Opening: 11.08.2022 at 7 pm
During the opening the concert of Krzysztof Topolski will take place, as well as the prepared musical composition will be available for online listening on the website: arszyn.bendcamp.com
Krzysztof Topolski about ULTRASONO:
The human ear perceives acoustic waves in a frequency ranging between 20 - 20,000 Hz. While conducting the project, I investigated the sphere of sounds above the human hearing range, i.e. ultrasounds. They constitute a very important component of the acoustic landscape, unavailable to human perception. Some species of animals use them, also in urbanized areas. I was interested in how ultrasounds are present in nature and in the tissue of a contemporary city. I wanted to investigate the natural and technological aspects of acoustic phenomena beyond the scope of human hearing, as well as their musical potential.
It turned out that bats, which often live in urban areas, are the most spectacular and interesting creatures present in the acoustical sphere. Bats are the only actively flying mammals. They have mastered the skill of echolocation, that is, recognizing the environment and navigating in space with the help of echoes and ultrasounds. Field recordings of the ultrasonic activity of bats were made mainly in Gdańsk, e.g. in the Ronald Reagan park. The ultrasound detector used to observe and record the activity of bats slows down and lowers the frequency of acoustic signals so that they can be perceived by the human sense of hearing. The detector contains also a species recognition function and gives (with some margin for error) the name of the species in real time. It also generates spectrograms – visual representations of an acoustic wave.
In the frames of this project, a kinetic, visual and sound installation will be presented. The audience will be able to experience the slowed down bat recordings in a tactile form – by turning sounds into tactile sensations. An efficient transducer will allow the audience to feel changes in the dynamics of the sound in the form of vibrations. The installation will be accompanied by spectrograms – visual representations of sound.
During the opening of the exhibition, an improvised music concert will take place in direct interaction with the installation, and an electroacoustic composition containing bat recordings will be available for listening, published online.
Realized with the funds of the City of Gdańsk as part of the Cultural Scholarship.
Accompanying event in the frames of ULTRASONO project:
Field workshops, conducted by biologist Martyna Jankowska-Jarek from the "Pomorskie Nietoperze" group.
18.08.2022, at 7:30 pm
LAZNIA 1 CCA, Parakino as well as public space of Dolne Miasto district
Registration: rezydencje@laznia.pl
Krzysztof Topolski
Sound artist, drummer, author of projects in the field of music and sound art. He focuses on field recording, acoustic ecology and acoustic landscape. Creates sound installations. He is interested in reaserch around the subjects of percussion, as well as live electronic, improvised and electroacoustic music, composing using a computer. He implements projects devoted to contemporary music, acoustic ecology, the art of sound and conducts workshops. He is a member of Dead Vistula band and performs solo. Recently, he published albums titled "Bop" and "Oddech" [Eng. Breath].
He was the curator of the sound education project titled ‘Ucho w Wodzie czyli działania dźwiękowe na Wyspie Sobieszewskiej’ (Eng. Ear in the Water, or sound activities on the Sobieszewska Island), the originator and curator of the Soundplay sound art festival, as well as the series of sound workshops ‘Dźwiękowiska’ at LAZNIA CCA in Gdańsk. As a sound artist and educator, he cooperated with the most important cultural institutions in Poland, peformed and conducted projects in many European countries as well as the USA. He created ‘Falowanie’ (Eng. Waving) sound installation as part of the Warsaw Autumn Contemporary Music Festival and participated in the ‘Polish Soundscape’ series of sound exhibitions. He took part in the ‘Ogrody’ (Eng. Gardens) exhibition at the Zachęta – National Gallery of Art. He realized, among others, projects: ‘Muzeum Dźwięków’ (Eng. Museum of Sounds) at the National Museum in Krakow, ‘Baltic Sounds Good’ as part of the Art Line project, ‘Arszyn Emigrant GPS’ at the Emigration Museum in Gdynia and ‘Perspektiven/Perspektywy’ – reinterpretations of works from the Polish Radio Experimental Studio in Warsaw and the Studio for Electronic Music (WDR) in Cologne. Together with Mariusz Waras, he created the ‘Fabryka’ (Eng. Factory) installation at the Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu in Toruń, and also presented the song ‘Folk Science’ as part of the ‘Pandemonium’ project at the AC Institute [Direct Chapel] in New York. He realized field recording projects ‘Arszyn-Emigrant’ and ‘W terenie-Suwalszczyzna’ (Eng. In the field-Suwalszczyzna). He has realized, among others, the project of broadcasting the sounds of the sea ‘Fale/Waves’ and took part in the Radio Total project.
He was awarded with a scholarship from the Museums Quartier in Vienna, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland and Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. He has received a scholarship from the Visegrad Foundation at Galeria Skolska 28 in Prague and the ArtsLink Foundation in New York – a residency at the Ohio State University School of Music in the USA. He has stayed and worked at the EMS electroacoustic music center in Stockholm. Participated in a residency at the Skalar Center for Sound Art and Experimental Music in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland as well as at W788 in Kozielec, Poland. He took part in many festivals, among others: Sanatorium Dźwięku in Sokołowsko, Narracje in Gdańsk, CoCArt in Toruń, Unsound in Kraków, Line_in: Line_out and Wien Modern in Vienna, Stimul and Echofluxx in Prague, Sound Around in Kaliningrad, Jazz and Experimental Music from Poland in London and Istanbul, Lublin Jazz Festival, New Music Days Festival and Neoarte in Gdańsk, The Artists, Lado w Mieście and Relacje in Warsaw, Fab-in in Łódź, Wigrosfera in Suwałki.