Sound composition premiere: 30 August 2022, MGLC Švicarija – International Center of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
Installation premiere: 17 November 2022, Katedrala, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana
Concept
To think of geological time, the time of the sliding stones, the time of the lithosphere, the time of the continents is to think of our fleeting transience. Perhaps, with this thought, we can evade the madness of human depletion of the Earth, marvel at its mighty fragility, and appreciate the countless entities that shaped it in the volatile space and aeons of time.
Surprisingly, the rocks from the mountains were once at the bottom of the sea. All the soil was produced by bacteria that metabolised minerals. Coccolithophores, single-celled algae, squeezed out a large portion of the Earth’s limestone from their tiny bodies. Like us, they are made of calcium carbonate, both alive and dead, organic and inorganic. We recognise that this distinction is unnecessary, yet, what matters is what world worlds world.* It is difficult to find a location on the planet that would not be transformed by humans or at least tempered by the consequences of their interventions. To world, a different world, ruled by reciprocity and not authority, requires the internalisation of a different set of questions. Jata C asks, “How do we hear the stones and their aeons?”
Installation
In the Chronolith installation, the Jata C group explores the sonority of stone structures, symbols of permanence, vastness and silence. Just like rocks are the Earth’s membrane, the Chronolith is like an instrument/membrane with the help of which we translate the vibrations of the stones with transducers and return them to the rocks in a feedback loop. The sound installation consists of several larger stone plates connected to transducers. The installation may be set up independently or in a concert situation, in which the group members insert themselves into this feedback loop between stones and humans. In the research process, the group cooperates with micropaleontology, geology, and physics scientists, and the Marmor Hotavlje marble quarry supports some of the production.
The group captures the sounds of stones by various field recording methods (geophones, contact microphones) and analyses optical rock scans with a spectral modulator of sound parameters. The processed recordings and databases are a part of electroacoustic composition with a score for live performance. Through digital analysis and translation of images into sound and vibration measurements, they create an artistic interpretation of the material sonority of the lithosphere.
“It matters what worlds world worlds. It matters what stories tell stories.”
* Donna J. Haraway. Staying with Trouble. Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2016, page 35.
Chronolith exhibitions and concerts
Jata C: Chronolith, exhibition, Ljubljana Castle (Pentagonal Tower), Ljubljana, 27 September – 26 November 2023. Photo by Miha Mally (Ljubljana Castle).
Jata C: Chronolith, performance, Ljubljana Castle (Stone Hall), Ljubljana, 27 September 2023. Photo by Miha Mally (Ljubljana Castle).
Jata C: Chronolith, exhibition opening, Ljubljana Castle (Pentagonal Tower), Ljubljana, 27 September 2023. Photo by Miha Mally (Ljubljana Castle).
konSekvence ≡ Fragments of a Possible Ecosystem exhibition, Cukrarna, Ljubljana, 2 April 2023. Photo by Katja Goljat (KonS).
konSekvence ≡ Fragments of a Possible Ecosystem exhibition, Cukrarna, Ljubljana, 2 April 2023. Photo by Matej Tomažin.
Parallel Soundscapes events, Kino Šiška, Ljubljana, 18 November 2022. Photo by Maša Pirc.
Motions: Experimental Sound Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 10 November 2022. Photo by Sanja Bistričić Srića.
Švicarija, Ljubljana, 30 August 2022. Photo by Miha Godec.
International Festival of Computer Arts, Maribor, 14 October 2022. Photo by Mitja Lorenčič.
Research. Marmor Hotavlje, March 2022. Photo by Ida Hiršenfelder.
Research. Pleše Mine, March 2022. Photo by Ida Hiršenfelder.
Jata C is a group of sound artists (beepblip, OR poiesis, Boštjan Perovšek, Bojana Šaljić Podešva, Brane Zorman) who share common interests in field recordings, bioacoustics, sound ecologies. In their research, they combine auditory perception with ecological and social themes, expanding them in dialogue with scientific discourse to propose an idea of indigenous sonic environments. For their compositions, they use field recordings of their immediate surroundings and transform them into speculative projections for future realities and delicate perceptions of the present. In their work, they use a wide variety of field recording devices to capture a range of environmental acoustic phenomena that reflect the so-called deep listening and non-anthropocentric relationship with biotic and non-biotic entities. In the performances, the group uses lap-top instruments with MIDI extensions following a general score with some space for improvisation and live musical interpretation. They also compose 8-channel fixed media and exhibit sound installations.
Web: https://jatacjatac.wordpress.com/
Production: Cona Institute
Producer: Irena Pivka
Affiliation: Steklenik, gallery for sound, bioacoustics and art
Studio: Trg Prekomorskih brigad 1, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
The project is a part of konS – Platform for Contemporary Investigative Art
The project is supported by The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Department for Culture of the City of Ljubljana, and the Marmor Hotavlje Group.