ambisonic sound event and multi-channel sound installation

The Tree Spirits| Touch sound work reflects on the life of a tree, speculating on its acoustic component, and explores the interaction of an individual part of a plant with the colony of organisms and the forest biotic community. The sound recordings give voice to the existence of a tree in its annual and life cycles which begin and end in silence. The silence anticipating the springtime resurgence of sap flow, and the silence of destruction caused by climate change, drought, and fires. Brane Zorman is one of the three winners of Palma Ars Acoustica EBU competition 2022. You can read more about the conceptualization of work in the pdf notebook (link here) or buy printed verison of the booklet (here).

The artist zeros in on the touch; touch as an expression of genuine concern and awareness of the coexistence with plants, and a destructive touch of environmental devastation. The sounds of touching a tree trunk, branches rubbing against each other, the crushing of loose bark, the foliage, the rustling of trees in the wind, water drenching the roots – an acoustic journey through the physical existence of a tree. All the way to branch breaking, tree falling and a fire, a warning of the upcoming drought which is always a hard blow to a forest habitat.

Live Sound Event

Brane Zorman performs a live adaptation of Spirit of Trees | Touch, a work that evolved over two years in different phases and intensities. The performance employs spatial ambisonic technology and Silent Disco equipment, consisting of multiple micro FM transmitters and short-range headphones operating on various frequencies. The sound immerses the listener from all directions, creating an intense sonic experience where tones blend, shift, and reshape within a 360° spherical space. The ambisonic system allows the artist to manipulate spatial layers of sound while simultaneously transmitting them through conventional stereo headphones. Listening becomes a multi-dimensional experience, dissolving the boundaries between the audience and the sonic environment.

Art Installation

The installation demonstrates, investigates, and records the changes in the electrical conductivity, which are the result of the intensive drying process of the individual tree cookies (sliced portions of a tree trunk), converting the parameters – through heat, electrical and oscillation sensors, and converters – in the visual and acoustic forms. The cookies dry up and crack. They are colonised by microbes, mould, and fungi, and in the process of decomposition change their forms. Symbolically, these newly formed tree structures confront us with the shortage of water and moisture. The composition with the recorded and processed tree sounds, produced both within the organism as well as when touched by a human or the environment, builds an emotional and dramatic narrative charged with the natural and amplified sounds comingling and entwining. A dynamic 8-channel installation pulls the listener in the very centre of a sound happening.

Brane Zorman is a composer, sound and intermedia artist, sound manipulator, producer and curator. Besides composing for the theatre, intermedia and dance, he is focused on developing different strategies, techniques, dynamic and interactive models in his work relating to sound and space, recording and reinterpreting soundscapes and creating electronic and acoustic sound sculptures using sophisticated tools.

PREVIOUS EVENTS AND PERFORMANCES

ambisonic sound event / 4 Sep 2024, at 18.00
part of Share-ploring Spatial Audio, ARS Electronica
Linz Institute of Technology

multi-channel sound installation / 6 – 22 Oct 2023
part of IZIS festival
PINA, Koper

6-channel sound installation / 17 Oct – 30 Nov 2022
Sežana Botanical Gardens

sound installation / 19 May – 11 Sep 2022
live sound event / 18 Jun 2022, at 20:00
+MSUM

zvočni dogodek v živo / 28 May 2022, at 18.00
Šempas – Festival R.o.R

exhibition of 8-channel sound installation / 15 May – 10 Sep 2021
live sound event / 18 May 2021, at 20:00
MGLC Švicarija

COLOPHON

Artist: Brane Zorman
Consulting: Valentina Cvetkovič, Boris Semenič
Curated by: Irena Pivka
Vibration sensor design: Gregor Krpič
Fieldwork (Trzin): Morales d.o.o., Rok Rudigaj, Boštjan Divjak
Translation and editing: Melita Silič
Cover photo: Brane Zorman, Irena Pivka
Event photo: Sunčan Stone
Organisation: Irena Pivka
Public relations: Matej Tomažin
Production: Cona, zavod za procesiranje sodobne umetnosti, 2021
Locations: Steklenik, galerija za zvok, bioakustiko in umetnost, MGLC, Švicarija, Program Ars, Festival IZIS
Partners: MGLC Švicarija
Thanks: Zavod Kersnikova 4