Ma 間 (Fabio Perletta + Luigi Turra)

Abstract

Fabio Perletta and Luigi Turra’s Ma project aims to establish an active dialogue between real/virtual architecture and sonic practice in various forms: installation, sound diffusion, durational performance, radio, CD release and sound object. The whole body of work was created in an attempt to translate Tadao Ando’s aesthetic principles into sound, crafting the work as a temporal, environmental experience of a non-existent, ever-changing, rhizomatic listening space.

The kanji 間 (Ma) represents a pivotal concept in various Japanese practices including music and architecture, referring to notions of space and time (between things), distance, pause, interruption, and relationship, “the perception of space in relation to the passage of time” (Arata Isozaki). Its meaning is multifaceted and contextual-dependent: it can be the temporal element between two notes for a musician, the concept of void, or the perception of architectural space between the interior and exterior. The two sound artists defines a new listening space, inviting the listener to experience time in a non-linear way, giving plenty of room for reflection, memory, contemplation, and a sense of waiting.

Celebrating the austerity of Ando’s geometric shapes, concrete elements, and the striking light effects of architectural details, Perletta and Turra emphasise emptiness and its opposite, saturating and emptying the space-time in a changing interplay between presence and absence, silence and noise, tactility and immateriality.

Ma 間

Recorded composition

“It is the silence between one word and another, between one note and another, that is itself sound, as long as we can understand the interval between one sound wave and another” — Gillo Dorfles 

Fabio Perletta and Luigi Turra’s Ma marks their first collaboration. Sound in this work unfolds as both a temporal phenomenon and a spatial gesture: it spreads over time and traverses space. The apparent stillness of Ando's environments is disrupted by sonic events that resonate with materials and surfaces, and interact with the architecture itself. Turra and Perletta focus on the raw beauty of accidental sounds, such as “a wall that violently breaks a space” (Ando).

The immaterial acts as a central element within the three compositions, allowing sounds to dwell within it and assume various forms. Sounds of wood, rocks, pebbles, and cement coexist with silence, which permeates our inner dimension at a subjective level.

The aim of the work is not to document the sound of architecture, but rather to suggest a space within the space, the rediscovery of one's inner time within an outer time, unveiling new auditory dimensions.

Ma 間 [Ø] Prototype

Sound object. In collaboration with Attila Faravelli's Aural Tools.

Aural Tools was founded and is curated by Attila Faravelli. Ma [Ø] has been developed in collaboration with sound artists Fabio Perletta and Luigi Turra.

Aural Tools is a series of simple sound objects, easy for anyone to use, designed to invite users to activate a specific relationship between sound, space, and body. Each device is created in collaboration with selected musicians and investigates specific processes and methods—both material and conceptual—through which sound is produced.

The series is in continuous evolution, and Ma [Ø] is one of the ongoing collaborations still under development. Due to the participatory and relational nature of the project, each object is first presented in prototype form to assess its practical use, test its functionality, and make any necessary adjustments before its final release.

The object currently being developed with Aural Tools is a further attempt to connect the ephemeral nature of sound with its material and sculptural dimension. Ma [Ø] consists of an unconventional speaker: a pair of loudspeakers emitting the same sound, but wired in reverse polarity. When placed facing each other, their sound output is drastically reduced.

The only way to make sound emerge is by actively interrupting this phase cancellation—for example, by moving the speakers apart, placing objects between them, or inserting your hands. In this sense, the sound produced by the device is the negative of an object, an action, or a position in space.

Ma 間 [Discontinuum]

Installation

The arrangement of the two speakers as two columns represents the notation of pause (I I) in multimedia devices. Silences and sounds generate an unexpected and indefinite alternation, suggesting the audience to live and create their own inner space.

The exhibition space is transformed into a sensitive environment in which a spatial pause resonates. Each version of the installation is different, due to the generative audio.

Ma 間 [Continuum 44.03]

Sound Diffusion

continuum, noun • /kənˈtɪnjuəm/
a series of similar items in which each is almost the same as
the ones next to it but the last is very different from the first.
a continuous sequence in which adjacent elements are not
perceptibly different from each other, but the extremes are
quite distinct.

The Teatrino presents a new music programme curated by Nicola Di Croce and Francesco Bergamo (SSH! Sound Studies Hub, Iuav University of Venice) with three events dedicated to the act of listening, taking its title from the standard format of a vinyl record (LP), a time unit that has marked the way music albums have been experienced and listened to since the end of WWII. Despite the evolution of media, from cassette tapes to compact discs and then to streaming, the duration of an album has always been measured against the time available on a 33 rpm vinyl. This timeframe, not exceeding 25 minutes per side, still represents the average listening span of an album. "Long Playing" brings listening back to a communal dimension, inviting to experience an musical album in a shared space. 

The programme offers a selection of original music (experimental, modern classical, ambient, drone, field recording, etc.) and is divided into three events in which listening to the albums on different media such as CD, vinyl or cassette tape is supported by a short presentation of the artists' work. 

Link

Ma 間 [Continuum 32.18]

Radio piece

Ma 間 [Spectrum]

Installation (Forthcoming)

spectrum, noun • /ˈspektrəm/
a band of colours, as seen in a rainbow, produced by
separation of the components of light by their different
degrees of refraction according to wavelength
a range of sound waves or several other types of wave

The work engages with the inherent qualities of the architectural space and a defining element such as natural light. Light itself will orchestrate the unfolding of the sound flow and timbre articulation of the installation, modelling the space through a custom software and a light sensor. Rarefied and subdued sounds manifest in the presence of dim natural light, while vibrant and more prominent sounds emerge during moments of heightened luminosity, interacting with the audience’s presence, perception, and subjectivity. The arrangement of the two speakers as two columns symbolises the pause (I I) in multimedia devices. Silences (or pauses) and sounds generate an unexpected and indefinite alternation, prompting the audience to contemplate their own inner selves. The exhibition venue is transformed into a sensitive environment where a spatial pause resonates. Each iteration of the installation is distinct, owing to the acoustic, architectural, and luminous characteristics of the space itself.

Ma 間 [T]

Durational Performance (Forthcoming)