Hanno Leichtmann: OSCILLAZIONI

silent green presents

OSCILLAZIONI
 A sound installation based on an archive of compact cassettes by Christina Kubisch

Productive working relationships often arise from the strangest of coincidences. That was certainly the case when Hanno Leichtmann, one of the pioneers of electronic music in post-reunification Berlin, presented an exhibition titled Low Noise Chronicle almost exactly two years ago at the Berlin art space Die Möglichkeit einer Insel. Christina Kubisch, one of the most respected installation artists in the field of sound art since the 1970s, had made her way from Köpenick to Mitte—and made a surprise appearance at the opening.

What she hears and saw, a sound installation based on cassette recordings, must have made quite an impression. In any case, Hanno Leichtmann was quite astonished when, shortly thereafter, he received a large package containing valuable items: an entire collection of recorded compact cassettes from Christina Kubisch’s archive. The recordings document her “Milan phase”—a period spanning from the early 1970s to the late 1980s—during which she collaborated with the Italian artist Fabrizio Plessi, studied electronics at the Politecnico di Milano, and, after a stint as a performance artist, began creating large-scale, multi-channel sound installations in both indoor and outdoor spaces starting in the 1980s.

On display in the exhibition space are A-2-format drawings and sketches by Christina Kubisch arranged in a circle. They surround the physical forms of several objects that Hanno Leichtmann used to create the soundscape heard in the exhibition—the archive of historical Compact cassettes, an oscillator, and a four-track recorder.

The “Milan Phase” documented on the cassettes consists mainly of material for Kubisch’s site-specific installations: recordings of natural sounds and other field recordings, birdsong, sounds from instruments she played herself, and simple electronic devices. Using granular loopers and samplers, Hanno Leichtmann generated new sound material from these original tapes. In addition to the relevant tools from the world of musique concrète, digital techniques such as re-pitching, stretching, re-synthesizing, spectral analysis, and further processing steps using analog and digital audio effects were employed.

The result is a loop approximately 60 minutes long—naturally set to repeat—which is presented as part of a four-channel audio installation. Each of these four channels is recorded in mono and transmits different sound information.

Depending on where visitors are located in the room, one sound source becomes more or less dominant and overlaps in different ways with the soundscapes of the other three channels. The soundscape is created as visitors walk through the space—through the very act of their individual movements within it. A Christina Kubisch Megamix.

Text: Christoph Gurk

Friday, July 31 & Saturday, August 1
Kuppelhalle
2–8 pm
Admission free