What is a topophony? Certainly a moment in which space and sound meet. And it is the Topofonie that give its name to the latest project Antonio Della Marina And Alessandra Zucchisound and space artists known for Spazioersetti Gallery of Udine and for the annual review Sound on displaystarted in the city in 2016. The idea is to connect sounds to placesas part of a traveling initiative that combines art and travel “discovering the acoustic treasures of the Upper Adriatic”. From Bicycle concert for tuned bells that will take place Sunday 16 June along the Alpe Adria cycle path (on the route of the former Pontebbana Railway), coinciding with the National Cycle Tourism Day.
A debut on two wheels for a project that aims to condense more stimuli, with the patronage of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and NextGenerationEU.
The map of the Topophonies of Friuli Venezia Giulia
TOPOFONIE was in fact born with the aim of creating a map of the acoustic treasures of Friuli Venezia Giulia and its surrounding areas, putting the sense of hearing at the center of attention. And anyone can participate with a report. Zucchi and Della Marina’s research, moreover, has long focused on soundscapes: now they want to create a tourist guide for listeners that invites them to listen to nature, but also to anthropized and built spaces. In the background there is the theme of acoustic ecology, against pollution from and travel by motor vehicles, to favor trips by bicycle or on foot.
Sound thus becomes an opportunity to visit architecture, city corners, landscapes as well as to deepen reflections on anthropological, social and cultural phenomena, as happened during a preview of the project in Longarone, last October 2023, with the sound of the church bell rebuilt after the Vajont.
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The Topofonie project in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Guide to finding the sound of places
The places/sounds to look for can be linked to artificial constructions or anthropic activities (architectures with particular acoustics, sounds generated by industrial equipment), or be immersed in the natural environment, from the crackling of a frozen lake to the singing of crickets, to the longest echo, from the dripping of drops in the caves to the quietest place that can be “heard” in the region. Among the topophonies already discovered: the roar of the deer in Val Resia, the midday chime from the Castle of Gorizia, the snow in the forest in Val Saisera. However, not only the acoustic phenomena to be listened to passively are covered, but also those that require a voluntary act to manifest themselves, such as the effects of echo or reverberation, protagonists of the concert for tuned bells.
The concert for tuned bells on the Alpe Adria cycle path
The bells, made in a thousand examples, were filed and tuned by hand and each have a different and unique sound, which will reverberate in the tunnels along the route between Tarvisio and Chiusaforte. Participants (limited places by reservation; possibility of using a BICI BUS to and from Udine), together with the bells, will be provided with some simple “musical” indications, to promote the success of the event, focused onconscious listening.
Upon the arrival of the cyclists in Pontebba, TOPOPHONIA will be inaugurated inside the pedestrian tunnel that passes under the railway: a site-specific installation by the Dutch artist Jan van der Ploeg (1959), harmony of geometries and lights. This will be followed by the musicians’ performance for saxophones and electronics Mattia Tomat and Enrico Leonarduzzi.
Livia Montagnoli
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