SONIC SPORTS is the new sound art adventure of SEMI SILENT, an invitation to sport, play, memories, and emotions with our favorite artists.
SONIC SPORTS invites sound artists into new territories of exploration involving field research, dialog with athletes and support teams, field recording, as well as intimate or fictional writing, for a series of sound and radio art pieces. Presented in listening sessions of authored works, a national open call and a vocal expression workshop followed by a performance, the project proposes a sensitive reading of the role of sport in our lives and the intimate relationships we create with our bodies and the communities involved, from the very close-up, a breath or heartbeat away, through the perspective of the spectator in the stands or the football of children behind the block, through memories, histories and personal recollections.
We invite you to a sound season of sporting jubilation in resonance with the big events of the summer, from the atmosphere left by EURO 2024 and the spectacular European swimming competitions to the Olympic climax. We hope this generous atmosphere will get you in the mood to get back into sport, find the language to talk about your own sporting experiences, enjoy small personal victories and encourage those around you to join in.
With Cristian Fierbințeanu, Manja Ristić, Vasile Leac, Mihnea Chelariu, Paul Breazu, Anamaria Pravicencu, and Pavel Brăila.
PERFORMANCE & LISTENING, 7pm, 4th of November, 2024
Apollo 111 Theater, Ion Brezoianu 23-25, Bucharest
We open the SONIC SPORTS stage with cheers, enthusiastic shouts, whistles and boos.
The wide spectrum of voices and sounds made by the bodies in sport, in action, in the gallery, or behind the remote control, remind you of the most familiar sounds associated with sport through a face-to-face, performative invitation. In the form of a composed and improvised choir, the participants of the workshop on vocal expression with sports sounds (and voices), coached and directed by Cristian Fierbințeanu, will open the Sound Games with and about Sport!
The first players in the audition program are Cristian Fierbințeanu, with a work about the childhood memories that haunt his relationship with sport, a metamorphic polyphony of exhortations, criticisms and sanctions, and Manja Ristić, with a sound documentary about the Yugoslav, mainly Croatian, tradition of water polo, and her father, a legendary figure of the 60s and 70s.
The competitive evening will be interspersed with “live broadcasts” from the micro-sports fields in which other players piece together the sounds and memories of their sporting experiences in moments as brief as a pole throw.
Premiere auditions:
Total de Cristian Fierbințeanu, 2024, 22m13s
Il presidente de Manja Ristić, 2024, 18m05s
The fascination of the upside-down palette de Makunouchi Bento, 2024, 02m00s
Why I’m not hitting the gym de Cristian Fierbințeanu, 2024, 01m06s
Why are you swimming? by Anamaria Pravicencu (excerpt), invited work from the project “In a few words” organized by the Centre for Visual Studies, 2023
VOCAL EXPRESSION WORKSHOP WITH SPORTS SOUNDS (AND VOICES)
Coach : Cristian Fierbințeanu, November 1-4, 2024, Bucharest
Singing in a choir is an activity that stimulates the body and mind in similar ways to sport. As a form of creative expression, singing in a choir induces a sense of well-being and fulfillment through the production of endorphins and serotonin, improves posture and breathing, increases self-confidence and supports us in overcoming personal limits. Singing together encourages meaningful and authentic social relationships, provides a sense of belonging and mutual support.
The workshop is based on the sounds of the body and voice during sports activities – breathing, yelp, yell – and on the “vocal” cultural background of competitive performance – exhortation, slogan, gallery song, cheers, etc. The workshop contains a part of preparation and practice of the voices, individual and choir, a part of preparation of a choir’s own sound vocabulary from sports, sports practice and experience, and a part of creative assembly of the resulting sound material for presentation in a performance.
The duration of the workshop is 10 hours spread over 4 days.
Cristian Fierbinteanu is an independent artist, member of art-pop group Fierbinteanu, active in music, sound & video art. As part of Fierbinteanu, he has performed on European scenes, including Berlin Konzerthaus, and released records via independent labels. The works of Fierbinteanu have been presented and awarded in international festivals: RVK Fringe Fest (Reykjavik – Iceland 2021), Seasoning Spring (United Cowboys/Eindhoven 2021), Phonurgia Nova (Paris 2020), Grand Prix Nova (Bucharest 2020), Nuit de la fiction sonore à Arles (France 2019), Arts and Science days (St. Etienne/France 2019), 60 Seconds Radio (Canada 2019), Dvorak Marathon (Berlin Konzerthaus), Dvorak remix (The Czech Cultural Center/Bucharest).
“Un auteur à suivre” – Phonurgia Nova; “An artistic duo that sincerely deserves total fascination” – Art7; “One of the most eccentric creatures of the independent music made in Romania” – DILEMA veche; “The oddest and most experimental duo of the Romanian electronic music” – VICE Romania.
OPEN CALL FOR SHORT SOUND PIECES: sound art, radio art, field recording
We are launching a very generous OPEN CALL for short sound pieces, maximum 2 minutes, about sport and sport experience.
🏀 Ongoing all this Olympic year and full of championships, but also with new subscriptions to swimming pools and gyms, we hope. Still send us your pieces before November 1.
🏓 We are waiting for you to send us tracks (wav or mp3), by transfer, to contact@semisilent.ro
🥎 Our favorites will be turned into postcards (you’ll see!) and we’ll distribute them in singles, doubles, relays and teams.
Art direction and coordination: Anamaria Pravicencu
Graphic design: Eleni Dafini Bacula
Project organized by SEMI SILENT and co-funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund in 2024.