Observatorium

Site-specific sound intervention at Palazzo Russo, San Cesario di Lecce, Italy.

Two vibrations transducers, two loudspeakers, five microphones, found objects and electroacoustic feedback circuits. Produced in the simularr artistic research residency at Palazzo Russo, April 2024.

This site-specific intervention was installed on the highest point of Palazzo Ruzzo, an historical palace in the old centre of San Cesario di Lecce. Some brass elements - a strange binocular and two decorated pipes - and an old chair suggest to stop by at this lookout point, from where one can observe the whole old town of San Cesario. The wind blows through the pipes, making subtle whistle sounds that become crearly audible when one sits between them. The sensation is similar to that of listening through a conch shell.

Some elements of Observatorium were later reconfigured in the sound installation Specola.

Binaural Recordings

Three audio recordings from the three main listening points. Binaural, headphones recommended.

Installation Plan

Several microphones are placed all around the rooftop, capturing the sound of the wind and other activites taking place in Pallazo Russo - a boiler heating the water for the showers, a plastic pipe exhausting water from the kitchen, the sound of people moving around. These are amplified by two vibration transducers that are attached to the brass pipes, as well as through two loudspeakers placed at resonant points of the terrace. The microphones and loduspeakers are distributed in a way that they can create a feedback loop, generating Larsen Tones at different frequencies. The feedback is sensible to the position of the listener, especially at the main listening point between the brass tubes.