Sound art has now emerged as an extremely prolific area of experimentation within contemporary art and increasingly represents an inexhaustible source of research for artists and scholars who, thanks to digital technologies, can achieve unexpected results. In this context, the valuable contribution made in Chile by the collective of artists involved in the Tsonami Festival of Valparaíso finds its place a research group dedicated to studying sound processes combined with unconventional approaches to listening. Otros Sonidos, Otros Paisajes originates precisely from this cultural ferment: it is a space where reflection on sound art intertwines with investigations into the places and landscapes of Chile, from the Atacama Desert to Patagonia, from the outskirts of Santiago to the Bío Bío region, eventually extending to the extreme south, towards Antarctica. The exhibition, open until June 11 at the Macro in Via Nizza (Rome), features the work of five sound artists and is the result of a successful collaboration between the Chilean Embassy in Italy, represented by Antonio Arévalo, writer, critic, and curator, and Leandro Pisano, curator, theorist, and independent sound researcher, as well as the founder of Interferenze New Arts Festival, Tsonami Arte Sonoro, and the Liminaria sound art residency project. The exploration of the territory is reconstructed through a magnificent sensory experience and forms the thematic core of the installations. The goal, therefore, is to give space, but above all voice, to the power of nature and certain cultural contexts marginalized by global society.
Alejandra Perez, “Great Island of Fire Land”, 2015. Ph.by Macarena Fernández
Each of the five Chilean artists offers visitors a small sonic treasure chest, entrusting them with their personal contribution to the (re)discovery of the region. Antartica 1961-1996 is the interactive work by Alejandra Perez Nuñez, which welcomes the visitor and sets the tone. It is a sound cartography recorded on the Antarctic Peninsula, a territory ravaged by nuclear activities until 1996. The artist’s research focuses on human influence on the environment, specifically the impact of technological accidents caused by humanity, in this case, radioactive isotopes present in Antarctic ecosystems. Nuñez’s work is expanded upon in this exhibition: compared to the first version, created in 2009, the piece has been enriched with a series of ultra-low-frequency recordings, imperceptible to the human ear, thus capturing the seemingly invisible traces of human activity.
Fernando Godoy, “Atacama”, Chile, 2012. Ph. by Rodrigo Ríos Zunino
Fernando Godoy, on the other hand, in Atacama 22° 54′ 24” S, 68° 12′ 25” W, focuses on the vast Atacama Desert. During a journey in 2012 in the region, together with Austrian artist Peter Kutin, the author explores some abandoned places, including old salt mines, train stations, villages, and buildings, recording their sounds. These, combined with the natural activity of wind and sand, create a sound map made of small fragments, which, when pieced together, form a truly intriguing path. The work also manifests visually as a tightrope between past and present, inviting the viewer to mix and replay natural and artificial sounds in random order, creating a continuous tension of discovery. The resulting reflection, beyond the temporal dimension, is also on the presence/absence of humans in the landscape. Claudia Gonzàles Godoy dedicates her research to the course of the Mapocho River. In Hidroscopia / Mapocho, human and natural processes that caused the fragmentation of the river’s course are linked together. The artist collects water samples from different points and documents her study through photographs and sound recordings. The result is a composite work made of various elements like scaffolding, ampoules, electronic boards, photographs, and sounds, each of which can be enjoyed individually. By doing so, Gonzàles Godoy provides a dynamic and multifaceted image of the natural element, a living body constantly adapting, especially in relation to the places it traverses.
Rainer Krause, “Grabaciones de sonidos costeros”, Coliumo, Chile, 2014. Ph. by Oscar Concha
In the adjacent room, the works of Sebastian Jatz and Rainer Krause engage in dialogue, united by the intimate relationship between human/poetic language and territory. Conferencia de Pajaros Cantores was created by Jatz in the summer of 2016 during an artist residency at Casa Poli (Coliumo, Chile), and is inspired by the aeolian harp, which vibrates its strings through the action of the wind. The artist places at the center of his work the poetess and singer-songwriter Violeta Parra, whose work he rereads in relation to some sounds collected in Chilean landscapes. Finally, Lenguas locales, Krause’s work, is dedicated to the invaluable contribution of Cristina Calderón, the last woman to speak the Yaghan language, the language of the indigenous people decimated by European colonization between the 19th and 20th centuries. The artist investigates the connections between humans and their territorial belonging, resulting in an intimate dialogue between the woman and her land; her whispered voice leads to a musical and storytelling narrative that fades over time. Compared to the original version of the work presented at the last Venice Biennale, Krause expands his research by adding recordings gathered in historically significant places once inhabited by the Yaghan people, allowing them to shine not only as physical and geographical spaces but also as aesthetic and cultural places.
Info:
Otros Sonidos, Otros Paisajes
05/05/2017 – 11/05/2017
MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma
Via Nizza, 138
macroasilo.it
Giulia Russo is an author and digital editorial assistant for Juliet, with whom she has collaborated since 2017. More recently she has been a contributing editor on cultural themes for various magazines, with critical insights, dedicated to emerging artists and the new frontiers of contemporaneity. Graduated in Art History at La Sapienza University of Rome, she specialized in Visual Cultures and curatorial practices at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. Based in Milan, with some fleeting forays into Tiber, she loves listening to stories that she occasionally rewrites
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