Discoteca Flaming Star    Discoteca Flaming Star        www.discotecaflamingstar.com

Johanna Billing    You don’t love me yet    www.makeithappen.org/johannabilling.html

Alfonso Gil + Francis Gomila   Guantanamera    www.alonsogil.com   www.digitalartsgallery.co.uk/FG.ARTISTSpage.html

Ben Frost   I lay my ear to furious latinwww.ethermachines.com

Dan Perjovschi    Off www.perjovschi.rowww.lombard-freid.comwww.gregorpodnar.com

Dirk Vollenbroich    Short circuit / Cortocircuito www.dirkvollebroich

Mandla Reuter Pictureshttp://www.mandlareuter.com/

Susan PhillipszFollow Me

Anikka Ström    The missed concert    www.annikastrom.net

Dora García    Rezos/Prayers    www.doragarcia.net    www.rezosprayers.org

Nexus Art Group    Proyecto[NEXUS*]Jose Luis Delgado Guitart Ricardo EchevarríaMajorie KanterAchilleas Kentonis María Papacharalambous

Oswaldo Macià    Cuando los perros ladran     www.oswaldomacia.com

Leopold KesslerAlarm bikehttp://www.leopoldkessler.net/www/index.html

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 MADRID ABIERTO is an international artistic initiatives programme which is held throughout the month of February in the junction Paseo de la Castellana-Recoletos-Prado since 2004. It is an avenue for approaching the interpretation and comprehension of how the public space is constructed from the sphere of art. Since its first open invitation announcement it has received more than 1.200 proposals. Out of all the projects presented, 29 were exhibited in the previous three editions and 13 will be exhibited this year, selected by different juries comprised by international experts.

Organised by the Cultural Association MADRID ABIERTO, the 2007 edition of the programme is promoted by the Altadis Foundation, the Department of Culture and Sport of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and the Governing Department for the Arts of the City Council of Madrid, with the collaboration of the Telefónica Foundation, La Casa Encendida of Obra Social Caja Madrid, the Ministry of Culture, ARCO, Radio 3 of RNE, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Canal Metro, Cemusa, Centro Cultural de la Villa of Madrid, Remo, Mediazero and Metro.

For this fourth edition, which will be held from the 1st to the 28th of February, a total of 658 projects were presented; 471 for the general invitation, 61 for the façade of La Casa de América, 28 for the façade of Círculo de Bellas Artes, 74 works for Canal Metro and 24 sonorous initiatives for Radio 3. The breakdown by countries of the projects presented is as follows: Spain (174), Italy (46), USA (46), Mexico (40), Argentina (33), Germany (28), Colombia (28), France (25), Brazil (18), Canada (16), Cuba (16), Ecuador (14), Chile (13), The Netherlands (13), Portugal (12), Ireland (9), Sweden (9), United Kingdom (9), Venezuela (9), Japan (7), Austria (6), Yugoslavia (6), Australia (5), Peru (5), Belgium (4), Costa Rica (4), Finland (4), Norway (4), Poland (4), Turkey (4), China (3), Croatia (3), Slovenia (3), Russia (3), Switzerland (3), Uruguay (3), Bulgaria (2), El Salvador (2), Georgia (2), Guatemala (2), India (2), Iceland (2), Israel (2), New Zealand (2), Czech Republic (2), Cyprus (1), Denmark (1), Estonia (1), The Philippines (1), Greece (1), Hungary (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1), The Dominican Republic (1), Serbia (1) and Singapore (1).

The selection committee was comprised by Juan Antonio Álvarez-Reyes (curator of Madrid Abierto 2007), Ramon Parramon (director of Idensitat), Cecilia Andersson (director of Werk) and Guillaume Désanges (co-ordinator of art projects in Les Laboratoires D’Aubervilliers, Ille de France). We declared the project for the façade of Círculo de Bellas Artes unfulfilled and pre-selected thirty projects, from which the curator finally selected Fernando(We were young. Full of life. None of us prepared to die) by the collective Discoteca Flaming Star; proyecto_nexus* by the collective [nexus*] art group; I Lay My Ear To Furious Latin by Ben Frost; Rezos/Prayers by Dora García;Pictures by Mandla Reuter; Guantanamera by Alonso Gil and Francis Gomila and Short Circuit/Cortocircuito by Dirk Vollenbroich. In addition to these seven selected projects, the current edition is complemented by other projects from artists invited by the curator: Dan Perjovschi, Susan Philipsz, Johanna Billing, Leopold Kessler, Oswaldo Maciá and Annika Ström. Through this mixed selection model our intention is to continue to make progress in our objective of broadening each annual proposal of MADRID ABIERTO.

In this year’s edition, for the first time, two specific invitations for audiovisual and sonorous works were announced, which were selected by the curator, myself, Arturo Rodríguez and José Iges. The following 11 works were selected for projecting on Canal Metro: Rothkovisión 3.0 by Daniel Silvo; Mierda de caballos y príncipes by Fernando Baena; Rest by Carolina Jonsson; Every Word is becoming by Alexander Vaindorf; Alpenflug (Alpine Flight) by Juan Carlos Robles; Himno by Cristian Villavicencio; PlasmaLux06-7 by Tanja Vujinovic-Zvonka Simcic; Mis Quince by Alfredo Pérez; Lucía by Pere Ginard and Laura Ginés; Candy by Mai Yamashita and Naoto Kobayashi and The Toro’s Revenge by María Cañas. For broadcasting on Radio 3, the following 8 works were selected: Am I walking by Jouni Tauriainen; Bendicho juez de la verdad by Eldad Tsabary; Reiterations (Elizabeth Street) by Sonia Leber and David Chesworth; Postal Densa. Postal Sonora. Madrid-Bogotá by Mauricio Bejarano; Alkaline by Paul Devens; Funkenspiel by David Halsell; Poema Jazz (a Clara Gari) by Luis Eligio Pérez and BihotzBi by Zuriñe Gerenabarrena.

Likewise, following on with the work of the previous editions, E451 continues to develop the graphic image and web page and, for the second year running, together with various debate tables on public art, the selected artists will present their work in La Casa Encendida on the 1st and 2nd of February.

We are continuing the process of creating an initiative of a scale manageable by a small team without a permanent or continuous structure, based on an open invitation announcement geared towards the production of ephemeral or temporary projects for the public space of the city of Madrid.

Jorge Díez

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 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

I am using the insular housing of commercial honey Bees to construct 5 contained sonic environments. The physical Beehive contains a speaker that emits one of 5 concurrent parts of a non-linear score (a series of related loops or random length). Each of these parts will consist primarily of a low frequency tone that will vary subtly in volume and texture from within each box… at close range with an ear to any given hives the viewer will experience a singular experience of that tone and texture…

However at a distance the summed harmonic interplay of all 5 hives will create a nonlinear narrative that ebbs and flows at the looping mercy of infinite algorhythms.

…A muted, singular experience- BUT WHAT DOES IT ‘MEAN’- Conflicting perspectives, both external and internal- Harmony- Dissonance- Cause and Effect- Communication of the vernacular as the sum of the secular

What feedback loops are created in these moments of conflicting perspective and in this case audible melodic movement and its various implied secular introspections?

The Beehive is an incredibly powerful image of passive aggression… the singular harmless insect OR The swarming killer mass… A secular sweetness made in swarming rage and guarded secrecy. I am fascinated by the connotations of the‘Closed box’… I am fascinated by the insinuations that a beehive in a public space makes… about our security? …about the nature of emotion and containment? About our sense of control and personal space- These ideas when addressed musically again play with perception of meaning and conversely actual intentions.

How does preconception about people in their personal ‘hive’, enwrapped in their culture and kind affect the actual experience of them? Are the Bees dangerous or does the collective experience make them so?

Various political and religious divisions dilute the natural empathy of the human condition that is often already strained by geographical separation and language- and this occurs both on a singular and social level. Harmonies and dissonance in sound are relative to a listener just as the reactions to social structures and cultural aspects are relative to the individual and the individual experience.

Distance between the hives- and the transmission of their sound across space presents us with less defined linear structures- and more confusing, perplexing and perhaps scarier perspectives: Ergo: Many boxes raise many questions… So, Namely- Do we fear what we cannot dissect?

This work also references the work ‘Arrival of the Beebox’ by American poet Sylvia Plath whereby she uses the image of the Beehive to explain inner turmoil using external form ‘…The box is locked, it is dangerous…’I am interested in exploring the core idea that this poem suggests… that to open the box (the issue)… is to risk attack by its contents… a universally familiar idea…

And indeed, perhaps it is.

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Paseo de Recoletos, Central Bulevard next to Plaza de Colón

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RE_SQUARED, 2003    Structural Installation + Live AudioVisual PerformancesPerformed on 9th - 16th October, 2003Undercroft of the Plaza building, Australia Square, Sydney

For this series of free public works, Cicada investigated a well-known city-space, which was reconfigured into an immersive audiovisual environment, making use of the imposing and enclosing structure to explore themes of the subliminal emotions of the community that traverses the space on a daily basis. Through projected image and sound, Re_Squared explored the notion of creating spontaneous public space.

During Re_Squared performances, the space transformed. Real-time manipulated video, mapped exactly to the oblique surfaces surrounding the viewer on five sides, redefined the space with texture and light. Audiovisual micro-narratives constantly raised their heads, only to fall back into an abstract sea of sound and image. The live, surround sound audio performance and sound design explored the subsonic possibilities of a space that has many abrupt surfaces, but at the same time, many voids. The audio and video conjoined to produce a series of emotional states, some beautiful, some deeply uneasy, drawing inspiration from the imaginations of city-dwellers.

Video: Kirsten Bradley + Nick RitarAudio: Ben Frost

Re_ Squared was presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art Exhibition Primavera 2003

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AMENSALISMAn association between organisms of two different species in which one is inhibited or destroyed and the other is unaffected. -Encyclopædia Britannica Online

AMENSALISMA type of symbiosis where two (or more) organisms from different species live in close proximity to one another, where one of the members suffers as a result of the relationship while the other is unaffected by it. -Hyperdictionary

SYNOPSYSAmensal is a public installation work which explores the delicate balancing act that unfolds when nature ventures into the city. It examines our relationship with the natural world, our desire to cultivate, capture, prune, tend, weed and above all dominate natural processes.To explore this territory, Lichens were chosen as the central players in the work. Each lichen is a symbiotic relationship between two species; lichen is a symbiotic association of a fungus (mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner (photobiont), which may be an algae or a cyanobacterium. Some lichens consist of all three types of organisms. The association is not a simple mixture, however, but one in which the fungus produces a thallus, or body, within which the photobionts are housed. (The Lichen Symbiosis, Vernon Ahmadjian, 1993)

This symbiosis has enabled these organisms to survive in some of the most inhospitable environments on earth, from the harshest deserts to Antarctic, where neither symbiont could survive on its own. But lichens are extremely delicate and sensitive structures, they cannot tolerate rapid changes in their environment. Only the toughest varieties can survive in the city. Lichens are widely used as bio-indicators. They are very sensitive to sulphur dioxide. If sulphur dioxide (emitted when fossil fuels are burnt) is present in large amounts then few lichen will survive. In contrast if the air is clear then many forms of lichen will flourish.

In this work the balancing act is represented by the life of a lichen as it grows across a city surface. The lichen is delicate and if the viewer is not careful they could damage or even destroy it.

EXPERIENCEA giant lichen which grows across a surface. The lichen is magnified thousands of times to reveal its subtle colours and textures. The lichen is sensitive. If a noise is made near the lichen it grows slower, if it gets too noisy it starts to shrivel and shrink. If the shadow of a passerby touches the lichen then the lichen can become infected with decay. If you want to watch the lichen grow you must be quiet and still and be careful where your shadow falls.

Video: Kirsten Bradley + Nick RitarAudio: Ben Frost

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 The closed boxTo open it is to risk attack by its contentsWe fear what we do not understandThe box is locked and therefore it is dangerous

A beehive in a public spaceThe swarmHidden from viewWhispering languages we don’t understand

Do they want to hurt us?Is this secure?

The singular harmless insectThe swarming killer massRage and AlchemyGuarded secrecy.

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, 1980 LIVES AND WORKS IN REYKJAVÍKWWW.ETHERMACHINES.COMWORK IN MADRID ABIERTO: I LAY MY EAR TO FURIOUS LATIN

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, RELEASE AND WORKS FOR PERFORMANCE

CURRENT WORK2006     ·    I Lay my ear to furious Latin. Public sound/sculpture installation ·    “Madrid Abierto”, Spain ·    Theory of Machines 5 new compositions for industrial machinery and guitars ·    Jarðskálftar Tónlist (Earthquake Music) Research and development of a real-time

RECENT WORK2006     ·    Glow, Chunky Move Dance Company Score, Coreographed by Gideon Obarzanek and interactive System Design by Frieder Weiß ·    Singularity, Chunky Move Dance Company Score, Coreographed by Gideon Obarzanek ·    Holli Who? Íslenskí Dansflokkurín (Icelandic Dance Company) Score, Coreographed by Halla Ólafsdottír and concept by Halla Ólafsdottír and Ben Frost ·    Broken Window Theory.  Bus Gallery, Melbourne Australia (Group exhibition) A Non-Linear Audio Installation ·    MOB part 1, North Melbourne Meat Market, Melbourne Australia A/V Installation, Surround sound and Multi-Screen Installation as part of Cicada

2005     ·    Björk, Medúlla Desired Constellation Remix, One little Indian Label/Universal Music International ·    Pyroclastic.  Centre for New Media Arts, Armenia. Sound work with Ai Yamamoto, Exploration of volcanic sound ·    Salt Milk. IASKA, Kellerberrin Western Australia. A/V installation in remote salt lake regions as part of Cicada

PAST WORK2004     ·    Amensal, luminosity exhibition, (ANAT) Adelaide Australia. Large-scale interactive video projection/audio installation with Cicada

2003    ·    Re_Squared, Prima Vera Festival, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Australia. ·    Commissioned collaboration with video artists Cicada immersive audio-visual performance/installation ·    Sæluhúsið (Safe House), Ny"listasafnið (The Living Arts Museum), Reykjavik Iceland. Commissioned live performance with Icelandic artist Valgeir Sigurðsson ·    Steel Wound, Commissioned new work for the Room40 label. Exploration of the guitar as environment, geography as instrument, created in isolated farmhouse

GROUP EXHIBITIONS2004    ·    Melatonin. “MAAP Festival” Singapore (Group exhibition) Curated by Lawrence English Sound Installation, in public transit tunnel, Exploration of sleep

2003    ·    Melatonin. “Nextwave Festival”, Bus Galleries, Melbourne Australia (Group exhibition) ·    Audio Installation, exploration of sleep, R.E.M, and Psycho-Acoustics

EDUCATION2005     ·    RMIT University-Bachelor of Media Arts, with Distinction (Fine Arts-Sound/Composition) ·    (Under Dr Philip Samartzis and Composer Darrin Verhagen)

1999     ·    North Adelaide School of Art-Advanced Diploma in Fine Arts (Painting, Sculpture) incomplete

GRANTS, AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES (SELECTED)2005    ·    Media Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts -New Work Grant. Support and development of the work Jarðskálftar (Earthquakes) ·    Music Board, Australia Council for the Arts -New Work Grant. Support and development of the work Theory of Machines ·    Native-Instruments, Germany. Artist Endorsement ·    Foundation For Young Australians-Fund for Individuals Grant. Artist residency at Greenhouse Studios Reykjavik, Iceland

2004     ·    New Media Board, Australia Council for the Arts-Research and Development Grant . Research and development of new work in collaboration of Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar (Cicada)

2003     ·    New Media Board, Australia Council For the Arts-International Pathways Grant . International tour of USA, UK, Europe in support of Steel Wound ·    City of Sydney Australia-Art and About program award. For the Artwork Re_Squared in     collaboration of Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar (Cicada) ·    BBC Radio, Critics Choice, Top 10 experimental Releases 2003 For the work Steel Wound

2002      ·    Ableton Software, Germany. Artist Endorsement

ASSOCIATIONS2005·    Present Bedroom Community Label, Reykjavik Iceland

2003·    Present Room40 Label, Brisbane Australia

2002·    Present Cicada Arts Collective, Melbourne Australia

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 (January 2007)

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REFERENCES

(November 2006) 

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  DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSEMBLY SYSTEM AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Each prepared beehive will contain a single Mono Speaker and small non directional light. Each Box is sealed except for discreet existing gaps in the construction of the object (This artwork will be WEATHER PROOF and will not require dailydeconstruction in an outdoor environment) which, at night will create a very subtle and yet non-invasive visual effect to accompany the more obvious yet still inherently subtle aural effect. Each Box, placed in a single straight line, separated by a distance of 2m, preferably running parallel to a footpath, wall, or other avenue of foot traffic, containing both speaker and light will chain together creating a single strip of cabling which will require access to a secure (remote) indoor environment where a multi-channel audio interface, basic computer either desktop or laptop*, and amplifier will ‘run’ the piece and feed each channel of audio to its corresponding box.

*note that this computer/interface-based installation could potentially be substituted for 5 single hi quality cd players with a continuous looping function.

The piece will require a single standard power source.

A Very basic figure of proposed installation

All aspects of the production of aural content up until the point of presentation will be self-financed and/or supported by external research funding and in-kind support of the recording studio ‘Greenhouse Studios’, Reykjavik  http://www.greenhouse.is/

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** PLAY THE TRAKS ALL TOGETHER

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