‘Charivaria’ – Professor Lise Autogena’s ‘Foghorn Requiem’ on show in Madrid at exhibition exploring the use of sound in public spaces

A REQUIEM FOR THE FOGHORN, PERFORMED BY SEVENTY FIVE BRASS PLAYERS, A FOGHORN AND AN ARMADA OF SHIPS A project by Danish artist, Lise Autogena, in collaboration with Joshua Portway and composer Orlando Gough. Ships horns from an armada of vessels off-shore, seventy five brass players on-shore and the Souter Lighthouse Foghorn performed a Foghorn Requiem, an ambitious musical performance to mark the disappearance of the sound of the foghorn from the UK's coastal landscape. Conducted and controlled from a distance, ships at sea sounded their horns to a musical score, that will took into account landscape and the physical distance of sound. The performance took place by Souter Light House by South Shields, UK with thousands of spectators and more than 50 ships off-shore. Image from Lise Autogena, with superimposed Centro Madrid logo

Professor Lise Autogena‘s Foghorn Requiem features in Charivaria, an exhibition taking place at Centro Cibeles de Cultura y Ciudadania in Madrid this winter. The exhibition opened on 06 October 2017 and closes 28 January 2018.

Exploring the use of sound throughout history and its role in society, communication and art, the exhibition Charivaria investigates the use of sound as a way of occupying public space. From bells to pot banging, car noise to music, the exhibition investigates how sounds are used to construct identity and territory and how the subversion of the usual use of these urban infrastructure instruments can generate different social and political interactions.

Taking a historical approach, the exhibition gathers sound, visual, documentary, sculptural and archival resources ranging from the beginning of the Modern Age in Europe to the present. Through the work of over 90 artists, Charivaria investigates the use of sound in social contexts from cowbells and pans as a basic tool of sound protest since the 17th century in Europe, both in the rural and urban contexts, up until today’s use of musical instruments and horns in recent protests around the world.

Charivaria
Centro Cibeles de Cultura y Ciudadania, Madrid
06 October 2017 – 28 January 2018
Tuesdays – Sundays, 10AM – 8PM
See here for more information.

On 22 June 2013, ships gathered on the North Sea to perform an ambitious musical score, marking the disappearance of the sound of the foghorn from the UK’s coastal landscape. Foghorn Requiem was performed by three brass bands, 50 ships at sea and the Souter Lighthouse Foghorn. Using custom built technology and controlled and conducted from afar, ships sounded their horns to a score taking into account landscape, atmospheric conditions and the physical distance of sound. The composition, performed live to thousands of audiences on the coastal cliffs, was performed across a space of several miles around Souter Lighthouse; a requiem for the de-commissioning of foghorns, a melancholic and very human sound that connects the land with the sea.

Professor Lise Autogena is an artist and a Professor of Cross-Disciplinary Art at the Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University. Find out more about her work here.

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