Šilainiai [Fortas] Project 2016
In 2016 following the commissioning brief to bring light, movement and sound into a disused underground fort (Kaunas VIII Fort), an international artist team was brought together and an art happening was organised that both drew new audiences and changed peoples’ perception of the place.
Event description (Lithuanian):
Šilainiai [FORTAS] Project 2016
Sirenos/ Dėmesio!
Tyloje ir tamsoje įsibrovėliai / elektros generatorius.
Šviesos triukšmo virpesiai ir bangos užliejančios erdvę.
Nepatogu. Virpantis griausmas siekia žmogaus kūną.
Įaustas / ausies ir akies / akiratis ir rezonanasas. Tekstilė. Generuojantis veiksmas iš ramybe alsuojančio tunelio / nerti / stebėkite ir likite saugiai įsitvirtinę.
Reflektuojantys atspindžiai / Aš su tavim / čia atliekame ir stebime erdvės pokytį / peržengiant elektros laidą.
Vaizdo ir garso atatranka sienose ir skliautuose, kuriuose grįžta ir pasikartoja įtemptas santykis tarp nepastovaus kūno ir apsupties / neprisilieskite / įkriskite / įklimpkite. Žemė atskirta mūro ir cemento / laiko / atvirą kvėpavimo / polėkį.
Sound artist Roberto Becerra speaking about his work at the event:
Performance and sound art jam, happening at the VIII Fort in Kaunas, Lithuania. October 15th, 2016.
As part of the Kaunas Fortress Association festival, and curated by Evelina Simkute, from Šilainiai Project, this was a performance that took place inside an abandoned Fort (sort of bunker) in Kaunas, at a location with attractive acoustics, enabling sound experimentation.
This sound and light art performance/exhibition experiments with the very special acoustic environment of the 40m-long hall inside the VIII fort. It starts by exploring or tuning to the natural frequencies of the vault at the Fort. These produce resonances that are transformed into colour lights transposed according to their position in the visible spectrum, which repurpose the place from a war context into an experimental art, creative space. Along the colouring of the sound and light, public and performers are invited to play and contribute with the acoustic of the chamber, so it can be sampled by the artist, processed and played back to further investigate the acoustic possibilities of the space.
During the performance, musicians joined to create a unique jam experience that included Baltic folk Sutartinės songs by Aiste Aleckūnaitė and Ruta Kazanavičė, brass player Giedrius Balbieris, and guitar player Mantas Radzvilavičius. The result was an unexpected ephemeral sound that was processed, turned into light and interacted with the acoustic environment, the artists at the Fort.
The VIII Fort was built around 1890, by the Russian Empire to protect its west most borders. It was deemed useless by its position between higher heels and used only as barracks and storage.
https://iobridger.wordpress.com/2016/10/18/fort-tune/
Group ANA-LOGIKA Raimundas Eimontas, Marius Paulikas and Giedrius Balbieris
‘SIren SImphony (‘SIrenų SImfonija’)
Two voice monumental polyphonic piece for two sirens, without an orchestra, but with pipes. (Dviejų balsų monumentalus polifoninis kūrinys dviems sirenoms, be orkestro, bet su dūdom.)
‘Fort Tune’ Roberto Becerra (MX)
This sound and light art performance/exhibition experiments with the very special acoustic environment of the 50m-long hall inside the VIII fort.
It starts by exploring or tuning to the natural frequencies of the vault at the Fort. These produce resonances that are transformed into colour lights, which repurpose the place from a war context into an experimental art, creative space.
Along the colouring of the sound and light, public and performers are invited to play and contribute with the acoustic of the chamber, so it can be sampled by the artist, processed and played back to further investigate the acoustic possibilities of the space.
About the artist
Roberto Becerra is an interdisciplinary artist and technologist, who combines technology and art in his work. The artist focuses his research around the topic of sound and technology, as well as the structures found in nature and the way they interact and affect the societies and their surroundings.
https://iobridger.wordpress.com/
https://soundcloud.com/iorobertob/forttune-1-sutartines
https://soundcloud.com/iorobertob/forttune-2-jam
‘Layers of Light / Šviesų klodai’ Liucija Dervinytė (LT)
Layers of Light is an interior textiles collection placed in a completely different surrounding from that of the original purpose. It is an experiment of bringing fragile and delicate pieces into a dark monumental space of the VIII Fort.
The artworks explore transparency, layers and reflections of patterns and light. Fabrics of different thickness, transparent and opaque plastics are combined with screen printing, embroidery and laser cutting techniques to create complex structures.
The collection takes inspiration from folk ornaments that now, placed in the historical Fort building, gain new meanings and links with history and culture.
About the artist
Liucija Dervinytė is a textile designer and artist, experimenting with various textiles techniques, including hand embroidery, mark making, paper and fabric dyeing. Her practice encompasses visual art, textiles and product design. Her works explore and illustrate the patterns found in nature and cities, folk motives and travel experience.
In the press: Šilainiai driokstelėjo: forto tuneliuose – kaukianti sirena ir menininkų projektas Online: http://kauno.diena.lt/naujienos/kaunas/menas-ir-pramogos/silainiai-driokstelejo-forto-tuneliuose-kaukianti-sirena-ir-menininku-projektas-776600
Images by Elijus Kniežauskas and Liucija Dervinytė.
Video and sound by Roberto Becerra.
Šilainiai [Fortas] Project 2017
In 2017, following the fantastic feedback the we received previous year, artists initiated the second Šilainiai [Fortas] Project. 15 July 2017 Kaunas VIII Fort was animated again.
THANK YOU to Kaunas Fortress Park, Kaunas 2022, Kaunas Artists’ Home, AC Patria and Pål Isdahl Solberg for support.
Thank you to artists: Aleksander Haugen, Paul Takahashi, Rees Archibald, Tadas Stalyga and Senior club “Birch” ansamble ‘Stream”. You guys rock!
An extended thank you to our volunteer team: Eglė, Ugnė, Odeta, Vytautas, Linas, Mindaugas, Tadas, Donatas and Egidijus. Thank you for being there.
Thank you to visitors for your kind words and support!
Šilainiai Project 2017 artist residencies were partly funded by Lithuanian Culture Council.
Experimental installation in Kaunas VIII Fort.
ARTISTS
Lahestan (Aleksander Haugen) (Norway)
The improvised electronic music of Lahestan (Aleksander Haugen) is based on sampling, electronic sounds, field recordings and live realtime sounds, processed through various effects. The atmosphere that is created consists of elements varying from abstract and ambient music to drones and industrial electroacoustic noise music. Since the music is improvised, what you hear is created exactly when you hear it, and exists only in that moment.
In VIII Fort parts of the sound will be field recordings made in the area around the venue, as well as the sound of the audience in the room. This will be processed into the electronic audio loop and transformed into soundscapes appealing to the imagination of the listener.
Paul Takahashi (France)
Paul Takahashi is a graduate of the University of the Arts Helsinki. He is organizing weekly drawing workshops in Vilnius. His work is mostly figurative, with a strong emphasis on drawing. However meticulous his conventional artworks might be, Paul’s drawing performances are fast-paced and almost automatic in regard to the elements they invoke. Both sides of his work deal with the subtle relationship between corporeality and spirituality.
For the Silainiai Project Paul Takahashi will interpret a banishing ritual, using drawing and sound, in order to chase psychic entities and shadows away from the tunnels.
Rees Archibald (Australia)
Rees Archibald is an artist, born in Australia and currently living in Lithuania. Originally a saxophone player, he spent several years in Japan studying traditional Zen music. Later, working with composers Alvin Lucier, Ron Kuivila and David Behrman, he studied electronic music composition.
Rees has performed and shown work in venues such as The Kitchen in New York City, ZKM/HfG in Germany, the Sydney Opera House, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, and the Emit/Time Festival in Bern, Switzerland.
‘Voices under the earth’ by Rees Archibald, 2017
An audio installation
Steel plate 1600mm X 450mm X 2mm, audio transducer, small audio amplifier and audio player.
“…and I cried. By reason of my affliction I cried unto you and you heard me; out of the belly of Hell I cried, and you heard my voice.
For I was cast into the deep, in the midst of the seas; floods compassed about me: and billows and waves passed over me.”
We journey deep into the dark places, the places that lurk and lie in wait beneath the surface of our minds. We seek a deeper understanding of our humanity; our understanding will not be a direct understanding.
We stand at the edge of an abyss and from this bottomless pit a beast rises up to meet us. A fight to the death. Suddenly we hear the song of the earth.
Tadas Stalyga (Lithuania)
My practice revolves around three core pillars: light, space and performance. I work with the volume of the space, changing it with light or partitioning it physically. I use light to change the mood of the space, to alter its physical and phenomenological properties. The most recent development in my practice is the occupation of the same space as my spectators, becoming a body present in the space I create. Many of my concepts come from reading philosophy, philosophers and writers, such as, Immanuel Kant, Jacques Ranciere, Slavoj Žižek and Bertold Brecht have had a great deal of influence on my thinking about art. From the phenomenological point of view I am greatly interested in the work of artists, such as, James Turrell, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, performers and musicians like Kraftwerk. My latest work is done with the notion of ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ in mind, leaning towards a mixture of theatre and artistic and musical performance.
and local Senior club “Birch” ansamble “Stream”.
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Event description (Lithuanian):
Viva la resistance!
Šilainių mikrorajonas, 2017m. liepos mėnesis.
Įvykio vieta. – PARIS / CITADELLE NO. 8
Dar 1862m. žemėlapyje pažymėta Paryžiaus karčema ir kaimas / dingusi ir tik keleto senbuvių atmintyje išlikęs pavadinimas. Išnykęs blokinio absoliuto šešėlyje.
Citadelė / aštuntas fortas ant Milikonių kalvos,
1900m. – 1914m. Pirmas pasaulinis karas / apleistas / ir neapgintas. Taikus ir laisvas / kūrybinės rezistencijos fortas – anuomet tik vienintelis sprogimas, atsitraukiančios caro kariuomenės, susprogdinęs parako sandėlį ir sugadinęs vandens drenavimo sistemą.
Neapsemtos liko tik kareivinės;
Pirmas cementas Šilainiuose.
Pirma elektros lemputė.
Pirmas požemis.
Linkuvos dvaras – Napoleono kariuomenė
Caro kariuomenė Link – Ten.
Rezistencijos ir revoliucijos forma.
Pirma. Manifestas.
Antra. Vėliava.
Trečia. Įsitvirtinimas.
Bastilijos griuvėsiai panaudojami naujoms rezistencijos formoms – kūrybinei laisvei reikia autonomijos ir paslapties. Slėptuvės ir Viešumos. Manifestui nereikia sienų. Menui reikia.
Kartais net požemio. Akustinės erdvės. Smalsuolio ir įsibrovėlio.
Kažkokioje neįprastoje erdvėje.
Įpročio įveika.
Suplevėsavus vėliavai, šalia blokinio absoliuto,
Citadelės požemiuose
Rezistuojanti kūryba.
Nuolatos šalia.
Miegamojo erdvės.
O juk šios kareivinės ir buvo skirtos miegojimui – saugumui / prieglobščiui.
„Netrukdykite sapnuoti“ – šaukia rezistentas.
We received a phenomenon interest in the event. About 300 visitors and more than 2200 people following the event on Facebook. Thank you!
In the press: “VIII forto tuneliuose išdykavo muzika ir šviesa” (In Lithuanian).
Images ©Donatas Stankevičius, Vilmantas Raupelis and ‘Aš Esu Kaunietis’.
Evelina Šimkutė 