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The Shelter SITE SPECIFIC

Panta Rhei: concert and sound installation | Florian Tuercke | The Shelter

2-6 November 2022 sound installation
5 November 2022 concert

The unique Panta Rhei project, consisting of a sound installation and a concert on the ground floor of the Ethnography Department. The composition is based on the paths of the rivers, from their sources to the mouth in the Baltic Sea. During the concert, the artist interpreted the acoustic translation of climate statistics, particularly the average global temperature from the start of measurements in the 1850s.

The project author is Florian Tuercke, a German audiovisual and sound artist, constructor of original sound instruments.

Panta Rhei was developed especially for the needs of “The Shelter. Climate, Migration, Heritage” project, as a site specific artistic work with field recording elements, using the proprietary musical instruments built by the artist.

About the project:

Panta rhei (“everything flows” or “everything is in motion”) is a saying that describes the essence of the teachings of Heraclitus: that the structure of reality is not static; rather, it emerges in a continuous process of building and falling apart. The image of a river as a metaphor of life is commonly associated with that thought.

Because the rivers continuously flow into the Baltic Sea, the people living along these rivers experience constant motion, from the yearly natural cycles up to the effects of global warming and global crises.

Being aware that the world around us and within us is in continuous motion, however much we yearn for stability or fear change, lets us adapt to new situations and encourages us to face new challenges.

The rivers

69 rivers and countless streams flow into the Baltic Sea; they connect the 9 countries bordering the Baltic Sea and three others that have no direct access to it: Czechia (through Oder), Ukraine (through Vistula) and Belarus (through Daugava and Neman).

All those streams and rivers, from whichever direction they reach the Baltic Sea, have a lot in common. Each of them begins at a small source, supplied by rainwater gathering around meadows and fields. They increase in size as they travel to the Baltic Sea, with further inflow of water and by combining with smaller streams.

They are all a foundation for the lives for plants, animals and people residing along the riverbeds. They emit and encounter the most diverse sounds on their way, starting with birds singing, insects buzzing, waterfalls roaring, and ending with industrial, city and sea noises.

Programme:

1. sound installation / instrument
2 – 5 November 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

The H.E.A.R.T. sound installation was set up on the ground floor of the Department of Ethnography. It was available for visitors during the opening hours of the museum.

H.E.A.R.T.

H.E.A.R.T. (Harmonic Electro-Acoustic Resonance Transformer), a string-based electro-acoustic instrument, is at the core of the project. It incorporates two sets of 8 strings each, two wooden resonance boxes and four dynamic electromagnets inducing the strings.

sound / composition

A special composition will be developed for the purposes of the Panta Rhei project; it will be played by the electromagnets of the H.E.A.R.T. sound installation, exciting the strings and building a harmoniously integrated sound space.

The composition was based on the acoustic path of rivers, including all

the sounds produced and encountered by them on their way, up to the sounds of the Baltic Sea, with all its inhabitants, the changing weather and climate, and human interactions which the Baltic Sea is forced to tolerate. From gentle drops to heavy storms, from birds singing to ships humming.

Installation at the Museum

H.E.A.R.T. was set up in the ground floor exhibition of the Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Gdańsk. This part of the museum exhibition presents and educates visitors about human interactions with the waters of rivers, lakes and the Baltic Sea, with special focus on the history of various fishing techniques. We can see the diverse nets, traps, baskets, spears, dugouts and other items related to the history of settlements at the Baltic Sea.

This scenery is the ideal context for the Panta Rhei installation. The surrounding museum and the sound installation reinforce each other, providing further layers of information and associations, both for visitors seeing the exhibitions and for the auditorium of the sound installation.

As the appearance of H.E.A.R.T. resembles a buoy, it is further visually integrated with the surrounding museum exhibition.

2. concert-performance

Live interaction with the H.E.A.R.T. sound
Saturday 5 November, 7:00 PM

The primary sound layer for this concert was the Panta Rhei piece played on the H.E.A.R.T.

It was further extended with an intro and outro, based on an acoustic translation of climate statistics, particularly the average global temperature from the start of measurements in the 1850s.

The Longboardharp was included in the live interaction with the composition; it is a new type of an acoustic string instrument, designed, built and played by the artist himself, characterized by a huge diversity of sounds. The sounds and tunes played on the Longboardharp were the music interpretation of the original composition, as an interpreter, commentator and music narrator.

Duration of the live show was about 50 minutes.

Florian Tuercke

Florian Tuercke – audiovisual and sound artist, constructor of proprietary musical instruments and installations. His primary work takes place between the poles of space, sound and context. He develops objects, instruments and installations in which immediate acoustic experience plays an important part. Musical strings are central to Tuercke’s work. Both as an acoustic and artistic medium.

Internationally, Florian Tuercke takes part in exhibitions, festivals and artistic residence projects. He lives and works in Nuremberg DE and Gdansk PL.

Gallery

Gallery

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