7th meeting report

Thanks to Natalia for preparing yet another workshop. This one being very condensed also made people focused. In just 2 short hours we created a whole ensemble of low power circuits. Most of us even managed to get a fairly diverse range of sounds by connecting the free leads to different materials and the circuits of our neighbors. After a short while its hard to know why the circuit is doing what its doing and how to control it. All good fun.

7th meeting, Wednesday, September 29th

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Natalia Borissova
Wednesday, September 29th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

This edition of helikoosolek:tartu will feature a visit from current MoKS resident artist Natalia Borissova, who will give a 'Hands-on (your neighbor)' workshop with audio amplifiers adapted into homemade 'crackle' devices - simple, but expressive interactive instruments. The human body and any conductive matters become part of an electric circuit (or the other way around) and determine the range of sounds possible.

Everything conductive found in a room, including the bare skin of your neighbour, can be wired and played in a short collective sonic cross-performance, after building our own 'crackle'-circuits and figuring out what/who is conductive and why. Eight circuits can be temporarily constructed and played collaboratively. All parts will be provided, but please bring a 9V battery.

Nata(lia)sha Borissova is Moscow born, Munich/Berlin-based media artist/organizer working with (s)low-tech in a DIY, explorative, and process-related way. Since 1995 she has been experimenting with visual media while living in Moscow, Berlin, Stuttgart, Buffalo, NY and Munich. She has spent some time as a visiting professor, lecturing on Motion imaging, at New York State University/Buffalo (SUNY), and has been selected for several grants and artists' residencies in Europe. Since 2006 she has been independently running aa-vv.org - a migrating workshop-zone for informal audiovisual education and experimentation, trying to keep both change and continuity in setting up creative workshops, as well as instigating those self-(de)constructivist, experiment-based, temporal norms-forms abandoning situations. Gradually her main interest is shifting from motion to stillness, from showing to looking, from hearing to listening, from art to life, from life to... the dead frog.

http://www.aa-vv.org/about-natabor
http://www.aa-vv.org

helikoosolek:tartu is organised my MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu Linnavalitsus, and Eesti Kultuurkapital.
http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee

6th meeting report

Some nice discussion generated by the work of Yiorgis Sakellariou this month, including questions of field-recording in live performance - is there a conceptual or preferential difference between live software processing and simple listening session playback? We had both in this edition - Yiorgis played a live set using field-recordings made in and around the small greek village from which his family originates (with a few recent recordings from Tallinn thrown in for good measure), and also played us a few long duration untreated recordings from the same location, including one stunning recording of the mournful funeral bells of the village church (where he was recently offered the job of village priest, apparently).  We moved this meeting to the floor this time around, borrowed some filled hemp sack cushions from the museum's exhibition, making the room a bit more comfortable.

Next month we'll have a visit from MoKS current artist in residence, Natalia Borissova.  Stay tuned for more details.

6th meeting, Wednesday, August 25th

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
Mecha/Orga, with Yiorgis Sakellariou
Wednesday, August 25th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

This edition of helikoosolek:tartu features a visit from Greek artist Yiorgis Sakellariou.

Yiorgis Sakellariou is involved with the contemporary and experimental music scene in Greece through his CD-R label “Echo Music”, and as a member of the Contemporary Music Research Centre, and the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association. He is also a participant in the Ear to the Earth organization and he has composed music for film and theatre plays. Yiorgis recently spent a month in the village of Abeliona, in the region of Peloponnesus, in Greece. During that time he made a series of field recordings, including thunderstorms, funeral church bells and used the  material to compose an album.

Mecha/Orga is the project and recording name of Yiorgis Sakellariou. Since 2003, 2 CDs and 5 CD-Rs have been released and Mecha/Orga has been presented live in Greece, The Netherlands, the U.K., France, Belgium, Germany, Russia and Switzerland. Mecha/Orga’s music and performances are mostly based on field recordings (from passing trains to waterfalls and from refrigerator drones to desert winds), which are filtered and mixed in real time, with the use of a laptop.

During this edition of helikoosolek:tartu we will have a performance/listening session, and Yiorgis will lead a question/answer session and discussion based on his work. Participants are encouraged also to bring any field recordings of their own that the group can listen to and discuss.

For more information on Yiorgis' work, please see:
http://www.mecha-orga.com
http://thenoisehitthemastheyopenedthedoor.blogspot.com/2010/08/yiorgis-sakellariou-abelionas.html
http://blog.noise-below.org/tag/field-recording-mini-series/

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva
Muuseum, Tartu Linnavalitsus and Eesti Kultuurkapital.
http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee

5th meeting report

Many thanks to Marko Kosnik for joining us yesterday at the helikoosolek. We explored ideas of corporeal (or individual physical) tunings, running through a series of vocal exercises as a way of seeking the individual resonant frequencies within our own bodies, and discussing the inherent inconsistencies of institutional forced matched tunings on bodies that are intrinsically different.  We recorded our vocal experiments, including collective vocal exercises in which each participant had ears covered, in order to concentrate specifically on 'singing in'.  we will be posting samples from some of these recordings, as well as a few images, shortly.

We are also looking for ideas from the community for upcoming helikoosolek editions. If you have an idea for an activity, workshop, exploration or presentation, let us know! The next meeting will be Wednesday, August 25th; stay tuned for details! And for our participants: comments are open below; please let us know if you what you thought!

5th meeting, wednesday, july 28th

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
Corporeal Bioacoustics, with Marko Kosnik
Wednesday, July 28
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

a journey into corporeal bioacoustics / some practical exercises for the social bodies of self tuned individuals / by marko kosnik

This edition of helikoosolek:tartu features a visit from Slovenian artist, and current resident at MoKS, Marko Kosnik.

In the common practice of singing we are used to refer to a generally accepted tuning system and musical scales, which enable us to orchestrate, harmonize, transpose and modulate musical phrasing in collective situation. There are different kinds of absolute and relative tunings found around the globe, based on variety of cultural traditions. The references for tuning might depend on instruments in use, surrounding acoustics, commodity of singers, ...

As humans we have our own very specific acoustics at hand, that of our own body. by attentive listening to the resonant volumes of our own bodies while singing, we can conduct vibratory experiences which lead to tuning based on individual bioacoustic properties.

There are sets of experiences to enjoy when self tuned individuals enter the choir situation. the aim of the workshop is to evoke and introduce these kind of experiences in a participatory situation.

Marko Kosnik (Slovenia), polymedia artist, started his carrier in 80's as collaborator with many alternative groups (Junajtit Adis, Laibach, Cavis Negra, Most). Since the beginning of his collaborative projects he was producing creative environments, open labs and media platforms, dealing with synchronisation of authors from different backgrounds and self organisation. Crossing from acoustic studies of subterranean Karst to performances and installations with sonorostatics (electro acoustic plates) he initiated his own productions in the frame of Egon March Institute, and started building interactive environments in 1993. Kosnik acts as performer, installation artist, producer and video instrumentalist. In the span of 24 years he connected over 30 international artists in research and productions of Egon March Institute worldwide.
http://web.me.com/marchegon

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu Linnavalitsus and Eesti Kultuurkapital.
http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee

4th meeting report

Thanks to everyone who came out for the soundwalk. We had a group of about 12 participants with many new faces. I spent the previous afternoon planning out a simple route to walk starting from the museum. The general strategy was to focus on passing through different sound environments and to see how far the group would realistically walk in 30 minutes. While most of what I planned happened, there were some nice surprises. The main "catch" to this soundwalk was that the group divided into pairs with one person being a guide while their partner was blindfolded. After half the walk the pair would switch roles. What I didn't expect was how freely the guides interpreted their roles. Immediately many of the guides chose to highlight the tactile environment as much as (if not more than) the sonic environment. While "leading" the group I often turned around to find blindfolded people touching trees, buildings and other objects along the way. Thee were also a few situational surprises like the fellow practicing his martial art in Toomamägi park eventually finding himself surrounded by our group. None of the blindfolded people knew what they were listening to until they opened their eyes. Overall it seemed to be a sensory heightening experience for most, something a few said, they would like to try again in their own way.