A very earthy Sonar 2016
The group Semiconductor present their show “Earthworks” promoted by the Fundació Sorigué, creating images and music from seismic movements
Loyal to its concept of combining technology and creation, and continuing to artistically investigate the problems of modern society, Sonar opens its doors today and features a montage of unseen media art that includes the very pulsations of the earth and transforms them into works of art through moving images and sounds. In this the third edition of SònarPlanta, along with the Foundation Sorigué, the festival presents Earthworks, created by British studio Semiconductor.
The work, which can be seen from 1pm today at Sònar de Dia, located in Center 1 at the Montjuïc exhibition centre, consists of five giant screens of 5.5 metres each, forming a zigzag.
The images are animated graphics obtained by seismographic data gathered from on-site work at the Sorigué Balaguer quarry that has been transformed into sounds, which in turn has served to create images, as well as from glaciers and earthquakes that create the central message of the piece in a cry of warning related to the actions of man that alter the natural balance of planet Earth.
Ruth Jaman of Semiconductor says, “we want to create an experience that speaks of the phenomena of the formation of the landscape, making use of the languages used in science to study these processes: using the technique of seismic digital recordings used by geologists to study the internal structure and alterations of the Earth.
The Sonar Festival will open today with a lecture by musician Brian Eno, who has been a pioneer in exploring the application of science in artistic spheres and also in attracting musicians to other disciplines.