Sixteenth International Festival of Experimental Sound
Prepared Surroundings 2024
(informal dedication to John Cage)
«Until I die there will be sounds. And they will continue following my death.
One need not fear about the future of music».
John Cage «Silence: Lectures and Writings» (1961)
EX TEMPORE \ БЕЗ ПОДГОТОВКИ
This year, the Prepared Surroundings Festival of Experimental Sound takes the form of an informal digest documenting unprepared or poorly prepared works.
On the last Wednesday of the year, we plan to publish a collection of video recordings, along with descriptions, on the festival's page. On the same day (or night), the festival's co-curators will host an open semi-spontaneous online meeting to experience the works together and discuss them with participants.
This year’s theme: EX TEMPORE \ БЕЗ ПОДГОТОВКИ.
We invite authors to creatively interpret the idea of unpreparedness in the context of sound-technology performance.
Have you had a concept in mind for a long time but lacked the means or reason to realize it? No problem. Turn on your phone’s camera, lean it against a wall, and improvise with whatever materials are at hand.
Maybe you created something years ago but never had the chance to share it - send it to us.
Did you suddenly feel inspired to perform a micro-object improvisation on the streets of a city you unexpectedly found yourself in? Ask a passerby to record it on their phone.
Looking for a reason to get to know your new neighbors better? Invite them to your electroacoustic kitchen concert (and accidentally hit record).
Are you a theorist of spontaneity who has always wanted to be a sound artist? Here’s your chance.
Or perhaps, in your case, unpreparedness must be meticulously planned - it's up to you.
If you’ve never heard of Prepared Surroundings before, check it out [here].
Submissions:
We accept video documentations of up to 10 minutes long, with a text description in Russian or English. Please provide downloadable links to your files: videos (.mp4 or .mov).
Works will be subject to curatorial selection.
Submissions closed on December 18, 2024.
festival's curatorial team: vitalina strekalova, dmitriy morozov, sergey kasich
The works below have been selected by the curatorial group.
Videos are published in the order of submission.
[1] Leonid Kurashov: Arrows Point the Way
Vertical video 16 by 9 or thereabouts, shot on a phone camera and edited in the InShot app. The watermark was removed by watching ads.
author about the work:
On the way back from lunch, I was looking for a path, paid attention, and found many arrows and signs that I saved so as not to lose or forget them. This has a certain utility.
author about themselves:
I work with sound application.
documentation:
[2] Sounak Das: how thoughts chanted #Untitled 2
The sound work combines recorded mechanical noises from a microwave and an electric kettle with EEG-created soundscapes. The piece utilizes methods of open sound control and "brain-computer" interface processing to create a multilayered and immersive auditory experience.
author about the work:
This is an immersive-interactive-performative sound artwork exploring the connection between everyday mechanical noises and the complex processing of the human brain. The composition juxtaposes captured sounds of a microwave and an electric kettle, recorded using a geophone, with electronic sounds generated via an EEG headset (electroencephalography technique).
As South Asians, we perceive food as a religious practice. We are fascinated by the repetition and process of food preparation. I grew up in a family where the kitchen and cooking are integral aspects of daily life. After moving here to the Netherlands, I lived for the first 7 months in a room without a kitchen due to the housing crisis. The only appliances I depended on were an electric water heater and a microwave.
Reflecting on the chanting of mantras and hymns, the mechanical sounds of the microwave echoed as a form of "mechanical chanting." This repetitive action prompted an investigation into how our brain interprets and responds to these sounds, leading to the concept of a musical composition that integrates external mechanical sounds with internal brain activity. Can you imagine how our brain tunes into noise that exists beyond our perception (spectrum?)?
The work begins with an ambient soundscape of the soft hum of a microwave, gradually introducing the bubbling sounds of a kettle. This phase establishes a sense of familiarity and comfort. As the mechanical sounds evolve, EEG-generated sounds overlay them, creating a dialogue between the internal and external. This interaction reflects how our minds interpret and harmonize with surrounding sounds, inviting listeners to reflect on their own reactions to the mechanical world.
author about themselves:
Sounak Das is a mixed-media artist based in Den Bosch. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts and Post-Contemporary Practice from the Institute of Visual Cultures, Netherlands. Passionate about storytelling, he has a background in documentary photography and journalism at the South Asian Media Institute Pathshala, Bangladesh. His creative process involves combining photography, sound, film, moving images, sculptural installations, and blending technologies to engage in immersive-interactive installations.
documentation:
[3] Yulia Baranyuk: Afterdance
Video recording, sound captured directly during filming. Took place at Krasnenkaya Antibiennale 2024, Saint Petersburg, after the conclusion of the main performance, shortly before the exhibition ended.
author about the work:
A spontaneous dance under a highway bridge – a space with amazing acoustics, where the sounds of the highway, railway, wind, people's voices, and fragments of music from the completed performance can be heard.
author about themselves:
Performer, dancer, artist. I combine techniques of contemporary dance, butoh, classical ballet, and Eastern martial arts. In my works, I often experiment with sound, which for me acts not as an accompaniment but as a full participant and opponent in a dialogue.
documentation:
[4] Roman Seliverstov: Indeterminacy
Sound production - prepared guitar, wooden surface, pickup, samples, granular synthesis.
Processing - a Max/MSP patch with randomized delay time, a Max/MSP patch with randomized guitar feedback level, a Max/MSP patch with randomized sample playback time.
author about the work:
In "Indeterminacy," a combination of a prepared instrument and unprepared processing is used – an homage to John Cage with his prepared piano and use of the I Ching. Thanks to random number generators, the improvisation process becomes uncontrollable and variable. During the performance, only the objects used to prepare the instrument are known in advance, but their combination and the logic of musical material development are unknown – they are dictated by the algorithm.
author about themselves:
Musician, improviser, and educational project manager. Participant in Sound Studies labs by Kotä records, free improvisation labs at GES-2, Improscheme Festival labs, and the Young Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky. In performances, he uses a prepared guitar, objects, and sound processing in Max/MSP.
documentation:
[5] Stanislav Danilin: Corner Sphere, 2019.
The work used custom musical instruments—Devices, specially crafted for the performers. These are electroacoustic musical instruments where sound generation occurs through positive acoustic feedback (PAF).
For the "Corner Sphere" project, an acoustic field consisting of 9 acoustic speakers and 2 subwoofers was created in the hall. The performers with the Devices were located at the center. In the background were artists on a vertical stage. Turning off the light, we waited for complete "ringing" silence. For 15 minutes, all participants, including the technical team, remained motionless, ready to start at any moment. This created an informational vacuum and allowed us to detach from our thoughts. All artists were blindfolded to focus their sensory perception on hearing and touch. The signal to begin was the sound of a cricket, imitated by the voice of one of the artists on the vertical wall, who controlled the time. Then, in the corner of the stage, the artists began to move vertically, creating rustling sounds captured by directional microphones. The microphone signals, amplified, were fed into the general acoustic system. Performers captured the rustling sound using the microphone membranes inside the Devices, opening control holes. This created a PAF loop that amplified the rustling sound but was manageable using the Devices. Instructions were prepared for the performers on the Devices: "Navigate through space by sound, following its changes to discover new sequences for your perception." For the background artists: "Slowly move in a circular trajectory clockwise as a group, staying close together, without separating, and try to produce as few sounds as possible."
The result of this work was the performance film "Corner Sphere," where, according to the concept, the recording is played in reverse.
author about the work:
Research – “The Space Between Spheres.”
author about themselves:
Intuition and curiosity inspire me to find new ways of creating and perceiving sound, inventing new musical instruments. Empirical research has revealed patterns between new sounds and my imagination. It was fascinating to discover that unfamiliar sound sequences can evoke stable visual associations, where sound serves as a motive, prompting the transformation of images from imagination into reality. By using sound to uncover layers of visual perception, I manage to capture visual ideas in the format of installations, performances, or videos.
Stanislav Danilin Youtube Channel
documentation:
[6] ::vtol:: : Volcano
Plastic, electronics, brass. Single-channel sound system.
author about the work:
Documentation of a tabletop performative instrument/installation. The object is a digital sound volcano with a percussion interface to modify the sound depending on the force of impact.
author about themselves:
Media artist, born in Moscow, 1986.
documentation:
[7] Ippolit Markelov, Grigory Mumrikov, Misha Tos, Spacey_31, Masha Molokova : Underground Sound
The space of a cave, five musicians take positions at any comfortable distance from each other. Each plays their instrument, synchronizing with each other and the space. Instruments: clarinet, laser microphone, 8bit mixtape, Korg Nu:Tek, Elektron Digitakt 2, Arturia Microfreak, sampler.
author about the work:
Unlike concert halls, where sound waves move predictably, in a cave, they can "spill" in unexpected directions due to complex shapes and curves. In the dark, our perception of sounds also changes. A cave serves as a reminder that space is not neutral. In this performance, the space becomes a full participant and, together with the musicians, shapes the soundscape.
author about themselves:
We all met in Montenegro for the first time. Among us are musicians, sound artists, visual artists, and photographers. We live and work in Montenegro and Germany.
documentation:
[8] Darya Orlova : Riddle #1
Object Riddle #1, 2 contact microphones, 2 Zoom G1 Four.
author about the work:
Can you guess what I’m playing on?
author about themselves:
Darya Orlova is an artist, performer, and curator. She works with sound, attentive listening practices, and field recordings.
Creator of the projects “Audio Club” and “Summer Sound Shuttle” (Saint Petersburg).
documentation:
[9] lit::tle : ласка
Handheld vacuum cleaner Xiaomi, Dyson vacuum cleaner, Viomi robot vacuum cleaner.
author about the work:
An improvisation on three instruments merges into a unified sound picture through layering in (non)real time. What could be less prepared than a flow of air? The author reflects on this topic using an object that itself is directly the instrument of preparation.
author about themselves:
Improviser, musician, programmer, participant in contemporary (including improvisational) music laboratories, student of the Soundartist course. In their works, they use Pure Data, analog synthesizers, and (un)usual household objects.
documentation:
[10] wearesleeping : thatsound
Touchdesigner, Korg Gadget, plumbing pipes, and a faucet that has long needed repair.
author about the work:
I come home, and the washing machine is shaking, turned off... this is how my research into the relationship between many things and plumbing began.
author about themselves:
Maybe we will wake up.
documentation:
[11] ikkenei : UFO in the opera
Created using Max/MSP, OBS Studio, the website lichess.org, mixed in Reaper. Unfortunately, I was unable to record my own game, so I had to play a well-known chess game "in the opera", as reflected in the title. I used this video to explain some sound concepts to beginners, so the patch is thoroughly commented on in the first frames.
author about the work:
The sound of chess is an artifact, incomprehensible unless you know it's chess, symptoms of another civilization – also.
author about themselves:
I’ve been working with sound/music for over 10 years, physicist, mathematician, programmer. I don’t like long bios.
documentation:
[12] Gray Cake : Where Have All the Flowers Gone/Куда делись все цветы?
Baritone saxophone, acoustic properties of an abandoned concert hall.
author about the work:
The idea to improvise the melody of a well-known song arose at the House of Creativity for Composers in Dilijan, Armenia, where we moved in 2022. This unique place was once a residence for composers and musicians. In Soviet times, the village flourished, and in the 1960s, a concert hall was built, the acoustics of which, despite some neglect, still impress. As usual, we found a key, and an uncertain idea was finally realized, thanks to a happy series of events.
The improvised playing of this melody in the empty hall is a statement, embodied in a moment of time that caught us all. Not only was the hall unprepared for our intervention, but so were we — for war and emigration.
"Where have the soldiers gone, give an answer, where have they stayed?
Where have the soldiers gone, give an answer, for they are so awaited!
Where have the soldiers gone, give an answer —
they lie in graves, and now they’re gone.
When will all this be understood?
When will they all understand?"
author about themselves:
Gray Cake is Alexander Serechenko and Katya Pryanik. We practice combining traditional artistic techniques with new technologies. At the intersections of these, new meanings emerge that could not exist without this intersection. We call this phenomenon "crossmediality" and use it as the main approach in our work. In this statement, the technological component is absent, except for the recording of live sound and video editing.
documentation:
[13] Maxim Ilyukhin and the Laboratory of Designing the Past Future : Collective Noise Improvisation “Fragment 1”
Field recording of sound on a recorder, shooting on phone cameras. Instruments: sound-producing objects, compact and souvenir musical instruments.
author about the work:
As part of a two-hour experiment, a group of artists explored the boundaries of collective sound through group musical improvisation.
Participants were invited to bring any non-classical instruments and objects that could become sources of sound or choose from objects found in the former paper factory space. The resulting collection included over 30 objects: from an iron rail and shoes with metal heels to a jaw harp and a vintage bell. Each participant could choose, change, and look for different ways to translate noise into sound. One of the experiment's objectives was to tune into a common sound flow that transcends subjective experience.
The spontaneously formed collective played several acoustic and augmented noise improvisations, each of which revealed the materiality of sound in different ways.
author about themselves:
Maxim Ilyukhin – artist, musician, curator, performer. He graduated from the Institute of Contemporary Art in 2000. He is a member of the "Leto" group, co-founder of the "Art Business Consulting" group and the "ABC" gallery at Art‑Strelka, "OFIS" gallery at Artplay. He completed the sound art course at Köta School. A participant in the Fonema choir and the SM Orchestra. Performs concerts with Vera Sazhina.
The Laboratory for Designing the Past Future, which includes artists Galya Andreeva, Anna Zhovtis, Nina Itova, Alya Segova, Varvara Silantyeva, Maria Smorodina, investigates the dynamics and properties of the experience of living through time via personal and collective practices.
documentation:
[14] Анна Березовая Роща : Notice. Hear. Remember.
Video filmed with an iPhone 13 through the Blackmagic Cam app.
author about the work:
The sound of old pine trees creaking, discovered in the forest, transports one to unconscious childhood memories. The same sound can belong to different sources and be closely associated with images and associations. In this case, the creaking of the pines is associated with the sound of a door turning in a wooden village house. That is, it doesn't matter what the source of the sound is, the association and the recalled memories will always be subjective.
author about themselves:
An artist just beginning to explore the realm of experimental sound. Interested in the sound of urban and natural environments, searching for and studying the interconnection and influence of sound on people.
documentation:
[15] Kamil Shaimardanov (nakazora): spatial practices_v1
Recording made from a regular position without a tripod on iPhone 13. Simultaneously, and opposite, recording is also being made on a Sony pcm d100 recorder.
author about the work:
During a walk, a public space with interesting acoustic properties was discovered — a place with a blurred panorama, where sound emanates both from outside and from within.
This is a point of listening, where the everyday urban space, thanks to our attention and acoustics, loses its usual meanings and becomes "musical"/audial, sounding with its own movement, rhythm, panorama, timbral and pitch changes.
author about themselves:
Kamille (nakazora) is an author working with sound at the intersection of sound design, field recordings, and music. Recently, he has been particularly interested in the interaction of sound with architectural spaces, installations, and media art.
documentation:
[16] Kertanov Victor: Musical fragments creator.
Wooden box measuring 75x50 cm, with 10 doorbells, each accompanied by 6 colored / 4 filament lamps (all doorbells purchased on the secondary market, some of which are over 60 years old). 2 ultrasonic distance sensors, 1 infrared motion sensor, a module of 16 magnetic relays (also installed outside the box), two 74HC595 chips (optional), Arduino Nano microcontroller.
author about the work:
The work is based on memories of the sounds of all the doorbells I've ever heard.
The classic doorbell is an interesting source of sound, capable of evoking memories of places (schools, hospitals, liminal spaces; cities, "guests," rented apartments, etc.); people, and situations.
All the bells used were bought on Avito and arrived from various cities, including St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Orenburg, Kaluga, Voronezh, Moscow, and others. It was interesting to note that each of these bells likely hung in a particular place for many years, signaling the arrival of people to apartments, institutions, and other locations. Doorbells are rarely changed and are also rarely noticed.
I thought it would be interesting to experiment and create a polyrhythmic object that could use doorbells as musical instruments, interact with the viewer/listener through sensors, and also explore possible combinations of sounds between the bells.
author about themselves:
Multi-disciplinary artist, whose primary interests lie in minimalist, conceptual, and constructivist art; in generative and aleatoric methods. Main media — experimental video and sound; primary tool — Python code. Critically examines and engages in data archaeology: electronic emails, viewing histories in web browsers, and apps. Also creates generative graphics on a pen plotter (AxiDraw), developing custom code for producing graphic generative works (code // pens/pencils/felt-tip markers + paper). Currently studying for a Master's degree in "Art and Technology" (ArtTech) at the National University of Science and Technology MISIS.
documentation:
[17] Anna Priakhina : Wet flame
Soft: Arduino IDE(C++)+Max8+Dexed+VCV Rack. Hard: пьезо, усилитель на lm386 (selfmade), Arduino, ПК, контроллер, рекордер.
author about the work:
In these fire droplets, in this moist flame, how not to see the dual seeds of imagination capable of condensing two types of matter! (Bachlar)
My glass bowl - as if already a creation between matter - heaven and earth, fire and water. But at the same time - a place of new creation from the union of fire and water. Bachofen in the pages of his book shows that the Imagination dreams of Creation as an intimate union of fire and water, possessing their dual power. The union is the main condition for continuous creation.
My performance is an act of creation. Around me, there's plenty of water, falling from the sky and then spreading into rivers, nourishing our land. I collect this frozen water and combine it with fire, making it flow, and with each act of creation, I create droplets of water that change the sound, coming into contact with sensors - each droplet changes the algorithm of the virtual synthesizer, which is part of the sound performance.
Glass, being between frozen water and fire, falls into a tense state: fire heats it up, frozen water cools it down, glass cracks and breaks from such a union. It also transmits its "feelings" to the sensors, which sound in the overall sound composition.
author about themselves:
Artist. Creator of technological and sound objects, circuit bending & sound device developer, creates algorithmic sound compositions in the process of live coding.
www.annapriakhina.com
documentation:
[18] Andrey Kudryavtsev, Maria Pinus : Water the Garden
Audio recording + video footage.
author about the work:
Short review of the Koptevo district in December 2024, 5 stars.
author about themselves:
Authors love walking the streets and music.
documentation:
[19] Catceptual : Late evening ⅃eisure
Work was made using a rubber duck, a self-made kalimba, and a phone camera placed in front of an old lens. The music was an improvisation. The sound was also recorded using the phone microphone.
author about the work:
The music on the detuned kalimba blends with the absurdity of the ritual around the five o'clock tea. The musical instrument placed on a hand-sewn tablecloth becomes part of the tea ceremony, which is occasionally interrupted by quacking ducks. Screeching cats in the background remind viewers that we're not at a concert, but rather in someone's home. So whose hands are behind the camera, did they eat a small duck alive, and how many cats are meowing?
author about themselves:
Catceptual — one of the alter egos of a young emerging artist. They prefer staying out of the spotlight and let their works speak for themselves. Nonetheless, the author is a performer and has recently been moving towards the underground and noise music scene.
documentation:
[20] tanyanerada : roses ad modum
Single-channel sound installation.
author about the work:
N/A
author about themselves:
Graduate of the Institute "Baza," student at the Rodchenko School. Works with photography, installation, video, and sound. Focuses on themes intersecting the biological and political.
documentation:
[21] sh_f : graphite sound oscillator
The oscillator, Arduino, servo motor, graphite. The oscillator, moving across the graphite surface, generates sound that changes depending on the characteristics of the surface. When it contacts graphite stains, the sound becomes high and sharp, and movements across empty areas create interruptions and pauses.
author about the work:
A media art object in which the oscillator moves across a canvas made of graphite lines and stains. The project explores the interaction of sound and visual elements.
author about themselves:
nothing sorry
documentation:
[22] kasich : suite_for_ever_growing_head_2022
In-ear binaural microphone, artificial mannequin heads, silicone copies of my ears, ZOOM H4N recorder, flights, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, homemade sampler with mobile speaker, claps.
author about the work:
This suite of 3 parts was made for a spatial sound seminar conducted by composer Shahrokh Yadegari in 2022. It explores the binaural effect to absurd scales, symbolizing the head that grows due to the endless expansion of experience and knowledge.
author about themselves:
Musician, sound artist, researcher, curator.
documentation:
[23] Ukio Kido : Situational suite "My head fills with sounds and flies into space"
Spontaneous, improvisational set recorded in one take on a phone, executed on several boom boxes (from a huge collection of more than 100 models and brands) from different times and places, where interference and random activations overlay a 25-year-old saxophone improvisation recorded on a boombox simultaneously with a malfunctioning video recorder....
author about the work:
Sometimes life gives a random opportunity to touch the sources of sound!
In everyone’s mind, there are constantly many sounds present, not identifiable as something whole, but there are times when a person directs their attention to the sound palette, and the mind organizes the incoming sounds into a sound sequence, a soundSphere, while the person can explore different sound combinations from different sources, creating and researching the process, filling perception with lifting power.
In a case where many controllable sources are available, the lifting power grows. Most of the prepared objects are waiting for your touch to spontaneously come together. And then the possibility of the Cosmos opens up!
author about themselves:
Ukio Kido is an art developer, sound artist, writer, inventor of images and situations, working with possible realities and semantics of possible worlds. His art activities include sound shamanism, atmosphere mastering, life style mixing, art monasticism, radical sound states, and processes. www.ukiokido.art
documentation:
The following works will be added to the list if the authors resend their video files:
[23] wiwaxis : singing of emptiness
Recordings of forest sounds, a wooden stick, tree trunks, and forest installations.
author about the work:
One winter evening, we stopped in the middle of the forest and began to listen. There were only two sounds: the noise of a nearby stream and the dripping of melting snow from the tree. There was not a single other sound in the winter forest. No noise of the road, no rustling of the wind, no birds singing.
The feeling of loneliness and at the same time childhood. Everything is possible, everything is allowed, no one is around.
The running stream — as a foundation. The installation "Speed of Sound" generates various sound patterns. The sculpture "Impenetrable Thicket" creates shimmering effects.
The sounds were recorded on camera and arranged into a small musical narrative.
author about themselves:
Wiwaxis is an experimental sound project. Impersonal and abstract music is an organic continuation of Wiwaxis’ development as an artist when the implementation of light and multimedia works required sound accompaniment. This creative alter-ego allows one to rid themselves of expectations and fears and boldly search, experimenting with tools for a deeper immersion into the atmosphere of tranquility and calmness for both the artist and the listener.
documentation:
N/A