Stop and listen! Do you hear the sound of the city you live in or your home? If you’ve never tried to listen to what’s going on around you before, do it now. At least the participants of the V: UNCASE residency at the Meters listened to the factory, the city, themselves at the end of the summer and looked for new meanings in the sound. Undoubtedly, they succeeded
This year, the V: UNCASE residence brought together 15 sound artists, composers (and not only from Ukraine), who were looking for simple answers to difficult questions. The results of creative experiments related to sound became answers to philosophical and practical questions posed to artists, as well as their discovery of themselves and Zhytomyr.
Ratmir Bilodid impressed with an installation on the theme of tenderness and intimacy. In a room full of memories of moments in life, strange things that are not always stored in our memory, we are immersed in an atmosphere of search and meaning. The composer, sound designer shared an idea he had long dreamed of realizing: to create the illusion of a specific place. The synthesis of light, smoke, sound has created a dreamy or fantasy endless place, where at the same time you are leaning against the walls. According to Ratmir, this fabulous and enchanting result was possible due to the atmosphere prevailing at V: UNCASE: «It was wonderful to speak one language, to feel that you are understood, your ideas are perceived. This is a wonderful part of this story. It was important for me to get a feeling, but rather it can be described as a wonderful feeling from the knowledge gained».

Kateryna Kostrova (Burning Woman) really wanted to get to this residence. It was interesting for the artist to look at the plant, which once produced synthesizers, electronic instruments and still works. Katya believes that there are facilities that allow you to be competitive. Her work is about music, which consists of sounds recorded in the factory during production processes, and a video that depicts everything clearly. A more industrial approach made it possible to use noise, field recordings, because in them the producer and DJ hear music. «I understand how to create music even from sounds that seem unmusical. Every time I find myself in an industrial environment, in addition to bumps, bumps and hisses, I continue to distinguish sounds and create music», shared Burning Woman.

For Odessa resident Hanna Bryzhata V: UNCASE became an opportunity to find new methods for installing sound works. A musician with experience in CHILLERA projects, Bryozone has recently been working at the museum, so she spends a lot of time installing other people’s work. «Musical accompaniment is important in the museum business. And it depends on what kind of exhibition it is, what it appeals to, but it seems to me that silence, on the one hand, allows you to concentrate on the object, but on the other hand, does not create an atmosphere for things. Like movies, video works, things and objects need sound to fully experience what is happening», says Anna. In her work, which was the result of her stay at the residence, the artist raised the philosophical theme of restoring meanings and lost spaces, which can be turned into platforms for negotiations and reflections.

Vogel Ray, a resident of Zaporizhia, impressed with her mathematical-sacred solution and approach in combination of contrasts. With the help of the sounds of the factory and the city, the artist raised the topic of the possibility of returning the sacred. «My job is to remind you that even in an industrial, post-industrial and materialistic society, we all have the opportunity here and now to be in a state of deep prayer or meditation in parallel, without being tied to denominations, within ourselves». The inspiration was not only the sounds of production, which were heard by the guests of the «Measurer», but also the bells that reached the residents of the city.

Andriy Rugaru has been writing music since 2010 and experimenting with electronic music genres. His work is a hall with voices, where the author used recordings of one of the lessons that took place during V: UNCASE. Vocal practice, in which residents were taught to rethink themselves with the help of vocals, was used to implement the main idea – in-depth study of sound. For a composer with experience in many Ukrainian and international projects, being at V: UNCASE was a revelation: «For me, residency is a global experience. We find ourselves in an environment very close to us, where everyone is doing the same thing we are doing. We felt comfortable because the world inside was not like the one behind the walls. The outside world is more toxic, and it’s cool here».

In addition to the people around him, the artist Oleksiy Bystry was inspired by innovation – something he had never done before. The result of Oleksiy’s stay at the residence was a prototype of a landscape controller, which directly affects the sound. Since I do not believe in man as the creator of something new and I am convinced that only nature by its mechanisms – mutation, evolution – is able to create something new, I asked myself the question: «How to attract this nature to us, in sound?» Simply recording audio seemed boring and not new to me, so I designed a device that records objective environmental parameters of various kinds: from pressure or temperature to environmental microvibrations, the amount of ultraviolet light, air quality. These objective parameters can affect, for example, the color of the video, which will help artists and musicians to create», the author explained. The demonstration of the controller was presented in the format of four-channel audio, created on a digital synthesizer controlled by the controller.

For the artist Leo Trotsenko, the residence is not a new story. However, the V: UNCASE experience turned out to be unique, as Leo is now engaged in artistic practices, and sound has become an important motif or medium for the artist, with whom he works together with video, actions, actions in time and space. «My work does not mean feeling. Its name is «Sound situation № 1», and it most accurately determines what genre category we can come up with. I started from a certain drama, where there is a visual component, an audio one, there is a place of action», the author comments. One of the important results of his stay in Zhytomyr was Leo’s perception of the city, the discovery of personal geography of Ukraine, where the artist opened a wonderful collection of 16th century paintings and paintings by Venetian masters in the Zhytomyr Regional Museum.

Yaroslav Anosov was interested in the opportunity to come to the plant and study the sound last year, but she managed to realize her wish only this year. Inspiration from interesting people, good organization, infrastructure, comfort, isolation from the outside world was embodied in a new experience of creating a synthesizer. Despite the fact that Yaroslav has nothing to do with technology, here he was able to learn. As nothing hindered the research activity and realization of ideas, the artist managed not only to learn how to assemble a synthesizer from scratch, but also to get a lot of insights: with sound, light. There are many potential opportunities for development, and the «Measurer». Yaroslav is convinced that the residence you need to forget the previous experience and create from scratch, releasing a new product as the end result.

Thanks to Eugene Shevchuk (Husband Pointers), the residence has become international. The participant from Brest, who now mainly works in Poland and America, has experience in Chicago, came to the residence for the first time. Here the musician managed to embody various experiments, in particular to create «quiet» projects. Walking through the factory, you could pass a 3D sound sculpture with a QR code, which leads to one of the songs. It is possible that you did not listen to the song for trivial reasons: forgot the headphones at home or just did not have the Internet. But the unobtrusive format also has a deep philosophical connotation: it is not only an exposition that can be overlooked, but also a plant that can be overheard. Eugene also listened to our city: «Zhytomyr also has its own sound. There is a quiet sound of nature near Kamyanka, but there is also the sound of a city where minibuses run. I like the way the river sounds better. Of course, we must not forget about musical events, which are also the sound of Zhytomyr. In my opinion, over time, Zhytomyr will sound louder».

Sound designer and composer of electronic music Pavel Graf is lucky: this is his second residence at the Measurer. «The residence has left the feeling of a new home, where you can come and do your favorite thing», said Paul. During his stay at V: UNCASE, the composer managed not only to create a device for sound synthesis and modification, but also to present his own view on the process of producing such devices. It is worth noting that thanks to the engineering talent of the sound designer managed to create a device that takes up much less space than similar existing devices, instead has more features and can be used to create musical instruments. In fact, during the residency, a scientific project was launched to create a universal machine – a synthesizer, which can become a commercial product. According to Paul, new ideas always come from experiments, so to expand the worldview should always be close to the experiments – of course, choosing what you like.

Iryna Novikova (Insomnia Taxxi) used unique archival records from 1967 in her work. They preserved the performance of classical works by the musical ensemble «Electric Measurer» on electric instruments of their own production and the male vocal ensemble. Elaboration of audio and video samples of industrial space, work on unique factory equipment and archival records gave the opportunity to conceptually approach the creation of a live performance – audiovisual performance, which became a product of the resident’s work. But a much more significant result is the enrichment of theoretical professional knowledge, which the artist now uses in practice. «Participation in the residency opened new ambitions and vectors of development, because I was always attracted by the industrial sound and new technological approaches in writing music. At V: UNCASE, a unique community was formed, which had the opportunity to explore, communicate, get an education and grow professionally», the artist is confident. In addition, Insomnia Taxxi has felt the identity of Zhytomyr in its large post-industrial legacy, which, under conditions of renovation, rethinking and preservation of its own production can become the basis of national prosperity.

Vyacheslav Dyadyun considers the «Measurer» a unique space in all senses, the sound and physical objects of which became the basis for his work – audio tracks edited using modern techniques, created on the basis of field recordings. Because the artist aimed to prove that the search for something new in sound (and not only in it) can begin anywhere, interesting timbres, rhythms, objects, he found even in a noisy industrial environment. Like other residents, Slava is convinced that in the future such discoveries can become a grain for creating new musical compositions, instruments, ideas or other creative or scientific skills. You just need to always be open to the environment and not be afraid to experiment. The main personal achievement that Vyacheslav received at the residence was the acquaintance with incredibly talented people, their creative achievements and views, unique personalities who follow their own unique path. «Being in such an environment, new ideas are generated automatically», says the artist. – Such residences provide opportunities and incentives to work on interesting things. It is possible that in some time, thanks to such initiatives, Zhytomyr will be known in the world as a city where a new breakthrough concept was born».

Oleksandr Gorbunov experimented with the creation of a synthesizer. His musical device in the body of an ordinary measuring instrument is a generator of random melodies, which made it possible to create different versions of sound compositions. External control of light-sensitive sensors, which were hidden inside the layout of the room, showed the result of interaction with the tool. The practice of working with analog sound is not the only property of Oleksandr after his stay at the residence. «At V: UNCASE, I made a synthesizer, which still continues to please me – I played two events on it. Before that, it can be improved. This is a wonderful experience», says Oleksandr.

The result of Alina Yakubenko’s stay at the residence was a preview, or trailer, of the work that the artist plans to do on the basis of the material received at the Measuring Center. Her work includes avant-garde music by Mosolov and Shostakovich, who glorified Soviet industrialization, and a visual image – a remake of an episode from Lars von Trier’s film «Dancing in the Dark»: all this created a three-dimensional picture of a factory where cars and people combined into a living mechanism. The author transforms the space of the factory into a big stage, on which rhythmic, like a beating of the heart, music of production is heard, which will surely live a new life. Creative rethinking of industrial space is a new life that residents breathe into the «Measurer», and therefore Alina is absolutely convinced of the importance of this format: «There are very few music residences, so I think they are important and needed not only in Zhytomyr».

The Ereh Saw laboratory project was based on the transformation of a television image using an audio signal. The technical component is more understandable to specialists, but what the audience saw gave feelings and emotions. What can you feel when in front of your eyes there is a shift and mixing of events here and now, in the format of the interaction of visual and sound series? It seemed to us that the work created the illusion of variability, which pushes to find the source of change and influence it. «Together with Andriy Rugar, we managed to realize a significant part of what was planned from the beginning. We chose the room where Andriy created the sound picture, and I managed to set up a radio broadcast and install TV signal receivers. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time physically to transform the image signals transmitted through audio, but we created a complete audiovisual work», Ereh shared. Maybe the technical component of the project is not easy to understand, but we immersed ourselves in the general atmosphere, where all the details created a subtle impression of the instantaneous passage of time from past to present.

From the editorial office At the end of the summer, The Measurer turned the next page of its once tumultuous industrial, but now creative and promising life. Residents of V: UNCASE dispersed, but left their mark on history and the energy that helps the plant recover. This means that we will still hear the sounds of the Zhytomyr «Measurer»!
Residence V: UNCASE. Return became possible thanks to the partnership of the Measuring Instrument Innovation Park, the Sound Institute NGO, the Ostriv platform, TCM Audio, the Electric Measuring Plant and the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The curator (s) of the project are Olesya Onikienko and Sasha Dolgy in collaboration with Anna Khvyl.