photo by Leonie Lomann & Davide Tidoni
This exhibition focuses on the intimate relationship between “inside” and “outside” as sound passes across and through adjacent spaces.
Developed as a site-specific work in an empty apartment, the exhibition features multiple installations which emphasize the acoustic relationships and ‘dialogues’ between different rooms, a balcony and a courtyard. There are microphones transmitting both environmental and contact sounds from one space into another; loudspeakers also play back recordings of slow-walks that have previously been performed in the space.
This work is intended to produce a sense of presence, communication, and interrelation, ideally resulting in a contemplative orientation towards the site. The otherwise vacant state of the apartment combined with the low playback volumes requires focus and attention, inviting viewers to linger and observe.
Only one person was allowed to view the exhibition at a time.
Click here to see more images from the exhibition.
keyword - microphones and loudspeakers
OUTWARD FROM WITHIN
HURLING INTO THE UNKNOWN
A microphone is suspended in mid-air from the top of a building. As winds blow, the microphone begins to swing and touches the wall from which it hangs.
DRIFTING
A loudspeaker oscillates at the mercy of the waves. When the waves touch the loudspeaker, they set it in motion and thus modulate the white noise that is being played back.
IGNITE
An incendiary mixture consumes the membrane of a loudspeaker, devouring its insides.
WHEN SOUND ENDS
This series of works explores themes of corporeality, in relation to sound production and audition, touch, and loss. The loudspeakers, microphones, enclosures, and membranes presented in this exhibition are in varying states of disrepair; most are no longer capable of producing sound and thus are poignant objects for meditation on impermanence, bodily frailty, and death. Each of these corpses bear visible marks of violence, traces of past collisions and other wounds which emphatetically encourage viewers to visualize this encounter and the consequential loss of capacity.
See more documentation about the overall project: whensoundends.davidetidoni.name/
HIGH TIDE
photo by Katinka Meersy
A loudspeaker projecting white noise is slowly taken by the high tide. As the tide rises, the white noise gets modulated in relation to the movement of the water. As sound disappears, a feeling of separation and withdrawal fills the people witnessing the loss.
Video documentation (PSSWRD: “HT2020″)
ALL BODIES END IN SILENCE
The work presents several actions Davide has performed with microphones. These actions reflect on the materiality of the sound devices and explore their corporeal aspects, as sounding bodies that he interacts with in unexpected ways. The actions are developed with a direct dramaturgy, each ending with the death of the microphone and consequent absence of sound. Examples of actions include burning a microphone, leaving it on the rail tracks, launching it into the air with a firework, hitting it with a slingshot, … Davide’s actions explore the ephemeral nature of corporeal existence through the presence, absence, and disappearance of sound as a metaphor for life and death.
VIDEO LIST:
Departure [02':40'']
Cut-off [01':38'']
Falling Apart [03':24'']
Until When It Dies [06':10'']
They Hear The Silence So Loud [02':19'']
Untitled [03':08'']
My Target Is Your Eyes [02':34'']
As The Sound Burns [03':38'']
Davide Tidoni: locations, actions, sound, video, editing.
Videos produced by Overtoon and Davide Tidoni.
THE BLOWS FROM OUTSIDE
A microphone is treated with hot wax drops and eventually set on fire…
the mic is exposed
no armor to wear
facing the world
a punch in the chest
each touch is a mark
each flame is a trace
its body a map that accumulates
the sound it makes
a desperate cry
feeling all those blows
until it dies
photo by Katerina Tamvaki
SINGLE STROKES
Two microphones are used as a pair of drumstick to play the snare drum. The recordings explore the physical properties and affordances of the microphone as an object. The work is part of a series of actions that investigate the practical materiality of the microphone and violate the basic rules and principles of audio technology. More actions here.
A LOUDSPEAKER BLOWS UP AND FALLS APART
photo (1,2) by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu
A loudspeaker blows up and falls apart. The silence that emerges after the explosion emphasises the transition from presence to absence.
ALL OF A SUDDEN
A microphone is placed at the side of a road. A performer is positioned on the opposite side of the road and pulls the microphone from the cable. The microphone keeps crossing the road until it is suddenly hit by passing cars.
BEYOND THE YELLOW LINE
A microphone moves closer and closer to a passing train and eventually gets hit. In this work, the microphone is exposed to the consequences of breaking the (safety) distance which usually separates it from the sound source.
THROUGH THE WINDOW
A loudspeaker is positioned on the second floor inside a building.
A performer stands outside the building with a microphone in his hand.
When the performer is ready, they throw the microphone inside the building, trying to get it through the window and land it as close to the loudspeaker as possible.
When the microphone lands inside the building, it triggers a sound feedback.
The audience can split up and watch the action from either outside or inside the building.
MY TARGET IS YOUR EYES
photo by Luca Ghedini
A performer tries to hit a microphone with a slingshot. The impact of the hit is amplified and diffused at high volume from a loudspeaker. The amplification of the hit allows the thrower to experience the “sensitivity” of the microphone, or in other words: to understand and share the feelings of another body.
HOW FAR CAN I GET
A performer swings a microphone in the air and loosen the cable a few more inches with each turn. The action continues until the cable is long enough that the microphone crashes against the wall.
The performance is a metaphor about becoming aware of one own’s limitations.
Rough documentation video (PSSWRD: “nevertoofar”)