"I/E" - TAREK ATOUI
30 JUN 2018
I/E is an archaeology of sound, a research in sonic stromatography*, cracking into hidden frameworks of the city. Sounds are recorded from below the surface, the sea and the underground world, moving upwards in an attempt to locate, decipher and understand the identity of the place. The recordings transcribe the multiple layers of the landscape. For this project Tarek Atoui has been collaborating with sound recordists. Porto’s edition will count with Eric La Casa. Together they will navigate the acoustics, refractions and reverberations of waterfronts and their surroundings using different microphones to create a sound scan on a macro and micro scale. Some of the sounds go back to thousands of years ago and others belong to the contemporary city. From listening to the human and natural activities of this environment, they will explore how sound can reflect the cultural, social and economic realities of this place. The research process will be developed during a residency in Porto at Sonoscopia and will be documented by the analogue photographer Alexandre Guirkinger.The raw material amassed through the sound recordings forms the point of departure for an interpretation of the site, a composition and a series of performances that extrapolate outwards into the space, re-introducing to the site the sounds of its own unapparent stories.I/E was originally conceived by Tarek Atoui as a sound studio, a listening space and a performance platform housed inside a sound-proof shipping container. Atoui thought of I/E as a polyvalent tool that would allow him to record sound, perform and collaborate with a variety of musicians in unusual outdoor contexts. In the case of its iteration in Porto, the sound studio work will be housed at Sonoscopia and the performances staged at Serralves Park with the participation of the recordists and Sonoscopia associated artists and musicians Alberto Lopes, Gustavo Costa and Henrique Fernandes.I/E was first presented as a prototype version in October 2013 at the Carrousel du Louvre as part of FIAC Art Fair, installed facing the Louvre’s Pyramid. In the following years, I/E has been touring from one harbor to another, such as Athens, Abu Dhabi and Singapore. It now sets ground in Porto.
* Stromatography is an archaeological term which denotes the process of uncovering the different historical layers of a site.
Coproduction: Sonoscopia
Courtesy Galerie Chantal Crousel
Thanks to:Porto de Leixões/APDLÁguas do Porto/Câmara Municipal do PortoDouro Azul
Douro MarinaReserva Natural Local do Estuário do Douro/Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de GaiaSanta Casa da Misericórdia do Porto
Image (c) Locus Athens Tarek Atoui Alexandre Guirkinger Eric La Casa Sonoscopia Atoui was born in Lebanon in 1980, and moved to France in 1998, where he studied sound art and electro-acoustic music. He served as artistic director of the STEIM Studios in Amsterdam, a center for the research and development of new electronic musical instruments in 2008. Atoui has presented works internationally including the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; the New Museum, New York; Sharjah Biennial 9 and 11, United Arab Emirates; La Maison Rouge, Paris; Media City, Seoul; Haus der Kunst, Munich; Performa 11, New York; doCUMENTA 13, Kassel; Serpentine Gallery, London and Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm. Born 1980, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France. Lives and works in Paris, France.
Alexandre Guirkinger graduated from IEP in Lille and did a brief stint at Magnum Photos as a production manager before deciding to focus on photography fulltime in 2006. He has worked for M magazine, the Wall Street Journal Magazine, AD and T Magazine, developing a photographic language that runs the gamut from landscapes to portraits, still lifes and archival images. In 2010, Guirkinger started making collaborative pieces with such artists as Étienne Chambaud, Raimundas Malasauskas, Alex Cecchetti and Tarek Atoui. Meanwhile, he has worked on personal projects that have been likened to conceptual documentaries. In 2015, he completed his long-term Maginot Line project which was exhibited at Les Rencontres d'Arles in 2016.
For approximately 20 years, La Casa has been questioning the perception of reality and has expanded the notion of what’s musical today. Through his aesthetic of capturing sound, his work fits equally into the fields of sound art and music.
His experimentations/improvisations with the everyday soundscape lead to site specific installations and musical pieces using only his field recordings, for CD releases and audiovisual productions (such as for Ken Jacobs and Luke Fowler). La Casa also produces radio essays for France Culture on listening issues (Habiter, 2015) and co-runs the sound art label Swarming (with Philip Samartzis).
Sonoscopia is an association that creates, produces and promotes artistic and educational projects, focused on experimental music, building new instruments, sound research and its intersections with literature, dance, theatre and visual arts. Since its inception in 2011, Sonoscopia has produced over 500 events, art projects, educational activities and publications; the organization has also visited approximately 20 European countries as well as geographies as distant as the United States, Lebanon, Japan, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, and it has hosted hundreds of artists from all over the world in its creation and residency center. Partipating in I/E will be founding members Gustavo Costa and Henrique Fernandes, as well as Alberto Lopes.
* Stromatography is an archaeological term which denotes the process of uncovering the different historical layers of a site.
Coproduction: Sonoscopia
Courtesy Galerie Chantal Crousel
Thanks to:Porto de Leixões/APDLÁguas do Porto/Câmara Municipal do PortoDouro Azul
Douro MarinaReserva Natural Local do Estuário do Douro/Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de GaiaSanta Casa da Misericórdia do Porto
Image (c) Locus Athens Tarek Atoui Alexandre Guirkinger Eric La Casa Sonoscopia Atoui was born in Lebanon in 1980, and moved to France in 1998, where he studied sound art and electro-acoustic music. He served as artistic director of the STEIM Studios in Amsterdam, a center for the research and development of new electronic musical instruments in 2008. Atoui has presented works internationally including the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; the New Museum, New York; Sharjah Biennial 9 and 11, United Arab Emirates; La Maison Rouge, Paris; Media City, Seoul; Haus der Kunst, Munich; Performa 11, New York; doCUMENTA 13, Kassel; Serpentine Gallery, London and Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm. Born 1980, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France. Lives and works in Paris, France.
Alexandre Guirkinger graduated from IEP in Lille and did a brief stint at Magnum Photos as a production manager before deciding to focus on photography fulltime in 2006. He has worked for M magazine, the Wall Street Journal Magazine, AD and T Magazine, developing a photographic language that runs the gamut from landscapes to portraits, still lifes and archival images. In 2010, Guirkinger started making collaborative pieces with such artists as Étienne Chambaud, Raimundas Malasauskas, Alex Cecchetti and Tarek Atoui. Meanwhile, he has worked on personal projects that have been likened to conceptual documentaries. In 2015, he completed his long-term Maginot Line project which was exhibited at Les Rencontres d'Arles in 2016.
For approximately 20 years, La Casa has been questioning the perception of reality and has expanded the notion of what’s musical today. Through his aesthetic of capturing sound, his work fits equally into the fields of sound art and music.
His experimentations/improvisations with the everyday soundscape lead to site specific installations and musical pieces using only his field recordings, for CD releases and audiovisual productions (such as for Ken Jacobs and Luke Fowler). La Casa also produces radio essays for France Culture on listening issues (Habiter, 2015) and co-runs the sound art label Swarming (with Philip Samartzis).
Sonoscopia is an association that creates, produces and promotes artistic and educational projects, focused on experimental music, building new instruments, sound research and its intersections with literature, dance, theatre and visual arts. Since its inception in 2011, Sonoscopia has produced over 500 events, art projects, educational activities and publications; the organization has also visited approximately 20 European countries as well as geographies as distant as the United States, Lebanon, Japan, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates, and it has hosted hundreds of artists from all over the world in its creation and residency center. Partipating in I/E will be founding members Gustavo Costa and Henrique Fernandes, as well as Alberto Lopes.
