KLAGE
ANTO MILOTTA
The title of the installation is inspired by the acoustic phenomenon of the so-called Klage, for “[…] it corresponds to the fact that in Roana an old woman believed she was able to hear the moaning of her beloved dead as long as there was the squeaking of the spinning wheel”.
Our interest in the supernatural faculties of man has lead us to examine this phenomenon through the use of sound, as an intangible medium, in relation to the caves of Lessinia, as symbolic places for the unknown.
The installation is comprised of a digital audio track reproduced by a handcrafted speaker and a composition created with 21 meters of magnetic tape.
The 7 minute audio track, composed out of digital and analog field recordings, depicts a soundscape that interleaves different cave
environments with elements that recall the domestic ambiance of the traditional Cimbri people. By juxtaposing both of these sound
dimensions, we evoke the intangible presence of a subtle world with whom we are no longer able to communicate.
The components of a directional horn speaker are assembled together with the work of a local craftsman, Caio, that practice the art of the willow-weaving; thus techniques and
technologies of both past and present are woven together in the creation of this sound sculpture.
The magnetic tape, used for the final audio recording as well as for the composition displayed in a case, becomes a sensible
medium that embeds the magnetism of subtle energies. Seven minutes of audio track corresponds to twenty-one meters of magnetic
tape. This delicate material is modelled in an intricate composition inside a display case, recalling both the silhouette of a cave and that of a sound-wave. Furthermore the use of magnetic tape is a homage to Friedrich Jurgenson, a famous pioneer in the field of para-acoustic recordings.
Through the installation, the directional speaker is put into dialogue with the cemetery located in proximity to the gallery
space. The whole project takes into account that, before the advent of the napoleonic reform, the place for the burying of the
dead was the same location upon which now resides the sociocultural center of Bosco Chiesanuova.
BIOGRAPHY
ANTO MILOTTA (Alcamo, 1984) and Zlatolin Donchev (Beijing, 1990) live and work between Sofia and Genoa. They have studied in different academies in Italy and abroad until their paths cross at the Academy of fine arts in Genoa for the biennial master degree program. Their collective work begins in 2014 when the Ligustic Academy selects them for the short residency program The sound identity of places, organized in Perugia. This shared experience reveals parallel poetics in their artistic practice, leading them to work in a common direction. In the last years they have partecipated in different collective exhibitions, such as Hortus (in)conclusus at MACA, Alcamo; Matter over matter at Goethe-Institut in Sofia – Bulgaria; Visao expandida at the Biennale of Curitiba – Brasile; Landscapes in movement, in the Antique palace of Saluzzo (CN, Italy).
Selected exhibitions: Monumentvm for Nesxt independent art festival at Docks Dora, Torino;
Sólo quienes sueñan pueden mover montañas at the Institute for Italian Culture in Lima, Perù;
Green Observatory as collateral event of Manifesta 12 at Spazio Y, Palermo;
Climasensibile at Sala Dogana – Palazzo Ducale, Genoa;
Naturally Artificial at the Museum of contemporary art Villa Croce, Genoa;
Antennae at Tenuta la favola, Val di Noto (SR, Italy).
Some recognitions include:
Special jury mention for IV Henraux foundation award for marble sculpture;
Winners of the residency programs of CreArt Salzamt and Fully_Grounding BridgeArt – Noto;
Winners of the Matteo Olivero award for emerging contemporary art;
Nominated for the competition of the V MERU Art*Science award.