LED lamps, metal structure, loudspeakers, sound and electric cables, computer, carpet, fragrance.

March to June 2018, Exhibitions Pavillion, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto. Commissioned by Museum and Exhibitions Office of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Porto.

This invitation coincided with the fifteenth anniversary of Crónica, leading this project to involve many collaborations. Most of these arose from the decision to invite a large number of sound artists and musicians that had worked with the label at some point to contribute one or more sound objects to the piece. We asked for these contributions not to be final compositions, but sound objects of variable length, materials for this work, parts of a collaborative effort that would symbolically unite all the artists. Built from all these contributions, it could maybe become as complex and varied as Crónica’s catalogue.

Anotações Sonoras: Espaço, Pausa, Repetição created a space for an immersive multisensory experience built of relationships between the sound objects, the architectural space, and the visitors. Its infrastructure involved speakers, flooring, lights, the diffusion of a fragrance, and a hovering frame, setting a stage for a nonlinear, generative and open algorithmic composition for computer and speakers. This area was a pivotal point for listening, but we also intended it to steer visitors to move, to abandon the idea of a perfect listening point and to explore the entirety of the exhibition space, making its traversal a part of the experience.

We developed about one thousand individual sound objects from the three hundred contributed sound objects. From these we created a physical and computational system fuelled by their anarchic autonomy. Like in other works, this piece was not a projection of sounds into a spatial context but how those sounds transformed the existing context, creating a new context for aesthetic experience. Music creates its own space, to which it then directs the attention of visitors, leading them to develop a holistic reading and interpretation. This installation developed a music of metaphors by using sound objects and their qualities to create new objects that serendipitously emerged during its runtime, fleeting objects that could either be heard or could be forever lost.

After the installation, we published an album, Espaço, Pausa, Repetição, with two pieces composed using its sound objects and generative system. These were not intended as documentation but as new compositions created from and after the installation. The first piece, Espaço, Pausa, is closer to the dynamics of the installation, with clearly recognisable sound objects and a focus on their articulation and relationships. The second, Repetição, is infused with texts in English and Portuguese, written for the installation and inspired by two other spaces: Pierre Schaeffer’s Le solfège de l’objet sonore, and Pierre Henry’s House of Sounds, as documented in the photo-book by Geir Egil Bergjord. Poetically indexing sound objects, Repetição proposes their semantic reinterpretation, further extending the metaphorical constructs.

Project coordination: Lúcia Almeida Matos. Deputy coordinator and production: Luís Pinto Nunes. Research: Luís Pinto Nunes, Miguel Carvalhais, Pedro Tudela. Production assistance: Isabel Gonçalves. Artists, sound objects: Alex FX, Alexander Rishaug, André Gonçalves, Andreas Trobollowitsch, Artificial Memory Trace, Arturas Bumšteinas, Attilio Novellino, Carlos Santos, Carlos Zíngaro, Cem Güney, Dan Powell, David Lee Myers, Diana Combo, Durán Vázquez, Emídio Buchinho, Emmanuel Mieville, Enrico Ascoli, Enrico Coniglio, Astrid & Ephraim Wegner, Haarvöl, Freiband, Gintas K, Graeme Truslove, Hugo Paquete, Ifs, James Eck Rippie, Janek Schaefer, Jazznoize, Jim Haynes, Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, Jörg Piringer, Jos Smolders, Lawrence English, Luca Forcucci, Maile Colbert, Marc Behrens, Martijn Tellinga, Mikel R. Nieto, Mise_en_Scene, Monty Adkins, Morten Riis, paL, Ran Slavin, Richard Eigner, Saverio Rosi, Simon Whetham, Sound Meccano, Stephen Vitiello, Sturqen, Tamtam, Tuulikki Bartosik, Ulrich Mitzlaff, Vitor Joaquim, Yiorgis Sakellariou. Texts for the publication: Lúcia Almeida Matos, Luís Pinto Nunes, Miguel Carvalhais, Pedro Tudela, Rui Penha. Frame design: Luís Albuquerque Pinho, Luís Pinto Nunes, Miguel Carvalhais, Pedro Tudela. Speaker stands: Miguel Carvalhais, Norberto Jorge, Pedro Tudela. Exhibition equipment setting: Carlos Lima, Jorge Garcez, Tiago Cruz. Fragrance development: i-sensis perfume design, Eduardo Oliveira, Paula Gomes. Photographic documentation (exhibition views): João Lima. Video documentation: Patrícia Viana Almeida. IT support: João Rodrigues. Communication: Communication office, FBAUP. Graphic Design: Márcia Novais. Technical staff: Ernestina Dias, Miguel Rodrigues. Sponsors: Crónica, Garcia e Albuquerque Arquitectos.

Thank you to António Ferreira, João Azinheiro, Luís Albuquerque Pinho, Marta Rodrigues, Rosi Avelar, directions of the BA in Fine Arts, BA in Communication Design, MFA, PhD in Fine Arts.