“Phonos” (WIP) is a sculptural installation that reuses more than two-hundred recycled speakers. The speakers, instead of sounding, they perform an elegant movement at infrasonic frequencies; frequencies  that exist below our audible range. With this movement, the piece aims to make visible the inaudible. Each speaker is presented without its membrane, revealing the coil, the magnet and its suspension. In that state, and receiving frequencies below 3 Hertz, the coil moves gently and slowly enough to be seen by the human eye. Using an algorithm based on natural collective behaviors, the movement is transmitted from one speaker to another and the piece is perceived as a living organism that breathes and beats in an organic, unpredictable and ever-changing way. The machine uses infrasonic frequencies for self-expression, frequencies that humans can’t sense unless we use technology. The viewer will encounter a monumental sculpture that seeks an intimate experience, inviting to be silent in order to perceive the subtle movement of each speaker, and listen to the fragile polyrhythms that they generate.

Prior to the opening of the work, Marc Vilanova will give a talk about the creative process of the piece on Monday 28 at 18:00. This work is the outcome of the Residency for Musical Creation Pyrenees-Mediterranean 2019 offered by the Phonos Foundation, and it has been made in collaboration with mallorquian design studio 2monos. It will be shown during the 5 days of the Phonos Fall Festival at the UPF Campus in Poblenou.

Bio

Marc Vilanova (1991) is a sound and visual artist working at the intersection of art, science and technology. Vilanova’s artistic production has always been led by a spirit of innovation fueled by an interest in new media.. His pieces have been presented in festivals and exhibitions around the world in Japan, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia and many countries in Europe. He has received numerous grants, awards and residencies including the prestigious Headlands Center for the Arts, San Francisco 2020, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art Fellowship, Omaha 2019, KARA Award, Teheran 2018, Citizen Artist Incubator, Linz 2017, the Encouragement Prize Tokyo Experimental Festival 2016, Jury Prize at Saxopen, Congress Strasbourg 2015 or the First Prize at the International Contest of Sound Art Performance, Zaragoza 2014 among others.

Booking in advance is only requested to attend the opening talk. The sculpture can be visited without prior reservation between 17:00 and 21:00 from 28 September to 2 October.

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and kind support from: