ARTER launches its sound art project series

with the exhibition “FREEDOM TO THE BLACK”

ARTER’s new series of sound art projects opens with the exhibition “Freedom to the Black” by renowned Turkish composer Erdem Helvacıoğlu. Curated by Melih Fereli, the installation features Fluxus pioneer George Maciunas’s work “Piano Piece” (1970) along with Helvacıoğlu’s composition inspired by Maciunas’s very piano, which is in the Vehbi Koç Foundation Contemporary Art Collection. During the first ever performance of Maciunas’s work, Ben Vautier, the French performance artist, nailed down all the white keys of this upright piano one by one, rendering the white keys immovable and thus leaving only the black keys functioning. “Freedom to the Black” is “an attempt to liberate ‘the black’ from all biases and prejudices,” says the exhibition’s curator and Vehbi Koç Foundation’s Culture and Arts Advisor, Melih Fereli: “Take it as a plea, or even as a protest, if you like; but do bear in mind that ‘the black’ is a powerful part of the celebration of life, just like in Erdem Helvacıoğlu’s music, and in particular his composition as part of this installation, which is filled with the riches that ‘the black’ deserves.” The accomplished composer, sound designer, guitarist and producer Erdem Helvacıoğlu recorded the ‘sound memory’ of Maciunas’s piano to create his astonishing 10-minute composition, “Freedom to the Black”. He accomplished this over a four-day recording session at Babajim Studios, Istanbul, by using various pieces of equipment and materials—scissors, bows, earplugs, stuffed toys, drum sticks, mallets, hammers, screwdrivers, pieces of silk and wool, among many others things—to extract a wide range of sounds from the piano’s body. Helvacıoğlu used 17 microphones with diverse characteristics and in unconventional placements for the recordings. For the spatial design of the installation at ARTER, the artist and the curator collaborated with Dr Tony Myatt, director of the Music Research Centre at The University of York. “Freedom to the Black” utilises an innovative sound system, “Ambisonic B-format”, here used for the first time in Turkey. The system is installed in a specially designed ground-floor room at ARTER and it involves sixteen speakers that surround the audience in three dimensions for full spherical sonic diffusion.

 

The exhibition’s book includes Melih Fereli’s introductory conceptual framework along with an interview Fereli conducted with Erdem Helvacıoğlu and a new essay by music critic Tobias Fischer on Helvacıoğlu’s practice. Comprising photos from the recording session of the work and from tools used during the recording, the book also presents a CD that includes the stereo version of “Freedom to the Black”. The publication will be available at Arter throughout the exhibition. “Freedom to the Black” inaugurates ARTER’s “Sound Art Projects” series. ARTER has added this exciting area of artistic production to its repertoire and it will continue to commission and exhibit new works in this genre. “Freedom to the Black” will run until 26 February 2012. Opening hours Tuesday–Thursday 11:00–19:00 Friday–Sunday 12:00–20:00 Closed on Mondays. Admission free. ARTER - space for art İstiklal Caddesi No. 211, Beyoğlu For more information: www.arter.org.tr

 

Melih Fereli was a long-standing singing member and executive of the world-renowned Philharmonia Chorus, London between 1979 and 1995. He served as General Director of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts from 1993 to 2001 and, in 1998, the British monarch, HM The Queen, bestowed on him the title Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 2006, Fereli joined the faculty of Istanbul Technical University-MIAM Centre for Advanced Studies in Music. Fereli has been serving as the Culture and Arts Advisor to the Vehbi Koç Foundation and on the board of Borusan Culture and Arts since 2006. Fereli is a member of ARTER’s executive board. Erdem Helvacıoğlu Erdem Helvacıoğlu is one of the most renowned “new music and electronic music” composers of his generation in Turkey, as well as a captivating performer, sound designer and producer and has several works to his credit and performances all around the world. His music has been performed and broadcast all around the world from BBC, ABC, WDR to Radio France. His compositions have been included in most prestigious festivals in America, Europe, Argentina, New Zealand, Canada, Korea and many other countries. He has received commissions from the 2006 World Football Championship, 2009 Novelum Contemporary Music Festival, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, TBA 21 The Morning Line, Borusan Center for Culture & Arts, and the world famous New Music ensemble Bang On A Can-All Stars. His sound installations have been included in museums and galleries including the 10th International Istanbul Biennial, Los Angeles Track 16, Indonesia Soemardja, Köln Museum für Angewandte Kunst and London Menier Gallery. His solo and duo albums with Per Boysen, Ros Bandt, Şirin Pancaroğlu were released by New Albion, Sargasso Records and Sub Rosa has been included at the “Best Album of the Year”, lists by magazines such as “All About Jazz”, “Textura”,“Cyclic Defrost”, Blogcritics, Guitar Player ve Perfect Sound Forever. His upcoming album “Eleven Short Stories” which consists of his solo prepared piano pieces, will be released by the American label Innova Records in March 2012. Currently Helvacioglu has been working on a new collaborative album with Nathan Larson and Nina Persson alongside his new solo pieces.