Nuno da Luz



2011 / c'mon

Subtitled Modulation with two microphones and two amplifiers, this installation was active during the opening and the five following days: two weather balloons were moored in a pier facing the Museu da Electricidade over the Tagus River, in Lisbon. Each balloon had a wireless microphone attached to its rope, transmitting the ambient sound back to the interior of the museum in real time, the sound of each microphone being played on a separate guitar amplifier.

Weather balloons, helium, cotton string, nylon ropes, wireless microphones, cables, equalizers, guitar amplifiers, sound.

exhibition view: Prémio EDP Novos Artistas 2011, Museu da Electricidade, Lisboa, Portugal

   

2011 / zetetics

A re-edition of Pictorial Knowledge vols. 1 to 10, (Oxford: Pergamon Press) 1968, a visual encyclopaedia for children subtitled a “Treasury of General Knowledge”, according to the set of principles put forward by Joseph T. Tykociner as Zetetics—the science of research. Includes an annotated reading through of Outline of Zetetics (Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company) 1966.

Offset print, 224 pages, 224 copies, 170×120 mm.

    

2011 / vivre sans temps mort

Two pieces composed of field recordings done in the hills around Cerveira are played at very specific times of the day: the first piece is played 4 times during daytime, and the other twice during nighttime. Employing a public address system that can beam the sound up to 600m, both real time ambient sound and recordings are layered for short periods only, thus creating the illusion of these being always present until they stop and one feels the as if there was silence.

Horn loudspeaker, cables, PA, digital sound player, 4’39’’ (played at 11:30, 14:30, 17:30 and 19:00), 5’27’’ (played
at 22:00 and 00:00).

exhibition view: Como Proteger-se do Tigre: (curated by João Mourão and Luís Silva), XVI Cerveira Biennial,
V.N. Cerveira, Portugal.

 

2011 / 6:50'02''

The ambient sound of Frankfurt’s main red light street, Taunustraße, was recorded from Friday night to Saturday morning and is here transferred onto two archival DVD discs enclosed in a metal case. The case is to remain unopened until the 21st May 2021 – exactly 10 years after the date of capture – and played on that date, in the same location where recording took place. The enclosed leaflet further explains how to “unearth” the time capsule.

Two Archival DVDs with audio files, metal case, Xerox leaflet, 6:50’02’’

  

2010 / nord/ost

This installation is comprised of recordings made on a journey through Germany’s seacoast in order to record the ambient sound of both the North and Baltic Seas. Geographically divided by the Jutland peninsula, and up until 20 years ago also divided politically, the seas are now mixed inside the room, each one of them being transmitted in a separate channel of a stereophonic sound system.

Loudspeakers, stands, cables, rack, cd player, sound, mixer, 11'11'' (loop)

exhibition view: in Sardegna tutto è tondo (assembled by Joana Escoval), Vera Cortês Art Agency, Lisboa PT

   

2010 / north/east

This pamphlet presents detailed information on each of the sites where recordings for "nord/ost" took place, illustrated with photos taken at Hörnum, island of Sylt, North Sea, and Jasmund National Park, island of Rügen, Baltic Sea.

Offset, 88 x 63 cm, print run of 100, ATLAS PROJECTOS 8

    

2010 / conquest of nature

Black and white xerox, 29,7 x 21 cm, only copy

 

2009 / 360 hours

A pair of microphones stood in the garden around the Pavillion where the exhibition took place, and transmitted the sound back to the room. Here it was relayed on headphones to the public. Visitors could also access a reader that was made specifically for the installation: a guide for this soundpiece as well as a reader on the World Soundscape Project, a research group from the 70s that pioneered the concepts of Soundscape and Acoustic Ecology.

ORTF microphones stereo pair, stand, cables, rack, digital recorder, sound, headphone amplifier, headphones, chairs, reader, acoustic curtain, 360 hours.

exhibition view: O Sol morre cedo (with Ana Manso, André Romão and Joana Escoval), Pavilhão Branco – Museu da Cidade, Lisbon PT
photos: Bruno Lopes, Nuno da Luz

     

2009 / 360 hours (reader)

A guide for the "360 hours" piece as well as a reader on the World Soundscape Project. During the 70s, this research group based at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, pioneered the concepts of Soundscape and Acoustic Ecology. More info can be found under: world soundscape project

Black and white xerox, metal binder, ilust., 26 pp., 21 x 14,8 cm, print-on-demand, ATLAS PROJECTOS 4

    

2009 / 157-h

Contact microphones were placed on all the electrical appliances in the room. The noises they produced along with the hum of the electrical current were then fed into a desk by means of contact loudspeakers, thereby making this electrical “labour” audible and concrete.

Contact microphones, cables, mixer, amplifiers, contact loudspeakers, table, all electrical appliances in the room, 157 hours.

exhibition view: JENSEITS (with André Romão, André Sousa and Gonçalo Sena), en blanco projektraum, Berlin DE

    

2009 / zetesis

A pavillion-like structure is turned into an acoustic membrane by placing contact loudspeakers on it. Wind recordings are then used in order to make this pavillion vibrate and resonate with the shifting frequencies and intensities.

Survival blanket, aluminium poles, polyester rope, CD player, sound, amplifier, cables, contact loudspeakers, 9’11’’ (loop).
300 x 140 x 180 cm.

exhibition view: History of the Future, cycle estates–general, Arte Contempo, Lisbon PT

    

2008 / sounding stone

A collection of found footage concerning a sonic territory inherent to the Earth’s fabric. On the left hand side monitor, excerpts of Bian Qing performances – one of the few lithophones (stone instruments) in the world; on the right hand side monitor, homevideos of boulders and rocks that produce musical tones in their natural state.

2 mini TVs, 2 dvd players, plinth, bench, headphones, DV PAL 4:3, colour, stereo, 7’35’’ and 6’09’’ (loop)

exhibition view: Eurásia, Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves’ Historical House, Lisbon PT

    

2007 / giudecca

Inside the room, a tape loop containing a recording of several church bells in the island of Giudecca (Venice, Italy) going off in unison, is played continuously. From the balcony, we can see a one-man ship – an Optimiste – placed in a derelict garden with no public access.

Optimiste hull, reel to reel tape recorder, tape loop, sound, amplifier, cables, loudspeakers, 0’10’’ (loop)

exhibition view: Antes que a produção cesse, Espaço Avenida, Lisbon PT

    

2006 / aspect of the beach

In collaboration with Joana Escoval

During a trip through Portugal’s Southwest coast, around 80 postcards with no reference to what they depicted were found. They’d been for sale for over a decade, exposed to all sorts of weather conditions and showed sun faded colors and humidity stains. Each postcard was photographed individually, in order to bring out the uniqueness of each one

84 found postcards, 84 c-prints, paper, plexiglas, 195 x 130 each panel.

exhibition view: O Pavilhão de Augusta Narval, R. Alecrim 58B, Lisbon PT