Resonating Sculpture IX, Fluvial Reni Hofmüller

at Scala in Tabakalera, Donosti / San Sebastian

The desire to open our ears to new listening experiences and those in conversation with infrastructure was already having its first moments on Reni Hofmüller's pirate radio station in the 90s. Back then, Reni and her fellow pirates would scurry up the hills near Graz with an antenna made of foldable fabric that could fit in a backpack. That is how she regaled her fellow citizens with broadcasts no longer than 18 minutes, which was two less than local authorities would take to find and neutralise the signal.

From this seed - and space of potentiality - sprouts Resonating Sculptures, a series of nine sound works where infrastructure and electromagnetic space - the invisible and inaudible - are made partially tangible and perceptible. In a gesture that is as poetic as it is domestic, this new antenna that was designed and hand made for this occasion, draws and abstracts a map of San Sebastian's web of rivers, aquifers and canals from the Urumea river to the Cantabrian sea, passing through a network of human and non-human channels in a complex and interdependent relationship. In a mix of transmissions that are both live and recorded in the city, the listening is divided into 4 stereo channels that open up a web of interferences, textures, and contaminations running from the hydraulic space - with recordings at different locations in the area - to the ether, in constant movement, flow, and interconnection.





Technical specifications:
First floor: Underwater recordings in San Sebastian, 60 min, loop.
Mezzanine floor: Electromagnetic recording in San Sebastian, 11min, it will be activated every half hour.
Second floor: Electromagnetic recording in San Sebastian, 17 min, it will be activated every half hour.
Third floor: Resonating Sculpture IX live signal.

If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. (Nikola Tesla, https://www.goodreads.com)