Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, 7pm In conjunction with Maya Dunietz’s exhibition, “Sound Requires a Medium,” the CCA presents a panel discussion around the development of sound art. The evening will span the historical evolution of music from its material constraints to the effects of the Internet on art and sound, and will include a discussion of a spectacular site-specific sound work that used the building of the Tel Aviv Municipality as its main instrument.
Dganit Elyakim will discuss physical form as a foundational element in music. Over the past century, music has begun to be understood not simply as a temporal but also a spacial construct, and that these two elements are inseparable. However, spacial considerations are usually discussed only with regards to acoustics or psycho-acoustic experiences, while physical or architectural installations are rarely discussed. Throughout history, Western composition practices have undergone drastic changes due to physical conditions and changing forms. Elyakim will survey some of these major historical shifts in music in an effort to rethink what composition means today.
Emmanuel Witzthum will discuss how connectivity in the digital era is transforming the relationships between artist, work, and audience. As artist becomes facilitator, work becomes platform, and the audience becomes user or collaborator, the strategic premise of value, community, and co-creator become a form of expression that changes not only the artistic work, but also the premise behind the creation of artistic frameworks. Witzthum will demonstrate this with examples from projects he has created such as “Dissolving Localities,” an audiovisual project in which artists “remix” cities using field recording they and the city’s inhabitants share and record.
Ori Drumer will discuss a site-specific sound installation he recently made using the Tel Aviv Municipality building as the work’s main instrument. The project was created especially for the municipal building and combined sound, image, and text. The stairwell and its acoustics dictated how visitors experienced the work, which changed on each floor. Images and texts from various sources such as public and private archives, prose, and literature were integrated into the work and addressed the symbolism behind the building’s history and its future. The project revolved around metaphorical connections between heaven and earth, up and down, and individuals and their cities.
Moderated by: Chen Tamir
Ori Drumer is an interdisciplinary artist, musician, curator, and cultural researcher. Drumer’s work has been presented in various solo and group exhibitions, usually in the form of sound, video, drawing and painting, writing, new media, and animation. He is one of the founding members of the influential Dorelux Sedelx band. Drumer has been directing theater and writing about music, dance, theater and film, for many years, as well as curating exhibitions.
Dganit Elyakim is a composer and sound-artist. She was awarded the Israeli Prime Minister’s Prize for Composition in 2011. Her music has been featured at events and venues such as Ars Electronica (Linz), Gaudeamus Festival (Amsterdam), the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and HaTeiva (Tel Aviv). Elyakim graduated from the Music and Philosophy Department of the Haifa University under the supervision of Prof. Arik Shapira. She has holds a postgraduate degree in composition as well as in electronic music from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Her debut album “Failing Better” will be released under the label “Aural Terrains” in March 2016.
Emmanuel Witzthum is the Head of the British Council’s Arts and Music department and a consultant at the Israel Festival. As an artist and curator, Witzthum creates technology platforms that connect the Internet and art in everyday life. He initiates large-scale productions and projects designed to enable multi-cultural dialogue through the arts.
Imgage: After Kandinsky, Ori Drumer, 2013
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