Today (27th March 2025) is the opening of Vangelis Kyris ‘Live and Thread’ Exhibition at Eretz Museum in Israel for which I composed a 30 Minutes Soundscape Composition (sound design). I feel blessed for this collaboration with this excellent artist Vangelis Kyris and his amazing team, especially to Phaedra Gavouneli
It follows a description of the Soundscape:
Composers Notes
The sound art piece that accompanies the exhibition ‘Light and Thread’ is based on principles of the ontology of the arts and acoustic ecology and is installed in the space to interact with the photographic material, creating an immersive environment.
The sound work operates simultaneously on two levels: historical and artistic. Historically, it highlights the journey of the Jewish people over the centuries, their diaspora to various parts of the world, and their adaptation to different cultural environments. It is a kind of sonic excavation. Artistically, it involves the act of recording and creatiοn, centering on sound which projects the art of photography, embroidery, and technology (e.g., Morse code) in the context of a soundscape composition
Regarding the interaction of photography and sound, the sound works contrapuntally with the exhibits/photos. The photos at first reading present horizontal time (present) as cultural outcomes of the adaptation processes of the Jews in various areas, while the sound highlights vertical time (depth of time), as the historical context of these adaptations. This counterpoint ultimately creates harmony between the two arts, as the sound deciphers the visual and conceptual context already imprinted on the dresses in the photos as a kind of ‘spirit’, genius loci (ontological approach to the object). It expresses a deeper framework that reveals the pain and hope of the Jewish people throughout history, deeply embedded in them and projected in every form of their expression.
Regarding the structure of the sound work, the historical reference/narrative is presented abstractly rather than descriptively and linearly, forming a sound collage. It uses sound symbols to evoke historical and collective memory, referring to sounds that point to specific events and concepts of recording. Examples of such symbols include, the fluttering of a dove, sounds of trains and fire, shofar sounds, etc.
The work, inspired by acoustic ecology, uses real sounds that give the texture of a soundscape. At the core of all the materials are the sounds of the camera, which connect all the elements. They express the dual nature of the work, sometimes as a soundscape recording historical and cultural sound images, and other times as a soundscape referring to the act of recording. These two often blend. For example, there are sounds of photography and Morse code expressing the act of recording. The Morse code at the same time though has a historical reference, as it records the Ten Commandments. This is an analog recording of the commandments that were once inscribed on stones.
Dr. Dimitrios Bakas
Composer/Sound Artist