FREEDOM TO THE BLACK

 ARTER launches its sound art project series
with the exhibition
“FREEDOM TO THE BLACK”
ARTER’s new series of sound art projects opens with the exhibition “Freedom to the
Black” by renowned Turkish composer Erdem Helvacıoğlu. Curated by Melih Fereli,
the installation features Fluxus pioneer George Maciunas’s work “Piano Piece”
(1970) along with Helvacıoğlu’s composition inspired by Maciunas’s very piano,
which is in the Vehbi Koç Foundation Contemporary Art Collection.
During the first ever performance of Maciunas’s work, Ben Vautier, the French
performance artist, nailed down all the white keys of this upright piano one by one,
rendering the white keys immovable and thus leaving only the black keys functioning.
“Freedom to the Black” is “an attempt to liberate ‘the black’ from all biases and
prejudices,” says the exhibition’s curator and Vehbi Koç Foundation’s Culture and
Arts Advisor, Melih Fereli: “Take it as a plea, or even as a protest, if you like; but do
bear in mind that ‘the black’ is a powerful part of the celebration of life, just like in
Erdem Helvacıoğlu’s music, and in particular his composition as part of this
installation, which is filled with the riches that ‘the black’ deserves.”
The accomplished composer, sound designer, guitarist and producer Erdem
Helvacıoğlu recorded the ‘sound memory’ of Maciunas’s piano to create his
astonishing 10-minute composition, “Freedom to the Black”. He accomplished this
over a four-day recording session at Babajim Studios, Istanbul, by using various
pieces of equipment and materials—scissors, bows, earplugs, stuffed toys, drum
sticks, mallets, hammers, screwdrivers, pieces of silk and wool, among many others
things—to extract a wide range of sounds from the piano’s body. Helvacıoğlu used
17 microphones with diverse characteristics and in unconventional placements for
the recordings.
For the spatial design of the installation at ARTER, the artist and the curator
collaborated with Dr Tony Myatt, director of the Music Research Centre at The
University of York. “Freedom to the Black” utilises an innovative sound system,
“Ambisonic B-format”, here used for the first time in Turkey. The system is installed in
a specially designed ground-floor room at ARTER and it involves sixteen speakers
that surround the audience in three dimensions for full spherical sonic diffusion.
The exhibition’s book includes Melih Fereli’s introductory conceptual framework
along with an interview Fereli conducted with Erdem Helvacıoğlu and a new essay by
music critic Tobias Fischer on Helvacıoğlu’s practice. Comprising photos from the
recording session of the work and from tools used during the recording, the book also
presents a CD that includes the stereo version of “Freedom to the Black”. The
publication will be available at Arter throughout the exhibition.
“Freedom to the Black” inaugurates ARTER’s “Sound Art Projects” series. ARTER
has added this exciting area of artistic production to its repertoire and it will continue
to commission and exhibit new works in this genre.
“Freedom to the Black” will run until 26 February 2012.
Opening hours
Tuesday–Thursday
Friday–Sunday
Closed on Mondays.
11:00–19:00
12:00–20:00
Admission free.
ARTER - space for art
İstiklal Caddesi No. 211, Beyoğlu
For more information: www.arter.org.tr
Melih Fereli was a long-standing singing member and executive of the worldrenowned Philharmonia Chorus, London between 1979 and 1995. He served as
General Director of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts from 1993 to 2001
and, in 1998, the British monarch, HM The Queen, bestowed on him the title Officer
of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). In 2006, Fereli joined the
faculty of Istanbul Technical University-MIAM Centre for Advanced Studies in Music.
Fereli has been serving as the Culture and Arts Advisor to the Vehbi Koç Foundation
and on the board of Borusan Culture and Arts since 2006. Fereli is a member of
ARTER’s executive board.
Erdem Helvacıoğlu
Erdem Helvacıoğlu is one of the most renowned “new music and electronic music”
composers of his generation in Turkey, as well as a captivating performer, sound
designer and producer and has several works to his credit and performances all
around the world. His music has been performed and broadcast all around the world
from BBC, ABC, WDR to Radio France. His compositions have been included in
most prestigious festivals in America, Europe, Argentina, New Zealand, Canada,
Korea and many other countries. He has received commissions from the 2006 World
Football Championship, 2009 Novelum Contemporary Music Festival, Istanbul
Foundation for Culture and Arts, TBA 21 The Morning Line, Borusan Center for
Culture & Arts, and the world famous New Music ensemble Bang On A Can-All Stars.
His sound installations have been included in museums and galleries including the
10th International Istanbul Biennial, Los Angeles Track 16, Indonesia Soemardja,
Köln Museum für Angewandte Kunst and London Menier Gallery. His solo and duo
albums with Per Boysen, Ros Bandt, Şirin Pancaroğlu were released by New Albion,
Sargasso Records and Sub Rosa has been included at the “Best Album of the
Year”, lists by magazines such as “All About Jazz”, “Textura”,“Cyclic Defrost”,
Blogcritics, Guitar Player ve Perfect Sound Forever. His upcoming album “Eleven
Short Stories” which consists of his solo prepared piano pieces, will be released by
the American label Innova Records in March 2012. Currently Helvacioglu has been
working on a new collaborative album with Nathan Larson and Nina Persson
alongside his new solo pieces.