Produced at IMA

In the current edition of »Produced at IMA«, current compositions on the theme »visuality« are presented which, in addition to the tonal and spatial dimension, also include a visual level.

Gerriet K. Sharma focuses, above all, on the arrangement and movement of acoustic signals in space. For Sharma, the unity of sound and space represents the overcoming of the boundaries between fine art and music. He pursues the utopia of an almost immaterial sound sculpture, which can be 'physically' comprehensible by the ear. In the 11-channel spatial sound composition »grafik unten« [Graphic Below] (2014), Sharma undertakes a critical examination of the visual representation of three-dimensional sound objects. Since, in his view, a graphic translation of sounds can evoke a too strong audio impression, in »grafik unten« he focusses on the question of spatial sound objects which make it possible for the listener to "gaze into" space. "But what, then, is an ear-gaze?"

»NS-12« is an eight-channel audio-visual installation by Icelandic filmmaker Kristján Loðmfjörð and Danish-Polish sound artist Konrad Korabiewski. The installation is based on audio and film footage material featuring an Icelandic fishing steamboat and the idea of artistically interpreting a place of everyday work. Hence, the fishing steamboat appears as a living organism, a musical instrument, a spatial map composed of a range of textures and colors. The incessant sound of the motor permeates the installation as an auditory experience on board the steamboat. Among others, these sounds are superimposed with recordings of an Icelandic church choir.

It was the search for an intermedial language which brought about the collaboration between Italian composers Valerio de Bonis and Giulio Colangelo around the beginning of the millennium. They have since been working together on audio-visual works. With their sound installation »(re)BO(u)NDS«, the composers attempt to control and design chaotic conditions: drops of water fall into a glass container at certain intervals, whereby contact microphones catch the vibrations caused by the impact. Certain sound elements are activated depending on the character of the transmitted sound. The emergent composition is then played back in a multi-channel format and updated with the impact of each new drop of water. The installation, entitled »(re)BO(u)NDS« points to the movement of the sounds, which playfully 'bounce' through the space. Each of these movements is at the same time triggered by a single drop to which they are thereby connected.

Produced at IMA
In the series »Produced at IMA«, electro-acoustic works on a specific theme produced at the ZKM | Institute of Music and Acoustics (IMA) are presented in loose sequence. As an artistic research center which actively accompanies and promotes productions, the IMA has at its disposal an extremely varied fund of works completed by international artists of electronic music in the studios here. Often, these are works especially composed for the unique Sound Dome in the ZKM_Cube, or which exist as special Sound Dome versions. With this series, the Institute of Music and Acoustics makes its long collaboration with artists publically visible and, above all, audible. The completed compositions are presented by a sound director in programmatic compositions.