Vicissitude (Milan)
16 May to Sunday 19 May 2019, from 10 AM to 10 PM, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milano, Italy
Vicissitude (Milan) is a sound installation by BJNilsen in the exhibition “CITTÀDIMILANO” by Giorgio Andreotta Calò.
Vicissitude follows traces of industrial geography. It starts underground, exploring geophony and the underground, cutting through different layers of time, from slowly unfolding sounds that represent deep geological time to faster and chaotic sounds of anthrophony. Vicissitude surfaces from the ground and zooms in on the built environment and cultural heritage of Milano, the soundscapes of the navigli – the interconnected canals of Milan -, and moves on into the spatiality of the city, blending sounds of underground raw materials with their processed counter parts, such as steel constructions and high risers which define the skyline and industry of Milano. Inspired by La Monte Young’s work ‘Draw a straight line and follow it’, an iconic Fluxus instruction piece which he developed in the 60s, I will follow a straight line southwest from the Pirelli Hangar Bicocca towards the city center to record an (audio) core sample of Milan. This line, and core sample, will – through the act of recording – become a container of information, or an allegory of a phonograph cylinder (which were used as the earliest commercial devices for recording and reproducing sound). I will draw a straight line and follow it to traverse several layers of Milan and navigate its different soundscapes. My line is not horizontal but climbs steadily. I start below ground level in the soil recording vibrations, rise to the water level – and the navigli -, move to street level and the city’s infrastructure to finally merge with sounds of the ‘in between’, and the omnipresent electromagnetic fields.
On Wednesday 15 May at 7 PM, on the occasion of the opening of the sound installation, BJ Nilsen will hold a lecture presenting to the public his practice and the Milanese project.
Free entry, seating limited
Reservations for Pirelli HangarBicocca Members only, by clicking here
The installation will be open to the public from Thursday 16 May to Sunday 19 May 2019, from 10 AM to 10 PM