Hell’s Gate
The artist observed the unknown flow of Paiva river, with the help of recordings of underwater, electromagnetic and radio phonic sounds. Using hydrophones, Charles Stankievech recorded the flow of the river and the underwater life there present. With electromagnetic microphones, he recorded the traces of pre-existing industry along the riverside (for example: the industry of wind energy generators, which ended up being the main inspiration for the artistic final piece). Using radio receptors, the artist gathered society’s way of communication, which flows throughout the river. Combining these textures of white noise (water flowing, electromagnetic buzz + impulses and noise FM), Stankievech created a sonic portrait of the river’s dynamic life, which molds the natural landscape surrounding it, ending up all being molded by the region’s culture. The final result consists in an audio-visual piece, assembled by video capture of an eolic turbine mixed with a sound composition.
Charles Stankievech is a canadian artist that works at the edge of intersection between art, architecture and theory. His work has been exhibited in the Biennale of Architecture (Venice), Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), Subtle Technologies (Toronto), Eyebeam (New York), and the Atlantic Center for the Arts (Florida).Stankievech holds an MFA in Open Media and BA (hon.) in Philosophy + Literature. His writings have been included in a variety of academic journals, such as Leonardo Music Journal (MIT Press), books and artists’ catalogues. He has worked undernotable soundscape and sound artists R. Murray Schafer, David Dunn and Alvin Lucier. Currently developing the new KIAC School of Visual Art in the Canadian Arctic, Stankievech is also a researcher in the Digital Media network for the University of the Arctic.