CHIARA – dispositivo di ascolto a distanza

Project area
Art Installations
Year
2021
Client
Terzo Paesaggio, Federgat
Location
Chiaravalle (MI), Italy
Our Services​
Technical design and system integration
Project Partners
Art curators
Standards
Music
Nicola Ratti, Andrew Pekler, Jessica Ekomane, Ellen Arkbro, Attila Faravelli, Marta De Pascalis, Mount Fog
Sponsorship
LaCittàIntorno – Fondazione Cariplo

A site-specific sound art installation around the bell tower of the ancient Chiaravalle Abbey in Milan.

The concept, derived from an original idea by Terzo Paesaggio, was to use the 56-metre-high abbey’s iconic lantern tower, disguised by temporary scaffolding for restoration works, as a “listening device” through a specially developed sound diffusion system. Visitors could freely experience the sound installation throughout the surroundings of the monastery, with the sound fading away through the village of Chiaravalle up to a distance of about 200 metres.

We provided all-round technical consultancy for the artistic project, collaborating closely with curators and artists to design, test, and install a customised sound system based on long-throw horn loudspeakers.

Through a live performance by Nicola Ratti and a programme of listening sessions held between September and October 2021, the project attempted to reinterpret the identity of the bell tower as a soundmark of the territory, encouraging an unexpected and unusual listening practice.

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