Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. is a sci-fi audio novel in three episodes with video subtitles. Written and directed by ALMARE, it is curated by Radio Papesse, promoted in collaboration with Timespan and produced thanks to the support of the Italian Council, a program to promote Italian art by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Set in a future fictional society, the trilogy is an audio diary that follows the adventures of researcher Dorothea Ïesj as she extracts (and resells) sounds from the past. Thanks to a technology called E.C.H.O., it is possible to analyse and recover the sound waves that have been engraved on every surface over the centuries. The trilogy is inspired by pseudo-scientific theories developed in the 19th century, at the same time as the growing development of recording technologies. These theories included archaeoacoustics, which suggested the possibility of tracing acoustic phenomena of the past that remained inscribed in matter. Investigating the link between data capitalism, technology, and value creation, Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. reflects on the use of archaeological artifacts, archives, and memory as instruments of power and control.
Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. will be acquired by MUSEION Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bozen and will be presented at Errant Sound, Berlin (September 23, 2023); Sound Studies Lab, Copenhagen (September 26–27, 2023); MUSEION, Bozen (September 29, 2023); LOOP Fair, Barcelona; IUAV University, Venice (March 9, 2024); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and Cinema Massimo, Turin; Museo Nazionale dell’Arte Digitale, Milan; Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome.
Keep posted about the public program.
The trilogy will be accompanied by the publication of a podcast produced by Radio Papesse together with ALMARE and distributed by NERO Editions. The podcast will feature authors, musicians, scholars and artists, including Reem Shadid, Juliette Volcler, Steve Goodman, Jathan Sadowski, Holger Schulze, Giada Dalla Bontà, Brandon LaBelle and others.
In spring 2024, an exhibition at Timespan, Helmsdale (Scotland) will close the cycle.
ALMARE is a collective dedicated to contemporary practices that use sound as an expressive medium. ALMARE works between artistic and curatorial practices, through writing, research, sound and music production, concert organisation, performance lectures, talks and exhibitions. ALMARE is part of the network project The Listeners with Metamorfosi Notturne and Cripta 747.
Radio Papesse is a webradio and online audio archive devoted to contemporary art. Founded in 2006, it is curated by Ilaria Gadenz and Carola Haupt. By embracing radio as a medium and as a language, it works together with museums and cultural institutions to talk about art making and art practices today. It hosts and commissions experimental sound and radiophonic works, inviting artists and producers to renew the rules of broadcasting and audio narration.
TIMESPAN is an arts and cultural organisation in Helmsdale (Scotland, Great Britain) founded in 1987. Its activities include a contemporary art programme, a programme for the promotion and conservation of cultural heritage, a local history museum, an educational programme, herb and geology gardens, a bakery, and a café.
