RE:Public

‘Irish Republic declared in Dublin today, Irish troops have captured city and are in full possession. Enemy cannot move in city. The whole country rising’.

In 1916 one of the most important and influential texts of the 20th century in relation to musical aesthetics and the use of sound in art was published. It was written by Italian Futurist pioneer Luigi Russolo (1913) and first made public when published in 1916. It was entitled The Art of Noises, and became the Futurists manifesto going into the future.

Within this text Russolo argues that there was a new sonic palette emerging due to the introduction of ‘machine noises’ within the public realm. He believed the human ear was becoming accustomed to the speed, energy and noise of this new urban, industrialised soundscape he found himself in. Due to this he proposes that in time these noises will transform into significant sounds to be engaged with, listened to and utilised by composers, musicians and artists. We can now see this more than ever today, 100 years after its publication.

Within both an Irish and UK context, the year of 2016 presents a unique opportunity to combine two significant and shared centenaries; the publication of the Futurist Manifesto’s Art of Noises (Italian: L'arte dei Rumori) and that of the Irish 1916 Easter Rising.

On April 24th 1916 the rebels managed to occupy the Dublin Wireless School of Telegraphy and get a damaged transmitter working. At this time wireless communication was in its infancy and in general signals were sent to targeted receiving stations. However the rebels took a radical approach and broadcast their signal into the atmosphere in the hopes that someone around the world may pick it up. While they did not have a working receiver, and were unaware if their attempts had been picked up by anyone, their message managed to appear as the front page news in the New York Times.

When exhibited RE:Public utilses 2 Audio-Spotlight systems to beam the original message sent out in 1916 by the Irish Rebels. This is experienced as a point to point communication between the two systems with the remainder of the space/room kept in relative quietness. It is experience by listeners as they pass through the sonic beam being projected from one system to the next.

Has been liked by 8

Comments 0

Say something

You must login or Sign Up to write a comment Join