‘K’ (2012)
Marko Ciciliani
Marko Ciciliani’s K is part of the series 'Pop Wall Alphabet', a series of electronic sound-art composition, subdivided in 26 sections in alphabetic order.
Pop Wall Alphabet explores the sound characteristics of 26 pop artists, by superimposing all the songs of a specific album of theirs into a diffuse sound wall, thus revealing the spectral composition of a certain production style and genre. As additional elements static spectral sound images of all the individual songs have been used, creating an abstracted sonic texture of all their otherwise iconic emotions.
The interest in Pop Wall Alphabet lies in the investigation of “the sound” which has become a central but nevertheless evasive and intangible criteria in pop production, giving it an almost mythical quality. As a result of the applied methods (condensation and spectral extraction) the specific production style results in walls of sound/noise of different, ever changing colorations.
With each of the 26 sections a different artist and genre is explored, sorted according to the letters of the alphabet. The compositional strategy is each time identical but it always yields a different result. When listening, a number of different listening modes are engaged as the sound texture moves from various degrees of abstraction to thinned out textures, where individual songs become recognizable, before moving again into continuously morphing spectral textures. As a result of the gradual move between thick textures of sound and recognisable genres, styles and songs, the hearing-modes of the listeners vascillate between abstract and referential listening, often dwelling in a state in between. Thereby the listening becomes a highly personal, immersive and sensual experience.
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Pop Wall Alphabet explores the sound characteristics of 26 pop artists, by superimposing all the songs of a specific album of theirs into a diffuse sound wall, thus revealing the spectral composition of a certain production style and genre. As additional elements static spectral sound images of all the individual songs have been used, creating an abstracted sonic texture of all their otherwise iconic emotions.
The interest in Pop Wall Alphabet lies in the investigation of “the sound” which has become a central but nevertheless evasive and intangible criteria in pop production, giving it an almost mythical quality. As a result of the applied methods (condensation and spectral extraction) the specific production style results in walls of sound/noise of different, ever changing colorations.
With each of the 26 sections a different artist and genre is explored, sorted according to the letters of the alphabet. The compositional strategy is each time identical but it always yields a different result. When listening, a number of different listening modes are engaged as the sound texture moves from various degrees of abstraction to thinned out textures, where individual songs become recognizable, before moving again into continuously morphing spectral textures. As a result of the gradual move between thick textures of sound and recognisable genres, styles and songs, the hearing-modes of the listeners vascillate between abstract and referential listening, often dwelling in a state in between. Thereby the listening becomes a highly personal, immersive and sensual experience.
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Related:
4DSOUND: A Retrospective (2015)