Table For Insects
Mamuka Jafaridze, Georgia
Irina Jibuti, Georgia
მთის ხმა (mtis khma; Georgian, the sound of the mountain) is a work that concludes research into the audification of mountains ranges, aiming to uncover what lies hidden in the mountains. For the work, the mountains of the Greater Caucasus in the Tusheti region in Georgia are given a voice by taking the outline of the mountain range and converting this line into an audible waveform.
The sound is then compressed and expanded numerous times, simulating the same movements of the mountains in its formation, spanning millions of years, to generate a vast sonic landscape. The original sound is then reinserted into the sonic landscape, symbolising the rugged peaks of the original landscape. The title of the work refers to the book The Sound of the Mountain (1953) by Yasunari Kawabata. In the book, Kawabata describes the sound of the mountain as “it was like the wind, far away, but with a depth like a rumbling of the earth”. The quote, translated to Georgian, can be heard alongside the coordinates where the source material was collected. The accompanying graphic sees photos taken during the creation of the work in Tusheti slowly fading into abstraction, outlined by the original soundwave.
Voice work by Elene Kobidze
Zero Condition, Russia
creditsreleased April 23, 2019
compiled by Scott McCulloch
artwork by Josey Kidd-Crowe
Josey Kidd-Crowe, Alexandra Peters, Australia
Now Is the Right Moment to Say WOW
Former Cable Car Station, Omalo, Tusheti, Georgia
In August 2019 participating artists of AqTushetii residency, by their own initiative, turned an old cable car station in Omalo into CICA (Center of International and Contemporary Art). The center hosted the exhibition "Now is the Right Moment to Say WOW" where artists presented their work created during residing at AqTushetii.
Curated by: Aleksandar Todorovic and Trijntje Noske
Participant artists: Zahar Bondarenko, Nic Diprose, Clary Estes, Martin King, Amiran Kwiatkowski, Scott McCulloch, Marie Moeller, Daan Muller, Trijntje Noske, Janne Schipper, Felix-Florian Todloff, Aleksandar Todorovic, Sasha Zalivako
Nikolaus Ruchnewitz, Samuel Schaab, Austria
Mustafa, 2021
230 x 90 x 90 cm
slates, stone, salt, rope, wood, metal, car, horse
Mustafa is a sculpture dealing with the remote location of Omalo. It just uses local resources. Form and material refer to the traditional architecture of the tower houses of the Greater Caucasus region. Since the sculpture reveals its construction, it seems more like a prop or some state in between - not anymore, not yet – this is an allegorical understanding for a Georgian condition in general. We move the sculpture around, so it can interact with the surrounding world. Mustafa is the name of the horse, which really got us interested.
“Coexist in complex, multilayered folds, pockets and mixtures like water and earth.”
An installation made during the artist’s stay at the AqTushetii residency. Biodegradable material pieces were produced using local plant pigment and charcoal powder.
Christian Moser, Germany
Khakhunis is a binaural recording i did on the plateau of Omalo, in a field full of cicadas.
It is a play with the rhythm of the insects and the nature. By improvising i found the most accurate way to connect to the sonic environment of this unique landscape, becoming sound…
The recording is subtly edited afterwards with the intention to highlight certain details, to exaggerate a few sounds, to make them perceivable in another way…
At an altitude of 2000 m.n.m. everything is subordinate to nature. Most of the inhabitants live a pastoral half-nomadic life, when they move to the lowlands with their herds for the winter. The landscape is untouched at first sight. But gradually I found artifacts. Traces of human activity.Remnants of shepherd's shelters, temporarily cultivated fields, inconspicuous interventions used by the locals and subsequently abandoned.