Domestic Hostile. A worried fiction (Romanian) Authors: Anamaria Pravicencu & V. Leac, 2020 A huit clos in the head of a unique character, a confined space for a possible couple during the long days of the first pandemic lock-down of 2020. The house, the domestic space in which we were constrained to isolation against danger, is throwing us in psychic depths. The place of calmness, silence, and relaxation have become a hostile territory, a stage for grave scenes. With the prolonged confinement and the growing anxiety, the smallest gestures can engage unmanageable angst. The domestic life become extremely fragile, the families and the couples are crumbling. "Domestic Hostile" explores a small territory of something we called “domestic hostility” – a drama inside an apartment where we try to survive and stay sane. Sound piece composed exclusively online, a collaboration between a sound artist coming from the contemporary arts and a poet interested in film. Supported by Fundația9 of Bucharest in the frame of Artists Rooms program, May 2020. * Anamaria Pravicencu studied drawing and sculpture, with an interest for sound installation. Since 2006 she’s in charge with the artistic direction of Jumătatea plină, promoting sonic and musical experiment (Sâmbăta sonoră) through constant and distinct programs. She is the curator of the SEMI SILENT portfolio and she keeps producing sound work. V. Leac lives and works between Arad and Bucharest. Published poetry : Seymour: sonată pentru cornet de hârtie, Vinea Publishing (2005, 2006, 2013); Dicționar de vise, Cartea Românească Publishing, 2006; Lucian, CDPL, 2009; Toți sunt îngrijorați, TracusArte Publishing, Collection NEO, 2010, 2015; Unchiul este încântat, Charmides Publishing, 2013. Founding member of the literary collective Celebrul animal and of the magazine Ca și Cum. Founder of MOI in Timișoara in 2012, together with Bianca Baila; curator of W.A.D. Arad, 2014. Films: 2014, The Village Drones (I); 2015, The Village Drones (II); Trasee descriptive cu intrus. His latest volume, Monoideal, published by Nemira in 2018, was granted the Radio România Cultural Award for Poetry. Idea, text, & voice: V.Leac Recordings, dramaturgy, & composition: Anamaria Pravicencu Violin: Manja Ristić Mixing: Mara Mărăcinescu Transcript (EN) Door opening and closing. Key in the lock. Violin. Water dripping. I don’t see anything through the window. I don’t see anything through the window. Now I see that in the light you have a mustache. I don’t see anything through the window. Shut up and listen! If this seems common, it doesn’t mean that you’ll manage. The unforeseeable exhausts you. I don’t see anything through the window. Washing machine. Shut up and listen! If this seems common, it doesn’t mean that you’ll manage. The unforeseeable exhausts you. I dreamt that I was teaching Chemistry to a class of ice children. I was dying of cold while walking down the rows. Violin. Yes, you have only symbols, bullshit and analytics in that head of yours. I don’t know what you would do without. Whatever, I better stop. Violin. The dog disappeared again. Happiness? We all played with that ball. Do you know how do the blind express ecstasy? Machinery noise. Shut up and listen! Shut up and listen! If this seems common, it doesn’t mean that you’ll manage. If this seems common, it doesn’t mean that you’ll manage. The unforeseeable exhausts you. The unforeseeable exhausts you. Machinery noise. I dreamt that I was teaching Chemistry to a class of ice children. I was dying of cold while walking down the rows. Violin percussion. Yes, you have only symbols, bullshit and analytics in that head of yours. I don’t know what you would do without. Whatever, I better stop. Happiness? We all played with that ball. Do you know how the blind express ecstasy? In order to learn more, we need to enter a pig’s life.

SEMI SILENT

Domestic Hostile

Closer. A poem by Valentina Chiriță (Romanian, English, Ukrainian) Author: Anna Kravets January 2021 Closer (Valentina Chiriță) Light, in those lands, was an advanced synesthesia condensed in sound, movement and vibration, beyond gravity. Source-sorceress, put your finger on the wound, reach the focal point, extract the war, the riot, and the chaos, bring out the peace, the love and the silence. The peace, the love and the silence were the essential universal coordinates. The smoldering horn and the shrieking trumpets, surrounded by discreet harmonies, wavy distinctions: the teguments were all enduring a lack of sentience. To dislodge the melted nuclei of the sun-sisters: how can I get closer? To cherish the pulse in all that separates us, the exhausted salts, after so many recrystallizations to feed them at simultaneous births of twisted galaxies. I look down on you all from my blind spot: frowning Asthenes, keen to burn everything down, Two-faced Makari - slimy, hated by all, bursting of hatred themselves, tormented by bad climate, with stolen sun - on whose planet the dumbest Flyters kept skuttering, destroying what was left of the food chain, then Sloots, marching on their own hair, launching telemantic attacks, Storlings - flocks of Daytinghales collapsed in themselves, appearing on a whim, disappearing without notice - absent Spirrons, arrogant Twitts. Out of these coexisting realities, apathy is the cruelest foe. I see now: they beg to be, waiting for a mysterious love. Translated from Romanian to English by Bogdan Perdivară, and to Ukrainian by Anna Kravets. The piece is composed by Anna Kravets with a poem by Valentina Chiriță in the frame of POLYPHONIC ECHOES, a project organized by Jumătatea plină for SEMI SILENT. Partners: Czech Center and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. With the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. * Anna Kravets (Kyiv, Ukraine) is a researcher holding a double Master’s in cultural studies and social sciences. Her fields of activity include radio art and radio journalism, podcasting, translation. In her work and research projects, she has addressed linguistic aspects of power relations and mechanisms of collective imaginary, anthropology of voice, work in migration, experimental media. In 2017, she founded the Radio International experimental radio workshop. Her current projects oscillate between work and routine philosophies, conditions of precarity, shifted subjectivity and participative vocalizations. She runs a radio show about the transformations of work and leisure on RUI/ Cashmere Radio. Valentina Chiriță, poet and performer. She published the volume umilirea animalelor (CDPL, 2010) under the pseudonime val chimic, and poetry in the anthologies De ce pisicile n-au coadă (Art, 2017) and Hotel Cosmos (frACTalia, 2019). She was part of the performance groups EGG NO EGO and Local Goddesses, with contributions in street art, installation, invented rituals, asemic writing, and guided meditation, for public spaces or art galleries. In 2001, she coordinated the Bucharest international festival Live Art Platform. All sounds (recorded, composed, edited) by Anna Kravets for SEMI SILENT Voice: Anna Kravets

Closer

COVID EXPERIENCE. SURRENDER INTO THE HANDS OF OTHERS (binaural) Author: Ana Teodora Popa November, 2020 How does a severe case of Covid-19 really feels like? A binaural creation depicting a first-person experience. Trigger warning. Surrender your last wish into the hands of others. „Covid Experience” is part of the „Pandemon" multidisciplinary installation, National University of Arts George Enescu, Iaşi, Romania. * Ana Teodora Popa (b.1988) is a sound engineer and composer from Iași, Romania. She studied at Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology and worked as a live sound engineer for the London City Music Theatre. In 2013, she started her dream job at the National Theatre in Iași, Romania, and later became the Sound and Video Department leader. To stay involved in more creative projects, in 2017 she become a freelancer. In 2018, she won third place in the Grand Prix Nova competition with a nonverbal binaural piece, created using only mono/stereo files and a unique editing method. She takes part in innovative and challenging independent projects, including theater plays, experimental performances, sound installations and films. She worked with Regenerator and Descentrat projects, and she participated to Sonic Future Residencies. She currently writes music and works on her own binaural audio research and technique. Her artistic goal is to reach the listeners at a level where they can relate and be moved by what is already inside them. Artistic direction: Octavian Jighirgiu Script: Ana Teodora Popa Composition, binaural microphone development, recording, editing, and sound design: Ana Teodora Popa Voices: Octavian Jighirgiu, Sebastian Bădărău, Andreea Darie, Cosmin Alupoaei, Smaranda Mihalache, Alin Voicu, Andrei Paraschiv, Andreea Nechita, Nicola Zaharia, Ioana Alberta Dima, Georgiana Hîrtopanu, Bianca Ciubotariu, Mariana Paladi, Alexandru Maxim, Vanessa Sarkadi, and Alexandra Antal. Produced by the National University of Arts George Enescu, Iaşi, Romania TRANSCRIPT (EN) Police car outside: “Stay at home! Obey the military ordinance!” TV: “Someone from District 2 requested the intervention of an emergency crew. So far we have 50 confirmed cases of Covid virus...” A knock on the door Ambulance nurse: Good evening. Ambulance driver: Good evening, we called earlier... Ambulance nurse: Ok, please lay down now, easy... We are here to help, no need to be scared, everything is alright. Isolation pod zipper closes Ambulance nurse: Feeling good? We are here with you at all times. Ambulance driver: Let us pick it up. Easy, careful. I got it. Ambulance nurse: We are moving, alright? We are outside. Isolation pod enters the ambulance Ambulance nurse: 10 22 5, we got the patient, and we are on our way to the hospital. Ambulance sirens and labored breathing Nurse 1: No, no! We are already at capacity! Go to the room at the end of the hall! Ambulance nurse: What do we do? Grab this from the other side. Nurse 1: We will admit him upstairs if needed. Ambulance nurse: Move the stretcher a little. Isolation pod zipper opens Ambulance nurse: We are here, alright? Common, at three. One, two, three, go! Head down, please. Good, now there is going to be a nurse coming soon to admit you. Just hold on for now and wait, ok? Nurse 2: Mariana! The Covid phone, do you have it?... The Covid phone! Nurse 3: Give me your hand. Hold on. We have a patient with fever over here! Nurse 2: Yeah, ok, ok! Nurse 3: There will be a nurse coming soon to check your blood pressure, and after that, when the CT is available, there will be someone to take you, ok? Nurse 4: How is it going, Mr. Paraschiv, are you feeling any better? Does the cough still keep you up at night? Is there someone else from your family who tested positive? Nurse 2: Mariana! Come here. So, the patient here, is now off the oxygen. I took his mask off at 9:30 and... Everything becomes unclear

Covid Experience (binaural)

Closer. A poem by Valentina Chiriță Author: Anna Kravets December 2020 Closer (Valentina Chiriță) Light, in those lands, was an advanced synesthesia condensed in sound, movement and vibration, beyond gravity. Source-sorceress, put your finger on the wound, reach the focal point, extract the war, the riot, and the chaos, bring out the peace, the love and the silence. The peace, the love and the silence were the essential universal coordinates. The smoldering horn and the shrieking trumpets, surrounded by discreet harmonies, wavy distinctions: the teguments were all enduring a lack of sentience. To dislodge the melted nuclei of the sun-sisters: how can I get closer? To cherish the pulse in all that separates us, the exhausted salts, after so many recrystallizations to feed them at simultaneous births of twisted galaxies. I look down on you all from my blind spot: frowning Asthenes, keen to burn everything down, Two-faced Makari - slimy, hated by all, bursting of hatred themselves, tormented by bad climate, with stolen sun - on whose planet the dumbest Flyters kept skuttering, destroying what was left of the food chain, then Sloots, marching on their own hair, launching telemantic attacks, Storlings - flocks of Daytinghales collapsed in themselves, appearing on a whim, disappearing without notice - absent Spirrons, arrogant Twitts. Out of these coexisting realities, apathy is the cruelest foe. I see now: they beg to be, waiting for a mysterious love. Translated from Romanian to English by Bogdan Perdivară, and to Ukrainian by Anatol Viere. The piece is composed by Anna Kravets with a poem by Valentina Chiriță in the frame of POLYPHONIC ECHOES, a project organized by Jumătatea plină for SEMI SILENT. Partners: Czech Center and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. With the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. * Anna Kravets (Kyiv, Ukraine) is a researcher holding a double Master’s in cultural studies and social sciences. Her fields of activity include radio art and radio journalism, podcasting, translation. In her work and research projects, she has addressed linguistic aspects of power relations and mechanisms of collective imaginary, anthropology of voice, work in migration, experimental media. In 2017, she founded the Radio International experimental radio workshop. Her current projects oscillate between work and routine philosophies, conditions of precarity, shifted subjectivity and participative vocalizations. She runs a radio show about the transformations of work and leisure on RUI/ Cashmere Radio. Valentina Chiriță, poet and performer. She published the volume umilirea animalelor (CDPL, 2010) under the pseudonime val chimic, and poetry in the anthologies De ce pisicile n-au coadă (Art, 2017) and Hotel Cosmos (frACTalia, 2019). She was part of the performance groups EGG NO EGO and Local Goddesses, with contributions in street art, installation, invented rituals, asemic writing, and guided meditation, for public spaces or art galleries. In 2001, she coordinated the Bucharest international festival Live Art Platforme. All sounds (recorded, composed, edited) by Anna Kravets for SEMI SILENT Voice: Anna Kravets

About the future, a poem by V. Leac (English, Romanian, German) Author: Cristian Fierbințeanu, 2020 about the future (V.Leac) it is undoubtable that the giant wave will wash through the dryland with an amazing speed. it is difficult to imagine such a speed... the flish are hidden somewhere in the wave, right on the tip of the wave, they are helpless, so they just sit there… the wave crashes into a mountain – boom! and the flish are thrown into the desert. everyone thinks they are dead; it’s just an illusion, a false illusion. now, please, pay attention: - look carefully at this spot. do you notice something very very fast is moving and getting thicker? well, gentlemen, it’s the double-jawed worm. it is born inside the flish and then it eats it from within – did you see? it’s very easy. then, by scent, the kangaroo-snail comes – you can see it in this picture; it’s got one leg, and this leg was once a tail. life is extremely tough in the desert. everything happens very very fast – and when you least expect it out comes the dragonfly-lizard that runs/flies with over 115 km per hour. it grabs the snail and devours it ultra-rapidly. the dragonfly-lizard is chocked by a trapping flower. everything happens...life is extremely tough… now we’re entering the giant super-forest: - see how the canopy moves? you’re scared, aren’t you? don’t worry. it’s just an eight-legged mammoth, it’s vegetarian. - see this green spot on the tree? it crawls after the mammoth and makes it so that the mammoth steps in it; it is highly intelligent: it has set up house inside the mammoth. can you believe that this spot currently unknown to us can bring the mammoth on the brink of despair? at first we were also amazed. it all happens very fast. in two million years from now, life will be extremely tough… we have showed you these images to get an idea about how life on earth is going to be. it all happens very very fast. Translated from Romanian to English by Alexandra M. Păun and to German by Gabriela Fierbințeanu. The piece is composed by Cristian Fierbințeanu with a poem by V. Leac in the frame of POLYPHONIC ECHOES, a project organized by Jumătatea plină for SEMI SILENT. Partners: Czech Center and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. With the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. * Cristian Fierbințeanu is an independent musician, author, producer and composer, member of art-pop project Fierbințeanu. The band performed live on several important European scenes, including Berlin Konzerthaus (Dvorak remastered), and released albums via independent Romanian labels. Their work have been presented in international contemporary art festivals, Fierbințeanu being the winners of multiple "best" video and music awards (Phonurgia Nova, UK International Radio Drama Festival, Grand Prix Nova, Dvorak Marathon). As part of electronic band Plurabelle, he released an album via the French label Stellar Kinematics. He was also member of free-impro/contemporary collective PFA Orchestra, powered by Sâmbăta Sonoră. V. Leac lives and works between Arad and Bucharest. Published poetry : Seymour: sonată pentru cornet de hârtie, Vinea Publishing (2005, 2006, 2013); Dicționar de vise, Cartea Românească Publishing, 2006; Lucian, CDPL, 2009; Toți sunt îngrijorați, TracusArte Publishing, Collection NEO, 2010, 2015; Unchiul este încântat, Charmides Publishing, 2013. Founding member of the literary collectiv Celebrul animal and of the magazine Ca și Cum. Founder of MOI in Timișoara in 2012, together with Bianca Baila; curator of W.A.D. Arad, 2014. Films: 2014, The Village Drones (I); 2015, The Village Drones (II); Trasee descriptive cu intrus. His latest volume, Monoideal, published by Nemira in 2018, was granted the Radio România Cultural Award for Poetry. All sounds (recorded, composed, edited) by Cristian Fierbințeanu for SEMI SILENT

About the Future

Greean Areas. A poem by Gabi Eftimie (English, Romanian) Author: Ana Teodora Popa green areas (Gabi Eftimie) Pretending to be a tourist in my own town, I take the bus to the last stop. It doesn`t take long and all filters disappear when you`re on autopilot. Soon, I arrive to my destination. My electrified hair is spread in the same direction as I’m headed to. I pick up crumbs left behind of my fellow passengers and I try to guess: bread, biscuits, falafel? Ahead:” the park, the green lung of the city.” In the deepest depth, fishes hobble, enduring like uranium. The crows` croaking doesn’t pierce through anymore. The black-throated loon spreads out its cry like a fishnet through the lake´s surface. I surrender to these inputs. Like in some guided meditation. The park, now on mute, is lost in space. Pigeons coo their mantras. Happiness to all humankind! Let us be spared by weakness! May all care for their fellows´ well-being! Don´t let anyone experience gloom and sorrow! Suddenly, a green, lit water-bus pops up in the surrounding twilight. Translated from Romanian to English by the poet. The piece is composed by Ana Teodora Popa with a poem by Gabi Eftimie in the frame of POLYPHONIC ECHOES, a project organized by Jumătatea plină for SEMI SILENT. Partners: Czech Center and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. With the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. * Ana Teodora Popa is a sound engineer and composer, passionate about theater, radio and innovation. She lives in Iași, Romania. Gabi Eftimie has been living in Sweden since 2011, where she teaches Swedish and translates literature and children’s books from German, Swedish, and English. Her debut poetry collection, ochi roșii polaroid. acesta este un test (Vinea) was published in 2006, followed by nordul e o stare de spirit (Charmides), in 2014. Her work was also featured in several anthologies in Romanian, Hungarian, German, Swedish, and English. She has participated in various festivals and workshops, among which the one organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Visby, Sweden in 2009. In 2020, she published her third book on nature: Sputnik în grădină (OMG), awarded by Sofia Nădejde Awards for literature written by women. Recorded, played, composed, edited by Ana Teodora Popa for SEMI SILENT. Voices: Ana Teodora Popa and Sebastian Bădărău

Green Areas

Baba Vanga: Predictions. Space Odyssey A poem by Dmitri Miticov (English, Czech, Romanian, French) Author: Ivan Palacký Baba Vanga: Predictions. Space Odyssey (Dmitri Miticov) 2020 — China becomes a world power. 2023 — The Earth’s orbit will slightly change 2025 — Europe will be ravaged. 2028 — A new source of energy is created. Hunger is eradicated. 2043 — Muslims take power in Europe. 2088 — A new disease will break out. People will grow old in seconds. 2097 — The disease will be cured 2100 — The man-made sun will shine on the dark side of the Planet. 2111 — People will become robots 2125 — Hungary will receive signals from outer space. 2154 — Animals become half people 2167 — A new religion 2187 — The eruption of two volcanoes is successfully stopped. 2221 — In the search for alien life, humanity encounters something terrible. 2273 — A new race is born. 2288 — Time travel will be achieved. New contacts with aliens will be made. 2291 — The sun goes cold 2304 — The Moon’s mystery is discovered 2480 — The Earth will be in darkness 3005 — There will be a war on Mars 3010 — A comet hits the Moon. A ring of stones and dust appears around the Earth. 3797 — There’s no more life on Terra. People will manage to live on other planets in the solar system. 3803 — A new planet is slowly populated. Less contact between people. The new planet’s climate affects the human body and mutations appear. 4308 — Due to some mutations, people began using more than 34% of their brains. They lost any notion of good and evil. 4509 — They meet God. 4599 — They achieve immortality. 4674 — Civilization reached its zenith. 340 billion people live on various planets. They begin to assimilate with aliens. 5076 — A new, bordering universe is discovered. 5078 — The decision is made to go beyond the end of the universe. About 40 percent of the population is opposed. 5079 — The end of the World. Translated from Romanian to English by Andrew Davidson-Novosivschei, and to Czech by Jiřina Vyorálková. The piece is composed by Ivan Palacký with a poem by Dmitri Miticov in the frame of POLYPHONIC ECHOES, a project organized by Jumătatea plină for SEMI SILENT. Partners: Czech Center and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. With the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. * Ivan Palacký plays amplified knitting machine Dopleta 180. He is a musician, an architect and a sound collector. Ivan Palacký has (in the 80s and the beginning of the 90s) played with various groups and taken part in several music projects. He – … was a member of the guitar/doublebass/bassoon group "Slede, zive slede" (Herring, live herring) – and currently performs in a audiovisual duo „Koberce, zaclony/Carpets, Curtains“ (w. filip Cenek). … is an enthusiastic member of Prague Improvisation Orchestra. … is a singer and guitar player of the „Pátí na světě/Fifth in the World“ band. … is a member of „Messier Objects“ quartet (with Klaus Filip, Andrea Neumann, and Toshimaru Nakamura). The quartet released a concert CD on label Ftarri (JP). … "writes" a sound diary from all his journeys - collects excerpts of stories, weird sounds and various "acoustic mistakes". … likes to take part in one-shot improvisational groups or duos (with Cremaster (ES), Ruth Barberán (ES) and Margarida Garcia (PT), Will Guthrie (AU), Andrea Neumann (DE), Klaus Filip (AT), Toshimaru Nakamura (JP)... ) as well as playing solo performances. Since 2005 his main interest has been to „dig out“ sounds from an amplified Dopleta 160 knitting machine from the 70s. Dmitri Miticov (1980), born in Târgoviște. Studied mathematics at the Transylvania University in Brașov. Poetry published books: Efectul de peliculă (Vinea, 2006), Numele meu e Dmitri (Paralela 45, 2010), Dmitri: uite viața (Casa de editură Max Blecher, 2012), Dmitri: genul cinic (Cartea Românească, 2015). In 2015, participated in the translation workshop organized by the Romanian Cultural ...

Baba Vanga: Predictions. Space Odyssey

Orago Author: Manja Ristić A poem by Cosmina Moroșan (English, Serb-Croatian, Italian) orango We’re infecting bunkers in the porn landscape. The face halved by sunstroke is the other, more touching in the joy beyond all. They get fried in memories, inventing a game is a must (you are not at the edge of survival, but to you it seems everything leads that way) recollecting impressions with the face of a pilot who’ll lose his head ‘cause the one-second landscape is too lovely. Everything is shattered in your eyes like in the fires of a night fight. Rainbows that shuffled crusaders, as in the books, the character itself is its salvation, the little girls are still laughing, the boys assign jests to the plain. A battle where no one won under the Pleiades, pleiades of lights: a great rebellion taking the city by surprise; and a different fraction: while dropping chalices, heavy with the longing for lunch others caressed the fool. Translated from Romanian to English by Alexandra Găujan, and to Serb-Croatian by Manja Ristić. The piece is composed by Manja Ristić with a poem by Cosmina Moroșan in the frame of POLYPHONIC ECHOES, a project organized by Jumătatea plină for SEMI SILENT. Partners: Czech Center and the National Museum of Romanian Literature. With the support of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. * Manja Ristić (1979), born in Belgrade. Violinist, sound artist, published poet. Finished postgraduate studies at the RCM, London (2004). As a classical solo / chamber musician, composer and improvisational musician Manja performed across Europe and in the US. In her recent work, Manja is active in the field of instrumental electro–acoustics, soundscape composition, field recording & interdisciplinary sound related research. She is founder of the Association of Multimedia Artists „Auropolis“ (since 2004), that by her guidance developed distinctive number of cultural events, international projects and educational modules in the fields of contemporary scene and multimedia arts. She works and lives between the island of Korčula (Croatia) and Belgrade (Serbia). www.manjaristic.blogspot.com Cosmina Moroșan (1989), born in Dorohoi, România, text/ performance. She works stubbornly-chaotic, in the shadow of some conceptual presence/ under the spell (-the white vapor from a dream-) of some voices of women writers, friends-authors and the serene echoes of others, „scooping” the life of its fears. 2017, Beatitudine (political essay), poetry, published by Nemira/ Performance at ODD, CNDB, Tranzit, Anca Poterașu. All sounds (recorded, played, composed, edited) by Manja Ristić for SEMI SILENT Voices: Manja Ristić, Jakov Vilović Mixing: Mara Mărăcinescu

Orango

Marseille-Tokyo-Osaka-Bucharest A sound stop-over in Japan, in between homes Author: Elena Diaconu, 2020 Marseille-Tokyo. It starts almost like a game, I’m looking for plane tickets as I don’t know what else to do. I try other destinations, Taipei, Seoul, but they work less well. Tokyo rhymes with everything, even with a return to Bucharest. Marseille-Tokyo-Osaka-Bucharest is surely a more interesting story to tell than Marseille-Bucharest. By taking this trip, I have, at least, the merit of having chosen a good title for my story. Elena Diaconu works with words, sounds, languages. She translates Romanian news into French, wrote a children’s book while she was working in a book shop and generally tries to articulate thoughts, ideas and feelings in different sonic ways. Recording, editing and mixing by Elena Diaconu for the contest Cet été-là... organized by ARTE Radio. Transcript & translation to English: Aaaah. Mosquito. Mosquito? Hai (yes). Itchy/ichi (one)! Ni (two), san (three). Shi (four). Go (five). Aaaa. I stop at go. Miyajima guesthouse. That summer was freedom. It is freedom. Full. Guesthouse, guesthouse full. The freedom to stay or to leave. Chotto mate. What is chotto mate? I don’t have a job anymore, Please wait a minute. nor a house, Give me a time. nor a boyfriend. “That situation is when the person is somewhat shaken, old interpretations are tilted back, meaning is jolted, torn, drained…” Roland Barthes (korokke street seller – deep-fried croquettes) That summer I picked garlic at a farm in the north, I was caught by a typhoon in the south, I hiked a bit everywhere, I tasted everything, I attended a Buddhist ceremony and a kabuki play, I went to a love hotel and I did volunteer work for a matsuri – a festival of some sort. Saké? Rumania? Rumania tte iimashitaka? Romania? Did you say Romania? Biiiip Ohayo gozaimasu Good morning I laughed, smiled, prayed, yawned, ate, slept, fucked, read, saw, drank, repeated a ridiculous number of times (some restaurant order) “this is so beautiful!”. I bathed in the sea, in mud, in crowds, I posed, I photographed, I bought, spent, scattered. “The purpose of the nomadic state (Nicolas Bouvier) is not to supply the traveler with trophies or purchases, but to remove through erosion the superfluous, which is almost everything.” (train stop announcement) The day before leaving, I miss a train, the only one during the entire trip. I've been in Japan for 70 days. I don’t want to leave anymore. //

Marseille-Tokyo-Osaka-Bucharest

Bucharest Sketches is the fifth in the series of field recordings albums by Toni Dimitrov dedicated to a city. After the field recordings from Athens (released on Green Field Recordings), Milan and Ioannina (released on Auriculab), and Belgrade (released on Silber Records), this time the sketches are recorded in Bucharest during the stay in Romania for a field recording residency in the Danube Delta, Sonic Future Residencies, in the summer of 2019. You can hear the Bucharest streets, parks, the noise from the rain, fountains, interweaving subtly, blurring the line between field recording and sound art. Articolul Bucharest Sketches apare prima dată în SEMI SILENT.

Bucharest Sketches

Obama Landing In Hiroshima. A Tour Day Off Author: Lukatoyboy 2016 It was back in 2016, spring, May, 27th, my first and so far only tour in Japan. During some unscheduled days, I went to Hiroshima on the day when Barack Obama was visiting. The timing couldn't have been more perfect, as the train from Tokyo arrived just some minutes before the helicopters appeared. I joined the crowds and start recording. Some hours later, I watched the actual speech from a small gas station on one of the river banks, surrounded by the members of the secret service. The gas station employee made some jokes to me about blowing it up... Perhaps I have this recorded, or not? Lukatoyboy is a musician, sound artist and educator from Belgrade based in Berlin. His current practice is based on performances dealing with networks, sound and narrative, using walkies talkies and site specific topics. Focused on the relation of chances and structures, he creates participatory works with suggested rules, questioning exclusivity and authority of an artist. Lukatoyboy is researching alternative methods of listening, using architecture and distance as tools for discovery, as well as approaches to live broadcast of interpretation. He is performing music and sound (ab)using electroacoustic improvisation based on transmission, feedback and analogue synthesizers and, occasionally, he is stepping back into real-time sampling of various objects, toys, voices, and fields. www.lukatoyboy.net Articolul Obama Landing in Hiroshima apare prima dată în SEMI SILENT.

Obama Landing in Hiroshima

At present times I perceive that an ultimate hybridization of living and non living sensory stimuli our daily cognizance has to put up with is only a surface noise of de-personalized (and certainly unfinished) collective morphology we comply to. Opposing that, I choose to create poetry reflecting upon commonplaces of unfading human struggle to understand depths of grief and devaluation of life. And as a field of resonance surrounding those I am driven by hopeless pursuit of the embodiment of love with all of its complexities, that represent my personal psychological blueprint. Poetry is an elevated state, in my case it is an emotionally charged scenery, textural space, always abundant with aural density in almost traditional narrative. As a writer I am searching for the “mirror stress” in which my subconsciousness and my reality are becoming proprioceptive and leaning onto each other. Death and love are deeply embedded in all-pervading existence, unfolding their vigorous discharge of life in profoundly intricate ways. One can only be humble if finds her/himself awake standing in the way of this one – same breath. Regarding sound, for me the most important transference of energy there is, I intent to overplay with its geometries finding comfort in re-constructed memories (through intervention and accentuation of semi-closed bio-acoustic processes I extract from field recordings, with intention to mutate them into soundscape compositions). With this cognitive personalization of particular space and time mnemotopia as such becomes imaginatively tactile, thus emotionally recognizable. Form of a flow, leans on auralization of inner dynamics rather then any aesthetically confined musical approach. And last but not the least, by choosing male voice for the final sonification of the words I express a need to abandon binary social constructions of a gender, and push gender “source” in my experiences into its natural form – a gender spectrum with all of its gruesomely hidden complexities that a human nature actually posses. * Manja Ristić (1979) born in Belgrade. Violinist, sound artist, published poet. Finished postgraduate studies at the RCM, London (2004). As a classical solo / chamber musician, composer and improvisational musician Manja performed across Europe and in the US. In her recent work Manja is active in the field of instrumental electro–acoustics, soundscape composition, field recording & interdisciplinary sound related research. She is founder of the Association of Multimedia Artists „Auropolis“ (since 2004), that by her guidance developed distinctive number of cultural events, international projects and educational modules in the fields of contemporary scene and multimedia arts. She works and lives between the island of Korčula (Croatia) and Belgrade (Serbia). www.manjaristic.blogspot.com Poetry, all sounds (recorded, played, composed, edited) by Manja Ristić Poetry reading by Paul Leonard Murrey Used short excerpt from the original track SUMMER, The Nightfall, collection of sound art by Manja Ristić published by Naviar Records, London (2018), www.naviarrecords.com Version composed for SEMI SILENT in the frame of Sonic Future Residencies, program supported by AFCN. Articolul Stories Untold apare prima dată în SEMI SILENT.

Stories Untold

Înspre is a musical composition which evolved slowly during the making of Dinspre. It took quite a while to write and perform, but it’s rare to prepare and experiment with a bunch of instruments, all available from a local music high school. It’s about things collapsing around us and then growing back up. An existential piece. Înspre is the second part of a composition representing an intimate study of the peripheral and the insular, the open and confined, the controlled and the impromptu. The composition has to be played back a little under loud. Musical composition created during SONIC FUTURE RESIDENCIES organized by Asociația Jumătatea plină and SEMI SILENT in Iași, Romania in May 2019. Laurențiu Coțac is a musician and sound recordist living and working in Bucharest. Recorded, edited and mixed by Laurențiu Coțac for SEMI SILENT Articolul Înspre apare prima dată în SEMI SILENT.

Înspre

Dinspre is about the harshness and loneliness of these remote locations I’ve visited, it collects a bit of something which most people seem to be running away from at the end of the day. I’ve spend time observing sonic gestures and tonal imprints of various places in the outskirts of Iași, from cellars, yards, highways, open fields, bridges, to construction sites, abandoned warehouses and industrial plants etc. Big cities will always change their limits but they’ll be outlined and fragmented by something mechanistic. Dinspre is the first part of a composition representing an intimate study of the peripheral and the insular, the open and confined, the controlled and the impromptu. The composition has to be played back a little under loud. Sound composition created during SONIC FUTURE RESIDENCIES organized by Asociația Jumătatea plină and SEMI SILENT in Iași, Romania in May 2019. Laurențiu Coțac is a musician and sound recordist living and working in Bucharest. Recorded, edited and mixed by Laurențiu Coțac for SEMI SILENT Articolul Dinspre apare prima dată în SEMI SILENT.

Dinspre

Tokyo. All the Sounds That I Can Feel From Deep Surroundings Author: Simina Oprescu The diversity of Tokyo’s sounds can make a string of connection about the Japanese noise culture. They seem influenced by it every day, by this constant knitting of different textures and tonic profiles. Mostly it is a mechanical profile, almost nothing organic but the voice of the whole humans gathered in one. Everything is wrapped in and comes through this artificial-synthetic medium, like poor speakers from the street or old radio. It becomes a walk of discovery of sounds and small areas of quietness, and the impact of the noise afterwards, for a short while, and basically a subtle flux, a drone. Simina Oprescu is composing since 2012, interested in the possibilities of sound’s integration in the visual mediums and the capacity of sound to change radically the understanding of the image: „In the Beginning was the Sound”. Simina studied photography and video art at the Arts University in Bucharest and one year in the electroacoustic composition department at the Royal Conservatory of Mons, Belgium. www.siminaoprescu.com Recorded, edited and mixed by Simina Oprescu for SEMI SILENT. Articolul Tokyo. All the Sounds That I Can Feel apare prima dată în SEMI SILENT.

Tokyo. All the Sounds That I Can Feel

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