Sound Aspects Of Material Elements

John Grzinich was born in New York, but has been living in Estonia for years, working as a composer, sound artist. In his work the central role is given to the sounds of the landscape surrounding mankind, and to the sounds of nature. His film, entitled Sound Aspects of Material Elements creates a transition between the art of sound and the moving image. It is the result of three years of observation and collaboration.

The changing landscapes from Estonia and the USA, from the countryside to industrial locations, are connected through sounds, creating a unique music record. Each scene equals to a song, where only the originally present objects or natural formations are used to create sound. The lonely humming of electric pylones in a desolate black and white landscape, icy branches hitting cables – the experimental movie of Grzinich introduces the hidden sounds of everyday life. It is a sort of call for creative listening – after leaving the cinema it will be easier to pay attention to the world of sounds surrounding us, which is only waiting to be heard.

John Grzinich has been conducting his own forms of sound research for over 15 years, including field recording, kinetic sculptures, electro-acoustic composition, performance, videography, group workshops and exercises in listening. Currently he lives in Estonia and works as a program and technical coordinator for MoKS, a non-profit artist-runcenter. 

Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich

Equipment and support: MoKS – Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste,

Estonia.

Collaborative recordings made with: Patrick McGinley, Jim Haynes, Toomas Thetlof, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Eamon Sprod, Hitoshi Kojo, and Evelyn Müürsepp.

Sound Aspects of Material Elements is a the film that shows a specific approach to the artistic use of sound, covering a 3 year period (2006-2009) of the author’s personal research and collaborations with a number of close colleagues. What we hear and see reveals how much our ability to listen with a creative ear, helps us re-interpret and build new relations to what surrounds us. Using sound as the primary signifier. The film documents in-situ processes of exploration and sonification of the landscape along with

various material, objects and structures found there. All the sounds captured formed the basis for each shot emphasizing how the combinations of certain materials (metal, wood, glass) along with natural elements (water, wind fire), transforms our perception of even the most common everyday places or

situations.