RURAL ARCHITECTURES
Nodar Artist Residency Program (São Pedro do Sul, Portugal)
Artist Residency Periods: April, June and September 2012
Artistic Disciplines: Sound Installations, Sound Sculptures
Application Open until 15 September 2011
Sound and space form an important pair in our everyday environment: no sound exists outside of space and no space is really silent. Sound and space mutually reinforce one another in our perception, the qualities of a space affect how we perceive the sound and a sound affects how we perceive space. In short, space and sound are inseparable in our experience of what is to exist in the world.
Similarly, there is clear evidence of the importance of sound in ancient sacred sites, which have been documented by anthropologists. The sounds were probably an important part of rituals, by the way they affected the human body and brain function. Many of the ancient holy sites were built in stone, which, by means of their geological qualities or disposition in space, generated particular acoustic effects of reverberation or echo. These types of phenomena are studied in the field of acoustic archeology.
Today, the planning of territorial spaces is dominated by the visual element but a new body of concepts, generically referred to as aural architecture, studies the relationship between the design of architectural structures, acoustics and human experience. Each built space has its specific sound environment created by the interaction between several variables: landscape, design, structure, material and use.
It is fair to say that the specific case of rural areas highlights the profound connection between landscape, architecture and sound. On the one hand, the countryside is largely an anthropological and architectural landscape, transformed by a myriad of utilitarian constructions, many of them centuries-old: grain mills, olive oil mills, irrigation canals, houses, threshing floor, wells, community laundry places, granaries, mines, stone walls, chapels, churches, bandstands, streets, alleys, squares, farmlands, roads, etc.. Moreover, many of the rural buildings have an acoustic specificity, so it is possible to recognize the architectural typology by listening to these places.
The 2012 Nodar Artist Residency Program will specifically explore the interactions between landscape, architecture and sound in the rural context of the Gralheira Mountains, municipality of São Pedro do Sul.
12 art projects by individual artists or collectives will be selected. The art works will acoustically “activate” different types of rural constructions, through the creation of context-specific sound installations and sculptures. The projects to be selected may include the participation of experts in non-art complementary disciplines, such as architecture, archeology, anthropology, etc..
In parallel, anthropologists, geographers, archaeologists and architects will be invited by Binaural/Nodar to contribute to a cross-disciplinary reflection on the rural architecture of the region and its potential new uses, with particular emphasis on structures that have lost their original function.
The application process
The application must include the following information:
– Proposed art project to be developed (including details on the methodology and work chronology);
– Artistic biography (900 characters including spaces) and Curriculum Vitae;
– Website links to past works by the artist;
– Technical and material needs of the project;
– Proposal for the time period of the artist residency (April, June or September 2012).
Applications must be submitted exclusively using Binaural/Nodar’s website, in particular by filling out the electronic application form and uploading the abovementioned application documentation (in a single .zip or .pdf file): http://www.binauralmedia.org/news//news/en/artist-residency/application-form
All documentation must be sent until 15 September 2011 and the selected art projects will be announced by 31 October 2011.
If you need to send printed materials or editions (catalogs, CDs, DVDs), please mail them to:
Binaural/Nodar
a/c Luis Costa
Caixa Postal Nº 119 – Nodar
3660-324 São Martinho das Moitas
Portugal
All questions on this open call may be addressed by email (info-binauralmedia.org) or by telephone (+351 232 723 160).
Note: For 2012 we will not accept art projects that don’t fit the theme proposed by this open call.