TRAKT

Tag: sound art

Sound art is an artistic discipline in which sound is utilised as a medium. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art is interdisciplinary in nature, or takes on hybrid forms. Sound art can engage with a range of subjects such as acoustics, psychoacoustics, electronics, noise music, audio media, found or environmental sound, explorations of the human body, sculpture, film or video and an ever-expanding set of subjects that are part of the current discourse of contemporary art.

In Western art early examples include Luigi Russolo’s Intonarumori or noise intoners, and subsequent experiments by Dadaists, Surrealists, the Situationist International, and in Fluxus happenings. Because of the diversity of sound art, there is often debate about whether sound art falls within the domain of either the visual art or experimental music categories, or both. Other artistic lineages from which sound art emerges are conceptual art, minimalism, site-specific art, sound poetry, spoken word, avant-garde poetry, and experimental theatre.

  • The Night of Museums and Galleries 2023

    The Night of Museums and Galleries 2023

    The Night of Museums and Galleries is a pan-European event held under the patronage of the Council of Europe with the aim of presenting cultural heritage and the importance of its preservation and protection in cultural exchange, dissemination of information about the cultural diversity of individual countries and regions of Europe, informal education and recreation.

    The activities of museums during the Night of Museums and Galleries are oriented towards activities that remain hidden from the public throughout the year. At that time, museums open their “hidden” chambers to the public and reveal secrets hidden from public view. In this way, the public can penetrate the secrets of the ‘museum kitchen’. ‘Unlocking the secrets’ also helps the public, through the knowledge and information thus gained, to better understand the importance of museums in preserving part of the cultural and natural heritage preserved in museums.

    As part of the Night of Museums and Galleries event in Trencin, TRAKT will present a pair of art projects in the Atrium under the Tower and in the City Tower on 13 May.

    CITY TOWER
    9.00 – 23.00 LIGHT HARF | Interactive game full of light beams. Become a player and try what it is like to play on the lights.
    With your movements and touches you create beautiful light curtains and melodies. This game immerses you in a world of light and music.

    ATRIUM UNDER THE TOWER
    21.00 – 23.00 LIGHT GRAFFITI | Do you want to become part of street art and leave your digital legacy? Put your light graffiti on the façade of the Atrium. Just press the spray nozzle and you can start creating huge works of art. What’s more, you don’t have to worry about damaging the history of the façade because it’s a digital projection.

  • Crisis of confidence

    Crisis of confidence

    Society benefits and develops forward when there is mutual trust between people. All the more so when trust grows. It goes hand in hand. Until when? Until the moment when the erroneous realisation came that it was enough to weaken trust in every single way, gently and subtly over time. Individuals/people/groups/communities/nations stop trusting each other based on tiny disinfo-pulses. Gradually, the emerging distrust gnaws at the bones of everything. And it is from this mistrust that individuals are currently benefiting and profiting at the expense of the growth of society as a whole. “You don’t trust science, you don’t get vaccinated. You don’t trust finance, you diversify into cryptocurrencies. You don’t believe in the media, you run to conspiracy media. You don’t believe in democracy, you admire authoritarian regimes and populists.” The crisis of confidence is a major ideological starting point.

    The main activities of the project are the research and decomposition of phenomena and themes that undermine trust. A collection of 5 large-format original paintings by artist Lukáš Matejka – portraits (160 x 100 cm) will be created. The portraits are based on real people – representatives of the church, finance, judiciary, police and medicine. An important skeleton of the emerging works is also the work with audio – interviews – monologues – the destruction of voices of trust/distrust. The author creates an acoustic collage with people who. who have lost or are losing trust. An equal part of the exhibited paintings will be this created sound environment (recordings, editing, post-processing). The viewer – visitor of the newly emerging FORMAAT Gallery in Trencin will thus find himself in a gallery with a complex authorial painting-acoustic collection Crisis of Trust, which will affect him visually and acoustically.

    The aim and contribution of the project is to realize a visual reflection/authorial exhibition referring to the growing tendency of mistrust in society, which impacts directly or indirectly on each of us. The target audience of the exhibition is mainly the general public, students and the professional – artistic community.

    Title of the exhibition: Lukáš Matejka – CRISIS OF TRUST

    Opening date: 1 December 2022 at 19:00, Thursday

    Duration of the exhibition: 1 December 2022 – 30 December 2022

    Curator: Anton Šulík

    Location: FOR MAAT GALLERY, Železničná 3, Trenčín

    Supported by the Art Support Fund from public funds in the form of a scholarship.

  • Trenčín korzo 2022

    Trenčín korzo 2022

    On Saturday 25.6.2022, the bustle of the city market will be carried along the 1st May Street in Trencin. The one-day market of local vendors and regional artists will bring an exceptional atmosphere to the heart of Trenčín.

    In addition to the stalls in which the vendors will offer their products, in front of the Gymnasium Ľ. Štúr, there will be theatres, playrooms for children, discussions for adults, various concerts, workshops and interactive art installations. One of them is the interactive work HAPPY AUDIO from the workshop of TRAKT.

    The aim of the project is to enliven a public space other than the traditional Peace Square and to promote cultural and social events in the city.

  • Takt bridge

    Takt bridge

    Sound installation on the old railway bridge in Trencin

    The sound installation Takt, set in the environment of the old railway bridge in Trenčín, is a new work of art by the TRAKT civic association. The interactive work was created together with other invited colleagues from the cultural and technological field. The work was created with the help of the ECC Trenčín 2026 team, which worked intensively on the candidacy of the city of Trenčín in this prestigious cultural event (European Capital of Culture). The sound installation was first launched to the public in a test phase at the turn of November and December 2021.

    The author of the music is the young performer Toello, coming from Trenčianske Teplice, who layered 16 unique original tracks. These are triggered interactively by embedded sensors and thus react to people coming and going directly on the bridge. If one person enters the bridge the first musical layer is triggered, the next person crossing triggers the next, and so on. When the passer-by leaves the bridge, the track turns off again. If there are, for example, 10 people on the bridge at the same time, in the sensed environment directly above the river Váh, 10 sound tracks will play in parallel, which together will form a single musical unit. The maximum is 16 music tracks. At that point, passers-by will be able to hear the full track. If there is no one on the bridge, it will remain silent. Takt is available every day from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.

    The work responds to collaboration, togetherness and connectedness in a local context. For example, in the quest to become ECoC 2026, but also in the unification of the cultural and artistic community. However, it also responds to global contexts such as the polarisation of society in different areas. The sound installation presents in a rather illustrative way the idea of “unity is strength”, where only by being present with each other can people play a musical piece in its full scope. Although the individual plays an essential role, he or she cannot create the whole on his or her own.

    Photos by Juraj Majersky and Lukas Matejka.

  • Colours of sounds

    Colours of sounds

    Christmas time is a magical time where anything is possible – we can even see the sounds shine through. Such an experience has been prepared for the inhabitants of Trenčín by the TRAKT association in cooperation with the city of Trenčín. A symphony of sounds will come alive in colourful lights, and everyone can be a conductor and a player, from the smallest ones. Thanks to the interactive installation, the space of the Atrium under the City Tower will be illuminated and sounded by your joint movement. You can come to play in the Atrium under the City Tower in Trencin from 22 December 2021 to 19 January 2022, always in an evening magical atmosphere between 15:00 and 20:00.

  • Re:index intermedia

    Re:index intermedia

    Re:index is an intermedia project at the crossroads between sound and object installations linked with contemporary dance, fine arts, intervention into the public space and institutional criticism, IT and an interactive game for the spectator.

    It processes the phenomenon of the virtually perceived world – the real one, by using interactive storytelling, comprehending the ideology of the place through the language of contemporary art, semiotics and social paradigms. The project uncovers motives of a perceiving individual subject – as a mythical entity in a collective situation, and dramatically re/constructs possible and expectable situations on which it uncovers local social-historical relations of the place as well as current and speculative conditions of the existence of the non/place, modern rituals and infra/structures, in which the subject finds itself at the given moment.

    Simply said, it is a paraphrase of a computer game, an open world story, where the spectator becomes the player in the real world, the structure and universal significance of which he/she process through a filter of current artistic and cultural considerations offering it to new experiences, movement, discovery of new senses, reflections and connectivity of networks around us. The project is focused on an expert or an amateur spectator, children, students or teachers. The aim is to create and introduce an interdisciplinary play, as a universally transferable and complete installation lasting several hours that highlights the interaction between the spectator and the environment (passive as well as active).

    The premiere of the project:

    07/05/2021 | Friday | 12:00 – 21:00 | Trenčín | surroundings of the Miloš Alexander Bazovský Gallery, Palackého 27

    + online stream at www.trakt.sk/re-index

    More information will be added.

    The project was funded by Slovak Arts Council from public resources. The project was supported by a grant for cultural events in the city of Trenčín. Thank you.

    Translation: Karin Mikossiová

  • Happy audio and fables from India

    Happy audio and fables from India

    Under the auspices of the Indian Embassy in Slovakia, an evaluation of the Indian Fables Competition was held in Liptovsky Mikulas through the eyes of Slovak children. Through beautiful children’s drawings, viewers introduced the stories of stories from the life of the great Indian thinker M. Gandhi, whose 150th anniversary of birth is commemorated this year. Children put their insights into stories and their inner feelings into portraits in portraits. Up to 48 winners participated in the evaluation.

    TRAKT participated in a great atmosphere with the interactive audio installation of Happy Audio. Through technology and a mixture of fruits and vegetables, children composed unconventional sound and music compositions. The main organizer of the Slovak – Indian Friendship Society has prepared an unusual accompanying program for children. We are looking forward to further joint projects and congratulations to the winners.

  • Happy audio on parade

    Happy audio on parade

    Street 1 May in Trenčín in the middle of September 2017 revived the spirit of the urban market under the name Trenčín na korze. Despite the foggy and humid weather, a large number of visitors arrived to experience the renaissance of the street market. And let’s be admired to buy. In addition to buying a hand made product, whether on clothing, on food, or just on the edge, people could enjoy a great cup of coffee and a variety of other crisps. The main program was attended by different theatrical and musical groups, soloists and also lacking accompanying activities such as various art workshops and the like.

    TRAKT could not miss this event. We contributed to the unparalleled installation of Happy Audio, which involved not only children but also adults. The audience had the opportunity to interact and create their own music by playing fruit and vegetables that made different sounds. Installation was a visitor, all day available, and everyone who came to KORZO appeared to touch the playing vegetables and enjoyed a pleasant, cheerful experience.

  • Extrakt festival

    Extrakt festival

    An evening of short concerts of experimental music, in the performance of young Slovak musicians and artists connected with transitions to the visual digital projection and contemporary dance.

    Performers:

    JÁN FIALA, ŠTEFAN SZABÓ, MICHAELA TURCEROVÁ
    DÁVID PETRÁŠ
    JAAN
    ZAMATOVÉ PAZÚRY + PETR OCHVAT

    6 June 2017 at 18:00 at the Worker House in Banska Bystrica.

    The new platform in the field of experimental music and its transitions, called EXTRAKT FESTIVAL, offers the opportunity for author’s realization by musicians and artists working on the Slovak scene. One of the aims of the festival is to integrate the newly reconstructed premises of the Worker House in Banská Bystrica into the local – and, at the same time, the whole of the Slovak art community, and to increase the awareness of these spaces to the general public.

    We create a close collaboration with the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica and engage students in the program where we provide them with the opportunity to have personal contact with the professional scene of experimental music, possible participation in the project and the possibility of future professional creative development. The venue will be a series of concerts during one evening. Target groups are creative people moving to artistic communities, artists, high school students and the general public. The event will take place during the 20th anniversary of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica.

    The festival was sponsored by the Slovak Arts Council.

  • Park camp 3

    Park camp 3

    Park camp  is a project taking place in Trebišov’s park from 18th to 23rd of July 2016 organised by members of „OZ KONTEXT“ Peter Valiska -Timečko and Branislav Zurko. The role of the lecturers was taken by Lukáš Matejka and Štefan Oliš from „TRAKT“ and their external colleague Ján Ančic took. The target group of Park camp 3 were students of art universities. The project was focused on video and sound art. The aim was a creation of pieces of art responding to the park ambiance – site-specific art. They tried to reflect the relation between urban and natural environment (public-private, organic-inorganic, natural – industrial). Many students of Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, Banska Bystrica and Košice participated on the project. The organisers prepared a kind of „educational laboratory“ to provide students with new creative stimuli and knowledge of actual and progressive art. They had an opportunity to learn new creative methods through experimenting.

    There was a field trip of the old city center guided by M. Urban, Slovak wine tasting and several educative presentations e.g. Koniareň platform, sound technologies by J. Ančič,  art projects by L.Matejka and Š.Oliš, history of intermedial projects in Slovakia by M.Murin, students work exhibition, Maroš Kontroš’s vernissage and Milan Ladyk’s performance. The highlight was a night tour intended for the general public guided by curator Michal Murin.

    The park came alive with young authors’ pieces of art: Ján Krška‘s „Mausoleum video mapping Realitta“ reflecting current political and social situation, FIlip Kmeť’s sound installation „Dutiny“ and interactive installation „Ostrov“, Matúš Gavorník’s sound installation „Enter the Wild„ expressing the difference between artificially created green zones in urban areas and wild nature, which was paradoxically depicted by movement of little electric machines, Martin Hreha’s sound installation, Martin Koniar’s dance performance „Trebishow+“ in which the dribbling performer with lights attached to his body accompanied with musical composition presented a kind of modern ritual. The performer was interacting with the audience by passing the ball to them.

    Matej Ivan’s audiovisual experiment creating a dialogue took place in the park as well. It was based on site specific connection of the dog shelter, fox coursing, which are supposed to start again in the park, game hunting and animal protection exhibitions.  Jana Mikleová’s installation “Pólo“ referred to a historical polo match.

    „Nová Koniareň“ is an independent cultural centre in Trebišov. It merges a cultural laboratory, cultural institution and collective of activists. There are ateliers in Trebišov castle situated in one of the biggest forest parks in Slovakia. The park has many gardens, fountains, lakes and cyclopaths. There is also the Július Andrássy’s Mausoleum, ruins of Parič’s castle, wine taverns, a French garden and several recreation zones.