vassilios kokkas, composer
Signal to Noise Rituals
Communication Blackbox
In
2001, I received the challenging invitation
to work with sound and create an installation
inside a magic space, the huge engine compartments
of the legendary battleship Averoff, an
important and popular monument of modern greek
history, a ship that was initially launched in
1910.
Averoff is indeed the
Flying Dutchman of the Greek 20th century naval
history. The heroic stories and are endless. When
the ship battled through the Balkan Wars, and
landed the docks Istanbul amidst the climax of the
“big idea”, the “megali idea”, to reconquer
Constantinople and rebuild the Byzantine Empire,
romantic spirits and souls went in a frenzy. The
ship has been admired and depicted by painters and
poets, kings and thieves, the good and the bad,
friends and enemies alike.
I looked into taking
advantage of the jittery collective perception of
time and space, which the stories of this ship
relate to. As a symbol for time, I took a
heartbeat and the sound of an old mechanic clock.
As a sound for the dimension of space, I took some
recordings of sea waves as they were audible in
some mysterious hidden points inside the engine
compartment.
As there are two
engine compartments, I gave one the sound of the
heartbeat, and the other the sound of the old
clock. These sounds were used as a time net, on
which various sounds, recorded in the spaces, were
intercomposed after a complex plan that was
inspired by two of my favorite artists, Calder and
his perpetuum mobile, and the monster musical
works of Jean Tinguelly. Indeterminacy was
guaranteed, as the recorded sounds of the 6
channel installation played from 3 mp3-CD players
in loops with durations resulting in prime number
ratios, so that it was practically impossible to
catch a repetition of the recorded material. Other
sounds were created by the distant waves hitting
the hull from outside, and the visitors entering
the installation, as every step on the metal
stairs and floor panels had its own unique and
mysterious sounding character. I used 6 hidden
speakers of different sizes, specifications and
character, in order to put together a small
acousmonium to serve as the musical instrument
inside the musical instrument, that was inside the
hull which is also a musical instrument.
The work was comissioned by the group project "Το
Πλήρωμα Ενός Άλλου Χρόνου" "A Crew of
Another Time" and was
made possible through a grant by the Michelis
Foundation, Athens. A catalog and a plan were
printed for this exhibition.
(Electroacoustic Sound
Installation by Vassilios Kokkas @ Battleship Museum Averoff,
Marina Trocadero, Faleron Athens, 2001. Made possible through a
grant by Michelis Foundation, Athens.)