CRYPSIS Ecology of sound by Fabiana Vinagre, Belén Rodríguez, André Felipe, Julián Galay, Vica Pacheco and the Institute for Postnatural Studies
Some nocturnal butterflies emit ultrasonic sounds that confound bats' hearing when they try to detect them through the echo of their screeches. Crypsis, the act of disappearing or going unseen in the world, can also be sonorous. Based on the ideas central to Daniel Steegmann Mangrané's work, the Institute for Postnatural Studies proposes a series of experimental activations (performances, listening sessions, research and music) that amplify the perceptive layers of the exhibition through sound. Over two days, based on animal strategies of camouflage and echolocation, Cripsis will allow visitors to navigate the museum through sounds, reverberations and echoes that generate a new relationship between the works, the bodies and the surrounding environment.
The artists invited to this programme - Fabiana Vinagre, Belén Rodríguez, Vica Pacheco and Julián Galay - expand the perceptive and conceptual layers of the exhibition Daniel Steegmann Mangrané. A Leaf Shapes the Eye, delving into the framework of sound ecology proposed by the Institute for Postnatural Studies.
The exhibition will be activated by the bodies of Fabiana Vinagre and André Felipe, giving life to two textile works by Belén Rodríguez that were conceived in the Cantabrian forest where the artist lives. In Eu era ar, espaço vazio, tempo, these feathered beings, camouflaged in "forest colour", will inhabit the space from performativity, exploring alternative ways of becoming with our environment and the resources surrounding us.
In the Capella, Julián Galay will invite us to enter a dreamscape through the sounds of birds and spiders. Mimesis, a performative lecture accompanied by an active listening session, will explore these sonic dimensions as other sites of interspecies communication. Through an experimental concert, Galay will use the tuning fork as a scientific tool to sensitise us to the architectonic vibrations of the site, as well as its relationship to our subconscious.
On Saturday, Vica Pacheco will close the cycle with Animacy, an absorbing piece in which the Oaxacan artist will use her 'whistling vessels' to transport us to a space of sonorities and connections between the body and territory. Her work, from the syncretism of ancient Mexica musical practices and mythological rituals and meanings, opens up a sonorous universe around breathing, the organic and energy.
This cycle of activities will begin with an inaugural performative talk given by the Institute for Postnatural Studies on Friday the 12th at 19:00.
Programme curated by the Institute for Postnatural Studies.
Participants
André FelipeJulián Galay INSTITUE FOR POSTNATURAL STUDIESVica PachecoBelen Rodríguez Fabiana Vinagre
Programme
Friday 12 April, 2024
Performative lecture led by the Institute for Postnatural Studies, curators of Crypsis (Floor 2, Meier Building. Prior booking required)
Acoustic ecology equips us with tools to explore new experiences of coexistence, rooted in the active listening of the voices and sounds of those around us: humans and non-humans, technological and organic, imaginary or real. Through a performative lecture, the Institute for Postnatural Studies inaugurates this cycle by inviting us to explore the work of Daniel Steegmann Mangrané through imagination, feelings, research and sound.
Performance by Fabiana Vinagre and Belén Rodríguez Eu era ar, espaço vazio, tempo, performed by Fabiana Vinagre and André Felipe (Floor 2, Meier Building. Prior booking required)
Eu era ar, espaço vazio, tempo is an exercise (and an invitation to the wayfarer) of becoming with space, with the other species and elements that inhabit it through matter and sound. In the words of Stella do Patrocínio, being air, empty space, time. It proposes a merging with the exhibition environment, understanding crypsis as a phenomenon that, beyond a survival strategy, responds to a desire to dissolve into the world.
This collaboration between Fabiana Vinagre and Belén Rodríguez includes two works by Belén Rodríguez in the form of garments coloured with natural dyes from material collected from trees and plants in a forest in Cantabria. Using the shibori technique, the artist draws a parallel between tree leaves and bird feathers, making the foliage of the trees a sort of maternal cloak that shelters and protects the animal species that live beneath its branches, including the artist herself.
Features of the works on loan, courtesy of the artist and the Juan Silió Gallery: Cosmic Dancer (Pati), 2023. Painting/suit. Cotton dyed with dyes from the forest. Iroko wooden support. 150 x 120 cm. Cosmic Dancer (Carmen), 2023. Painting/suit. Cotton dyed with forest dyes and bleached with lemon. Iroko wooden support. 150 x 120 cm.
Performance Julián Galay. Mímesis (Capella. Prior booking required)
Mímesis is a performative lecture on dreams, animals and tuning forks by the composer Julián Galay. Departing from an attentive listening approach, he proposes to investigate the hidden relationships between seemingly isolated and distinct events, such as the multiplication of language as an endemic plague, the acoustic camouflage of moths, the dreams of spiders and the recurring nightmares of a Zebra finch. What would music composed by the collective unconscious of prey and predators sound like?
Saturday 13 April, 2024
Performance by Fabiana Vinagre and Belén Rodríguez Eu era ar, espaço vazio, tempo, performed by Fabiana Vinagre and André Felipe (Floor 2, Meier Building. No booking required. Limited space)
Eu era ar, espaço vazio, tempo is an exercise (and an invitation to the wayfarer) of becoming with space, with the other species and elements that inhabit it through matter and sound. In the words of Stella do Patrocínio, being air, empty space, time. It proposes a merging with the exhibition environment, understanding crypsis as a phenomenon that, beyond a survival strategy, responds to a desire to dissolve into the world.
This collaboration between Fabiana Vinagre and Belén Rodríguez includes two works by Belén Rodríguez in the form of garments coloured with natural dyes from material collected from trees and plants in a forest in Cantabria. Using the shibori technique, the artist draws a parallel between tree leaves and bird feathers, making the foliage of the trees a sort of maternal cloak that shelters and protects the animal species that live beneath its branches, including the artist herself.
Features of the works on loan, courtesy of the artist and the Juan Silió Gallery: Cosmic Dancer (Pati), 2023. Painting/suit. Cotton dyed with dyes from the forest. Iroko wooden support. 150 x 120 cm. Cosmic Dancer (Carmen), 2023. Painting/suit. Cotton dyed with forest dyes and bleached with lemon. Iroko wooden support. 150 x 120 cm.
Performance Vica Pacheco. Animacy (Capella. Prior booking required)
Animacy is a musical improvisation set featuring Vica Pacheco's ceramic instruments. The main melody is emitted by six hydraulic whistling vessels, resonators and different objects. Her practice is situated between ritual and translation, where healing or curing becomes dialogue to understand that if everything is alive, conversation surpasses words; discourse can be renewed through affections, sensations and perceptions. Each concert is different. They can be described as sonic ecosystems with organic and unsettling sounds emerging from their vessels to guide the audience through unexplored territories.
If you have any question, feel free to contact us on 93 481 33 68 or by email at macba [at] macba [dot] cat.
