Audio Control Turn on Yuval's sonic flow

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Audio Control Turn on Yuval's sonic flow
Audio Control

Solo exhibition

La Fabbrica del Cioccolato Foundation, Valle di Blenio, Switzerland – 22 April – 01 August, 2017

The exhibition stemming from intensive research in the Blenio Valley, features three artworks delving into the complex relationship between humans and nature, engaging in a dialogue with the exhibition spaces. The immersive path weaves together sound, photography, video art and lights, showcasing the first chapter of “Foreign Bodies”, the sound installation “Lands,” and “Reh’em”.

“The outcome, perfectly integrated with the local environment, is a work in which Avital approaches the curatorial theme foreignness with great perspicacity, revealing the ways in which man and nature continuously diverge, collide and reunite.

The exhibition path winds through a symbiosis of sounds, images and lights, in which the public discovers three interconnected installations where the human being is first represented as hostile and in contrast with nature and then brought back to its primordial state, going across three phases characterizing this relationship: alienation, conflict and reunification.

In the first installation, FOREIGN BODIES, the human body is portrayed as intrusive and in dissonance with a utopian nature. Seven professional dancers, coming from the corps de ballet of well-known international theatre centers such as La Scala, Bejart and Shan-Wei, appear in seven parallel video projection, filmed and directed by the artist in several scenes shot in more than thirty places of the Valley. Humans and nature come into conflict in the second installation, LANDS. Here a circle of agricultural soil is surrounded by a ring of loudspeakers spreading a polyphony both towards the centre and towards the outside. The soil delimited by artificial boundaries represents a struggle caused, on one hand, by the difficulty of separating our roots from nature and, on the other hand, by the human effort to control and shape the latter. The last installation, REH’EM (womb in Hebrew), finally reunites man and nature, guiding the public into a restricted, dark environment, symbol of the maternal womb, where the sounds associated with the pregnancy and birth of Avital’s daughter, Alma, alternate with the sounds of seismic movements of the earth, complemented by the projection of floating diaphanous images.”
Excerpt from exhibition brochure text by Franco Marinotti, Artistic director of Fabbrica del Cioccolato Art Foundation

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Massive Sonic Works:

/ˈmæsɪv ˈsɒnɪk wɜːrks/

Large-scale performances using collective participation to create powerful sound masses.

Yuval Avital’s “Massive Sonic Works” or “Opera di Massa Sonora” involves the creation of large-scale performances that utilize collective participation to craft a unique sound experience. These works focus on forming powerful sound masses through the collaboration of numerous performers, exploring new possibilities through sound rituals. The compositions often include graphic visual elements, written music, and easy-to-read instructions to allow interpretation by individuals without prior musical experience. This approach, sometimes involving hundreds of participants, aims to create what can be described as “crowd music.”

Some key works in Avital’s repertoire include:

– GARON (2012): An opera for 45 bass tubas do, percussions, and a crowd of performers.

– KARAGATAN (2013): A composition for 100 gongs and bamboo in the Philippines.

– REKA (2014): Commissioned by the Warsaw Autumn Festival and co-produced by the MiTo festival in Milan, involving traditional singers from unique cultures such as Tibetan, Zulu, Sardinian, Mongolian, and Samarkand traditions.

One of Avital’s significant compositions is MISE EN ABÎME, a milestone work that marks the beginning of his “Massive Sonic Works” series. Premiered in 2011, this composition involves a large ensemble of 100-200 non-musician vocalists, accordions, bass tubas, soprano, bass clarinet, percussions, didgeridoo, and conductors directing the performance in an immersive setup.

Another notable work is URLA, an immersive sonic experience with over 300 performers, showcasing diverse musical traditions in Matera, Italy. This piece combines traditional elements with modern instrumentation, theatrical actions, and innovative technological approaches, reflecting Yuval Avital’s interdisciplinary and transcultural artistic vision.

Yuval Avital’s creations blend complexity, cultural diversity, and technological innovation to create immersive and participatory sonic experiences that push the boundaries of traditional music composition and performance.