AudioCulture. Europe – A Sound Panorama

The festival AudioCulture places aesthetic emphasis on compositions that work with “field recordings”. In the case of this creative approach, sounds are composed which – originating in the acoustic environment, the field of audible phenomenon – are recorded with a microphone and, to a certain degree reproduce reality. The recorded sounds, however, are not necessarily related to the original; they are often processed, made clearer or modified and arranged within new musical or narrative reference systems. Sounds are conceived and elaborated into musical elements, and new temporal structures. Thus, composed panoramas emerge that question the relationship to reality or else consciously play with the duality of reality and idea. By way of a special art of microphoning, the recordings are often of a particular conciseness, and are expounded and made perceptible in the existing acoustic nuances in the soundscapes invariably ignored in the moment in which they occur in everyday life. With their acoustic photographs, the composers create new perspectives, new acoustic-scenarios and extend the horizon of hearing and the imagination beyond the works themselves.

The festival’s point of departure is the project »Europe – A Sound Panorama« initiated in 2010 by the Goethe-Institute Belgrade, Deutschlandradio Kultur and ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics. The core of the work revolves around a Europe-wide request for five-minute radiophone or electro-acoustic compositions conceived such as to convey an impression of the peculiarities of one of the selected regions of Europe. From a total of 186 submissions, the international jury selected ten compositions by creative individuals from a great many countries in Europe. Under the artistic direction of media artist Thomas Köner, they have now been invited to Karlsruhe for one week in October to elaborate from their works a European co-production for the dome-formed spatial sound system at the ZKM, and a radio version for Deutschlandradio Kultur; these are to be presented on October 22, 2011.

To connect “Found Footage” with synthetic sounds, to generate transitions between real and artificial sonic waves via similar acoustic and rhythmic attributes is the idea behind the audiotape play by Kirsten Reese at the ZKM_Sound Dome which will be premiered on October 21, 2011. This is to be followed by an appearance by Thomas Köner and many times Sczuka prizewinner for acoustic art, Asmus Tietchens, with their live improvisation project “Contact the Youngling”, in which Tietchens juggles his found and prefabricated sounds with the finely chiseled, mostly noisy crackling sounds from Köner’s notebook.

The concert program is accompanied by two discussions. The IMA | lab (October 20) is dedicated to the theme “Field Recording” and carries out a fundamental discussion on aesthetic objectives and consequences with European guests. A discussion with sound-art sponsors Paul and Hélène Panhuysen (October 22) poses the question as to the preconditions and artistic ideals of the venue Apollhuis, which they founded and manage in the context of an archive exhibition and CD publication at the ZKM.

In addition, a two-day Workshop is offered for teenagers (October 21./22.), at the end of which a fictive audiowalk constructed from recordings should emerge.
 

Program

Thu, October 20, 2011, 6 pm, ZKM_Lecture Hall

IMA | lab No.6 »Field Recording«
Workshop discussion with the participants of the European project “Klangpanorama”/ Panoramic Acoustics
With Thomas Köner and the project participants
Moderation: Julia Gerlach
 

Fri, October 21, 2011, 8 pm, ZKM_Cube

»Sound Fields«
Kirsten Reese: “Deckkraft” (UA, 2011)
Thomas Köner / Asmus Tietchens: “Contact the Youngling”
 

Sat, October 22, 2011, 6 pm, ZKM_Medialounge

»Sound Art @ Het Apollohuis«
Workshop discussion and CD presentations with Paul and Hélène Panhuysen
For the archive exhibition “Het Apollohuis”
Moderation: Julia Gerlach
 

Sat., October 22, 2011, 8 pm, ZKM_Cube

»Europe – A Sound Panorama« (premiere, 2011)
European competition, workshop and concert
“Europe – A Sound Panorama” is a Europe-wide call for proposals for a cooperative project under the artistic direction of media artist Thomas Köner.

With Susanna Caprara, Katrinem (Katrin Emler), Francesco Giomi, Konrad Korabiewski, Stefan Malešević, Etienne Noiseau, Tamer Fahri Özgönen, Softday (Mikael Fernstroem & Sean Taylor), Pablo Sanz Almoguera, Ladislav Železný