Syntopia: Bega

Sound Art & Video Documentary.
Public space along the Bega river, Timișoara.
September - October 2021

A sound art project in public space, finding a part of the city’s sonic identity and it’s residents’ relationship with nature and sound, and vice versa - the role nature plays in site-specific culture and art scenes, resulting a sound-walk / guided tours presented at the end of the residency as well as an audiovisual work with the artist and videographer Andreea Săsăran.

Fabian Holzinger (Abby Lee Tee)
www.abbyleetee.com

"The segregation of nature and culture – as well as noise and music - in its human perception and its impact on our approach to sound is a recurring topic of my work the last years. While the Industrial Revolution made it possible for us to record the sounds of nature in the first place, it destroys or at least redefines them on a big scale at the same time. And that in turn makes the disappearing so interesting compared to the innumerable new sounds of the last 100 years.
On the other hand again, we are also now able not only to reproduce, work with and get musically inspired by all these sonic (re-) discoveries, but in the interplay between nature and human-made sounds, unparalleled synergies are formed even without further action.

While there are many new possibilities for exploring sound events nowadays, the relation to hearing that prevails in modern western societies is stunted, and above all evident in the dogmatic treatment of the distinction between music and noise, culture and nature.

Drawing the attention of the listeners at least a little bit to these constantly shifting sonic realities, previously unperceived sounds and combinations as well as similarities between the two worlds and exploring (or let’s say: deconstructing) their intersections (also regarding imagination and documentation) is what I’m aiming for in my work with installations, sound-walks, sound design for theatre, audiovisual projects and releases."

Alongside his work in numerous collaborations and bands, Austrian sound artist Abby Lee Tee has been releasing a steady stream of constantly-evolving solo material since 2009; merging various influences from instrumental hip hop to electronica, and now finding himself in the cutting-edge world of experimental. Therein, he follows a natural instinct for playful narrative and continues to nurture a passion for field recordings and unusual instruments.
His fascination for the divisions and crossovers between noise and music, as well as nature and culture, can be seen in his work with installations, sound-walks, sound design for theatre and audiovisual projects, as well as records on labels such as Shash, Czaszka, Dinzu Artefacts and Accidental Records.

Recently he was responsible for the sound design of the vienna edition of the sound-walk "über.morgen" – a 100-minute-long utopian image of Vienna in the year 2050 (with theaternyx) – or a series of guided walks through his neighborhood as a part of "Klangwolke 2020" (with Frances Cat), as well as being part of the riversssounds.org residency program, exploring the river Danube (and it's beaver population).
His work has been supported by numerous project funding programs or grants like the BKA Startstipendium.

Andreea Săsăran works at the intersection between creation and cultural organization.
As a visual artist, she works with photography and video, her roads have always been accompanied by curiosity and her camera.
As a freelancer, she contributes to visual arts, performative arts, art in public spaces and eco-art projects. Her professional journey is a mere reflection of enthusiasm and devotion for arts, nature and social tales.

Partners:

Asociația Simultan
https://www.simultan.org/
Asociația Culturală pentru Intervenție Artistică
https://www.facebook.com/asociatiaculturalapentruinterventieartistica
Inițiativa Timișoara verde-albastră
https://www.facebook.com/timisoaraverdealbastra
Semisilent
https://semisilent.ro/

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/riversssounds/abby-lee-tee-donau-sssoundwalk
Video: https://abbyleetee.com/Astern-und-Esel

Diana Marincu Curator, art critic, artistic director of the Art Encounters Foundation Jury member

"This project has unanimously convinced the jury due to the unequivocal qualities of the proposed concept, as well as of the structure of the activities, the sensitive adequacy to the competition’s subject and the value and relevance adding partnerships.

This proposal with an inspired name - Syntopia: Bega - is shaped by the creative tension between apparently dichotomous pairs nature-culture or sound-noise, exploring the city’s identity by means of a defining element – the Bega channel – and the bonding potential it can have between communities, landscapes, and identities. The field research becomes the core which generates audio and visual works, maps, debates, and walking tours, meant to shape a sound landscape of the city."