Not Your Average Rock Number
This was a musical performance by artist Ivan Macera connected to his exhibit ‘Diagenesis’. He submerged dehydrated rocks in a tank of water equipped with a hydrophone. This process resulted in hissing sounds which he played with, creating a unique experience for the attendees.
About the Artist
Born in Rome in 1975, Ivan Macera’s personal approach is based on experimentation and improvisation which provides the fertile niche that allows for the continuous and necessary evolution of the research of sound. Over the course of the years, he has devoted his studies to observing and analyzing the relationships between resonances as the means of developing audio expression, elaborating and creating sound objects, kinetic sculptures and musicial instruments, using largely natural materials from different places.
The focus on the timbre of the objects and reversing the concept of percussion occurred after his encounter with the Sardinian sculptor Pinuccio Sciola, which subsequently led him to follow this path more concretely with Diagenesi, a project that investigates the sounds of absorption that previously dehydrated stones emit when they are then immersed in liquid.
He also brings these emotional sound experiences to a didactic level where he conducts workshops on constructing soundscapes.
Connected Programmes
Diagenesis by Ivan Macera - an exhibit unlocking the memories of rocks through water
The Disappearance of Saraswati by K S Valdiya - a public lecture on uncovering the mystery of mythical river through geology