Title of the work: KOSHARI. Cairo is alive!
Author: Claudio Curciotti
Year: 2016
Type: Sound installation accompanied by video-projection
Concept
Twenty million inhabitants, one river, desert all around. Extremely high density: Cairo. The city of meetings and gatherings. Repairing, reusing, remaking, reselling, patching and re- patching. A soundscape of half-broken engines, criers and street vendors. Rush hour is a constant. Here the noise is a means of communication; with klaxons in the traffic, shouting out the routes of buses, to attract the attention, to offer and sell, order and buy, announce spiritual and social occasions, celebrate, uphold popular music, the louder the better. To articulate and to stimulate.
Unlike in western countries, in Cairo silence is not a citizen right. It doesn’t necessarily evoke peace.
Where silence means death and noise means life, how can we redefine the concept of acoustic ecology?
Technical information
Video file and audio file are played from two separate sources.
Sound Installation
Audio file
– original recorded sound by author (RAW files) Format: wave file 48kHz, 24bit
Length: 1.29.09 repeated in loop
Setup
First option (stereo set-up). Two- speaker installation
One stereo audio track is played from computer or other sound device connected to a mixer sending L/R signal to the speakers.
Speakers L/R positioned on the sides of the screen. Height of the speakers around 1,70m from the foor.
Second option (3D sound set-up). Four-speaker installation
Two stereo audio tracks are played from a computer loading multi-track sequencer (Logic audio, Cubase, Pro-tools, Ableton) with four-channel (two stereo) output sound cards connected to a mixer with two stereo outputs sending L/R front and L/R back signals to the speakers.
Four speakers (L/R front and L/R back) positioned on the four corners of the room directed to the center of the room. Height of the speakers around 1,70m from the floor.
Video Installation
– slide show of original photos by author Format: HD 1920 x 1080, 25fps
Length: 16.36.06 repeated in loop Number of slides: 51
Setup
Video projection on a white screen in a dark or semi-dark room.
Video file is played from DVD player or computer (mp4 or .mov file) connected to the projector and played in loop.
CLAUDIO CURCIOTTI 