135 sound clouds in the AB dam. An audio installation “Siren’s Island” / Article

A concert hall has finally been built on the AB dam in Riga, and the court is virtual. Sound artist and musician Andris Indāns turned the dam into “Siren Island”, where the listener can move through 135 virtual “sound clouds” with the help of a mobile phone and indulge in audio new discoveries. –

Andris Indāns explains that he wanted to transcend the linear music listening experience, to make it spatial with options. In terms of scale, this is the largest project to date involving the Noass Art Center.

“During the pandemic, it became tiring to enjoy art on websites, digitally and so, because there was a lack of sense of presence, and Andris has managed to combine this digital, virtual world with the physical,” says Krišs Zilgalvis, head of the Noass Art Center. AB dams, the whole park and another part of the Daugava water area. I think it’s a very exciting work of art, because it includes sound art, performance art, architecture and the urban environment, and the work of art is available without any restrictions. ”

The main tool to enter the invisible concert hall is a mobile phone.

Each of these clouds has a piece of composition, one part is static and one part is moving, and both the listener’s coordinates and the cloud coordinates appear on the Siren Islands map on the phone application. And as he moves through the piece, he sees where he is and also chooses how the script of the piece will develop, ”explains the author.

The word “siren” in the title of the work can be translated in two ways – it means both the sound signals heard a lot during the pandemic, as well as the mythical creatures from Homer’s “Odyssey”. It is also the name of the cassette once released by the artist group “Carthage”, which, according to Andris Indans, inspired the creation of “Siren’s Island”: “A year ago I listened, and I sing there, for example, a song about galleries, could also be this when theaters were empty and shops and cafes. I didn’t see anyone on the streets, and I realized that in my personal experience, this time of synchronicity with the siren island theme has come again. ”

You will be able to experience the virtual concert hall on the AB dam at least until the end of this year.

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