Soundspace Yogya
Soundspace Yogya’ is the result of three months of research into the way the Yogyakarta of 2009 expressed itself in sound. I didn’t have any preconceived ideas about what I would find but as time went by I found myself gravitating towards three sound themes which dominated the lives of the inhabitants and users of not only the (semi) public spaces but the private – and yet open -spaces of people’s homes as well. Those themes were traffic, the call to prayer and rain.
A series of small roof-like shelters (teritisans) based on Javanese roof architecture became listening stations where visitors to the exhibition could listen to the binaural recordings of these three ear catchers. The roofs (usually attached to the outside wall of the house) symbolised the absence of privacy, the barely audible transition between inside and outside spaces.
Photo above: the installation ‘Soundspace Yogya’, first outside , later in Cemeti Gallery; two different experiences.
Design shelters by visual artist Nindityo Adipurnomo and Cilia Erens.
NYEPIWALK walk of silence
Nyepiwalk is inspired by Nyepi Day, the annual Balinese Day of Silence.
This soundwalk takes place during the night on the noisy Alun-Alun Selatan, a popular meeting place, south of The Kraton. Half of the soundscore is recorded on the square itself, the last part is a composition of Balinese sound during the Nyepiday-period.
Halfway the guided participants are wearing blindfolds, designed by Octora and inspired by the traditional Balinese headdress. They finish their walk between two enormous Waringin trees, routed in myth.
ERASMUSHUIS JAKARTA 2010 LANDING SOON groupexhibition
13 Indonesian and Dutch aritsts of Landing Soon #6 – 10, a collaboration between Cemeti Yogyakarta en Heden Den Haag, are exposing in the Erasmushuis. Participating artists include Arfan Sabran, Ralph K*mena, Ellen Rodenberg, Wimo Ambala Bayang, Maarten Scheper, Urs Pfanenm*ller, Sigit Bapak, Elizabeth de Vaal, Beatrix H. Kaswara, Cilia Erens, Octora Rosalie Monod de Froideville and Wiyoga Muhardanto.
Carla Bianpoen in the Jakarta Post:
” Of particular interest for Indonesia may be the soundscape by Dutch-born Cilia Erens. Deviating from the sound art of similar artists with a background in music and whose work is produced perhaps by the manipulation of sounds, Erens does not exploit sound or voice. According to Nindityo Adipurnomo, Cilia’s sound art is the result of filtering, conceptual selection of recordings of the reality of civilization and daily human life.
Sounds and noises arise, rustling quietly but persistently, thundering in front of the drums, whirring rhythmically in the background, marking the time, all of this becoming a unified phenomenon of sound and noise that swings with time intervals, witnessing the changes of each era and generation, like a giant carpet embracing the city’s identity.”
Photo collage of one of the three earcatchers in the investigation of Yogya’s ‘audible space’. The other two earcatchers which are dominating public as well as private space are the Azan, the call to prayer and the rain
Overview of activities during this period:
February
Pecha Kucha: artists’ introduction and presentation at Cemeti Residency Studio, Yogyakarta.
March
Studium Generale with students of Language and Art Faculty of Semarang State University at the auditorium of Language and Art Faculty UNNES, Semarang.
Artists’ talk and focused group discussion with music and movie community in Semarang, in co-operation with MOSH magazine and Retro Creative House, at Retro Creative House, Semarang.
April
Nyepi walk (Walk of Silence) (work in progress) at Southern Square (Alun-Alun Selatan) Yogyakarta (photo below)
Soundspace Yogya, installation at a banana field next to Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta.
Soundspace Yogya, exhibition at Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta. Design shelters visual artist Nindityo Adipurnomo
Landing Soon #10 artists’ talk at Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta.
May
Lecture with Architecture Students from Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, at Cemeti Art House Yogyakarta.
LANDING SOON (The Hague)
group exhibition HEDEN, october 21, october, 24 – november, 28 2010
SOMEONES GARDEN
Interview about the residency in a Japanese art glossy.
