A R C H I T E C T U R E I S F R O Z E N M U S I C
An ongoing series currently consisting of 8 stop-motion videos made during my artistic residencies. Each video is constructed from photographs taken in their respective locations, questioning the architectonic forms of modernism. Whenever possible, the accompanying soundtrack is the result of a collaboration with a local artist.
Blitz (architecture is frozen music #8)
stop-motion video (excerpt), sound by Hagai Izenberg, dimensions variable, full video 14:08, 2022
This work has been produced during a residency at the Liebling Haus – White City Center, Tel Aviv, IL, 2022.
The construction of Tel Aviv is nicknamed “Blitz-architecture” because of the urgency and speed of its construction in the early 20th century. Its architectural homogeneity was recently accused of “deliberately obliterating the cultural diversity and fragile habitus of a young emigrant society” (quote from the book The Object of Zionism by Zvi Efrat), in reference to the newcomers.
Architecture is frozen music #9
stop-motion video (excerpt), sound, 16/9, full video 04:06, 2023
Geometric pattern are omnipresent in Bolivia, and even in an immaterial way. Reggaeton for example, music with a regular jerky beat, gives rhythm to the life of the inhabitants by its strong presence in the public space: on the radio of the buses and cabs, at the entrance of the stores, or even in the supermarket.
Desert (architecture is frozen music #5)
stop-motion video (excerpt), sound, dimensions variable, full video 16:40, 2019
This work has been produced during a residency at the National Center for Contemporary Arts in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2019.
“Like a fanatic who swallows the desert, I require from music the desert. The desert of colors. The desert of words.” said Malevich. Presented as a mental map, “Desert” is made from photographs of rectangles painted on building walls, known as “buffs” in Russia. Their primary function is to hide undesirable words.
The images scroll to the rhythm of a tick-tock recorded in St. Petersburg, where they were also taken. During the Second World War, the streets were wired with loudspeakers to warn citizens of bombings. Between attacks, time was materialized by the ticking of the metronome, intended to appease the popu-lation. Today, this sound is regularly broadcast for a short period of time to test the loudspeakers.
Architecture is frozen music #7
stop-motion video (excerpt), soundtrack by Egyptian musician Ahmed Saleh, dimensions variable, full video 15:34, 2020
This work has been produced in the frame of the Villa Champollion residency from Institut Français in Alexandria, Egypt, 2020.
Vis-a-vis (architecture is frozen music #6)
stop-motion video (excerpt), sound, dimensions variable, full video 20:00, 2020
Developed as a mind map, “Vis-à-vis” focuses on early Polish modernist architecture that is face to face with post-war modernism.
This video tries to follow the main precepts of the Open Form Theory
of modernist architect Oskar Hansen: no hierarchy between elements ; each element influences the next one and modifies the original situation ; there is an evolution of “continuous space” or “group form”.
Organ (architecture is frozen music #4)
stop-motion video, sound, dimensions variable, full video 08:12, 2019
A collection of images created during an art residency in Tehran, Iran, in 2019. Soundtrack in collaboration with artist Rafael Canete Fernandez.
Architecture is frozen music #3
stop-motion video (excerpt), sound, dimensions variable, full video 03:33, 2019
A selection of photographs from Pardubuce (Czech Republic) taken during a residency at OffCity, 2019.
Architecture is frozen music #2
stop-motion video (excerpt), sound, dimensions, variable, full video 17:25, 2018
50 photographs taken during a residency in Takasaki, Japan, in 2018, that is combined with the sound of the performance “Floor” I organized there as well.