic music, and it is not hard to read.

I hope that we might get some productive discussions on similarities and differences in approaches to place between music and fine arts in this seminar, and I believe that this is one of the topics where the Re:place project is able to offer reflections that might be of importance.

Topographies of the Obsolete

The second workshop at the the former Spode Factory in Stoke on Trent took place between 9 - 18 March with participants from Norway, Denmark, Germany and the UK. Re:place was represented in the project by Trond Lossius, Scott Rettberg and Jeremy Welsh. In addition to site-specific interventions in the factory environment, the workshop included a series of lectures by US theorist Ezra Shales, a seminar examining the history of ceramic production in the Potteries region and an exhibition of works in progress at the Airspace Gallery in Hanley. For Re:place the event provided the opportunity to gather materials in the form of video, sound recordings, photography, interviews and text materials that will be worked with in coming months to form the basis of a new installation. Meanwhile, Topographies of the Obsolete has been granted funding by the Norwegian programme for research in the arts, allowing the project to be developed further over the coming two years.

The Spode flag still flying

Working space in The China Hall

Abandoned records

Trond Lossius and Ezra Shales

Digital junk

Mystical signage

Opening at Airspace Gallery, AH Mydland explains her piece

Richard Launder performing at the opening 

Add captionPerformance by Sofie Knudsen Jansson 

Eschatology

Eschatology was a performance by The Langham Research Centre with Peter Blegvad, commissioned for the Borealis Festival 2013. The performance featured video projections by Jeremy Welsh, of still and almost empty landscapes recorded around the Thames Estuary and The Isle of Grain in Kent. The sound, using analog technology, was based on field recordings, radio transmissions, vinyl records and electronic sounds, combined in a flowing, contemplative and textural composition that was offset by Peter Blegvad's muti-layered reading and underscored by the video projections.

Eschatology, performance at Landmark, Bergen Kunsthall

Lontano

What happens when sound is being absorbed rather than reflected? How do we subconciously use hearing to navigate space. Experience variations from absolute, pressing silence to illusions of soundcapes in one of the most fascinating rooms to be found in Bergen.

The sound installation “Lontano” lasts about half an hour and can be experienced during the Borealis Festival in Bergen – from 6 to 10 March – every hour between 12 and 16.

NB! There is very limited space – only 4 people at a time – so sign up for a viewing at stine@borealisfestival.no!

“Lontano” is a site-specific installation for the anechoic chamber at Haukeland University Hospital. This is a room designed to completely absorb reflections of sound, insulated from exterior sources of noise. While the architectural and physical appearance of the space is experienced as overwhelming and claustrophobic, the sonic appearance is that of a quiet open-space of infinite dimension. In the “Lontano” installation surround sound is used to create shifting illusions of sonic landscapes and places. The installation is a play of perceptual sonic illusions, moving freely between the oppressing silence of the anechoic chamber, outdoor soundscapes and illusions of being located in various indoor spaces. The installation raises questions about how our hearing works and how we perceive the environment and locate ourselves in the world through sound. Due to the particular location and qualities of the work, audience is invited to experience the installation in guided tours for a small group of people at a time.

Location: Haukeland sykehus, Main Entrance, meet on time near the reception.
Take buses number 2, 3 or 12 from the stop outside Xhibition (Småstrandgaten), which arrives at Haukeland 10-13 minutes later. Entrance: Hovedinngang 2. Vest.

Tickets: Free. Book your viewing with stine@borealisfestival.no.

Supported by Kunst- og designhøgskolen i Bergen, BEK – Bergen senter for elektronisk kunst, Norsk kulturråd and Bergen kommune.

Artist talk in the anechoic chamber

Trond Lossius forteller om arbeidet med Lontano

i det ekkofire rommet på Haukeland Sykehus

Nevrolog Skeie forteller om hjernens oppfattelse av lyd 

i rommet under betongskallet til det ekkofire kammeret.

Cosmic Sentinels and Spiral Jetties: J.G. Ballard, Robert Smithson & Tacita Dean

Newly published on Ballardian, an article on Tacita Dean's recent film "JG". The film is inspired by Dean’s correspondence with J.G. Ballard, and explores connections between Ballard’s short story ‘The Voices of Time’ and Robert Smithson’s iconic earthwork and film Spiral Jetty.

From JG, Tacita Dean, 2013