Kaija Saariaho, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Unto K. Laine: Nox Borealis
Audio-Visual Installation
Nox Borealis is an Arctic journey to the little known world of Aurora Borealis
In an unforgettable manner Nox Borealis brings together three diverse elements: the electroacoustic composition by Kaija Saariaho, live sounds of Aurora Borealis recorded by Professor Unto K. Laine and digital imagescapes by Jean-Baptiste Barriére.
Kaija Saariaho’s composition for Nox Borealis is based on her earlier work Lichtbogen (Arches of Light, 1986) an electroacoustic composition for nine musicians and a Sound Engineer. Saariaho was greatly inspired by Aurora Borealis while traveling through the Northern Hemisphere, beyond the Arctic Circle, together with Jean-Baptiste Barriére, where they marveled at the nocturnal display on the darkness of the night skies.
Professor Unto K. Laine, Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics, has recorded a myriad of sounds through his study of the Aurora Borealis during the past eight years. These audio files serve primarily as scientific raw material for his research, that seeks to understand this little studied phenomenon, but at the same time they can also be used as authentic ambient recordings of the Northern nights.
From these two aural sources, two visions, we gather quite distinct ideas of Aurora Borealis. The first is subjective, it does not seek to describe the phenomenon; but takes inspiration from it as a beginning for creation.
The second being from its disposition, becomes more objective, by recording the phenomenon “as it is”.
To fully experience the whole installation: the Audience is invited to layback and enjoy, while synthesized moving images, projected on the ceiling of the space, completes the sense of the Northen Lights.
Gallery Aarni 5.3. – 29.3.2009
WeeGee, Ahertajantie 5, Tapiola, open: Tue, Fri–Sun 11–18, Wed–Thu 11–20
www.espoonkuvataiteilijat.fi/aarni, tel. 09 8163 1829
Music: Kaija Saariaho
Image: Jean-Baptiste Barrière
Field recordings: Unto K. Laine
Created by: Image auditive
Premiere at the Finnish Cultural Institute, Paris, 6th – 28th June 2008
Produced by Centre of Art and Technology CARTES, Espoo
>> More information: www.cartes-art.fi/noxborealis
Taiteen uusiin medioihin ja digitaalisen taiteen edistämiseen keskittyvä Espoon Taide- ja Tietotekniikkakeskus Cartes esittää ja tuottaa ääni- ja kuvamaisemia sekä niihin liittyviä interaktiivisia elementtejä kutsuen kaikenikäistä yleisöä näkemään ja kokemaan.
Cartes Centre of Art and Technology Espoo operates mainly within the fields of electronic and media art, aural and visual. The role of Cartes is critically productive, by presenting site specific projects as well as ‘traveling’ productions it strives to challenge interdisciplinary encounters between the many actors of culture and technology.
CARTES / WeeGee, Ahertajantie 5, Tapiola
PL 6664, FI-02070 Espoon kaupunki
Tel. +358 9 816 32 007
Fax. +358 9 816 32 008
mail (a) cartes-art.fi
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