Melodie mediterranee

A sound installation in a multisensory installation

“Piazza del Vento” is a collective multisensory installation, where to celebrate the rite of urbanity of Genoa on the sea. Strongly wanted by Ucina Confindustria Nautica with the support of Spim, the work represents the legacy of the International Boat Show to the city: designed for a temporary event, it has become a permanent public artwork, thus sanctioning the indissoluble link between the Boat Show and the City of Genoa.

We imagined a “field” of 57 masts in red maple wood and white steel, 12 meters tall and bound together with textile stay-cables with dacron jibs inferred on. On the top of each mast a multiplicity of windex is placed, sewing coloured spinnaker’s fabric highlighting the direction and the intensity of the wind. Among the masts, some double seat swings are placed, where to sit as couple in the shade of the sails while looking toward the sea.

By collaborating with the musician Roberto Pugliese, Enter Studio and Matteo Orlandi have created the sound scape “Melodies Mediterranee” activated by the action of the wind: a system of brass rods of different length, arranged according to a precise spatial scheme among the masts, reflects the sounds of the mare nostrum with chords from a Mediterranean musical scale “played” by the wind.

As a result of the cooperation between OBR and Artkademy, the Piazza del Vento also sees the involvement of the poet and street artist Ivan Tresoldi, who has executed the performance “A.mare” with the visitors of the event creating the anamorphosis: “Who throws seeds in the wind will make the sky flourish”.

Since ancient times wind has represented the energy through which people have been exploring and trading with new lands, creating linguistic, cultural and even musical connections, so much so that perhaps we can say that the Mediterranean Sea has its own sound.

The installation “Melodie Mediterranee” (Mediterranean Melodies), which consists of 19 elements suspended between the masts of the Piazza del Vento, was conceived from the idea of capturing that sound and returning the musical chords of the Mediterranean. The action of the wind is given the task of resonating brass rods of different lengths “tuned” according to a musical scale that for the occasion has been called “Scala Mediterranea” (Mediterranean Scale). Within the installation, the delicate jingles of the brass rods communicate with the elements of the maritime tradition: masts, sails and windex evoke the subtle sound of boats moored in harbor lulled by the sea. A tribute to an unpredictable energy that cheerfully caresses the notes of our Mediterranean.