Radio Papesse

Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U.

a project by ALMARE
curated by Radio Papesse
promoted in collaboration with Timespan
 

Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. is a sci-fi audio novel with video subtitles in three episodes. 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.

The work will be acquired by MUSEION | Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bolzano. A podcast produced by Radio Papesse and ALMARE will be distributed by NERO Editions.

Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. will be touring throughout Europe and it will be presented at:

September 23rd, 2023
Errant Sound
Rungestraße 20, Berlin (DE) 

September 26th - 27th, 2023
Sound Studies Lab | Københavns Universitet
Københavns Universitet, ​​Karen Blixens Vej 1, Copenhagen (DN)

September 29th, 2023
MUSEION | Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art 
In the frame of HOPE (30.09.2023 – 25.02.2024) a show that marks the third chapter of TECHNO HUMANITIES with an international research group consisting ofn Bart van der Heide, Leonie Radine, DeForrest Brown, Jr., and Museion Passage Group.
Exhibition design by Diogo Passarinho Studio
Piazza Piero Siena 1, Bolzano-Bozen (IT)

November 21st - 23rd, 2023
Loop Fair
Barcelona

March 13th, 2024
Cinema Massimo & Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation
Turin

March 15th, 2024
IUAV University 
Venice

April 19th-21st
Timespan
Helmsdale, Scottish Highlands (UK)

April 29th- May 5th, 2024
Auditorium Parco della Musica
Rome

  ALMARE's recording session at Superbudda Studios, Turin, August 2023. Ph. Stefano Fiorina

Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. | the plot 

Set in a fictional society, Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. is an audio-diary that follows the adventures of researcher Dorothea as she extracts (and resells) sounds from the past. Thanks to a technology called ECHO, it is possible to analyse the sound waves that have been engraved on every surface over the centuries. ECHO reveals the audio traces imprinted in matter, allowing any sound to be recovered. Dorothea Ïesj receives a scholarship financed by the war industry and the powerful university association “Societas Paleoacusticæ Universalis”, better known as S.P.U., to analyse sound artefacts related to military actions, which she then smuggles with a group of colleagues.

Preface

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 included archaeoacoustics, which suggested the possibility of tracing acoustic phenomena of the past that remained “engraved” in matter. Extracting sounds is currently impossible, but plausible: this hypothesis prompts reflection on its consequences in terms of social control and monitoring. 

Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. investigates the link between data capitalism, technology, and value creation, reflecting on the use of archaeological artefacts, archives, and memory as instruments of power and control. The narrative structure of Life Chronicles develops from certain premises that are already current in our socio-economic system, such as the use of voice data, non-consensual recordings, and voiceprints. Self-tracing is already a reality, and our recordings are already part of the archaeological realm, as they begin sliding towards gradual obsolescence just as they happen.


The medium: between audio and video

Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. is an audio narrative, with subtitles in Italian and English in video format, and therefore stands at the frontier of radio, film, and literature, in a hybrid genre that has a long artistic and cinematic tradition in videos without images. The script is written in a dystopian language that mixes ancient and contemporary Italian. It originates from the exchange of emails and messages between the members of ALMARE, and openly quotes and alters extracts from essays, novels, film scripts, and video games.
 

Amos Cappuccio, Luca Morino, Gabriele Rendina Cattani at work: recording session in Genoa, August 2023. Ph. Radio Papesse

BIO

Founded in Turin in 2017 by Amos Cappuccio, Giulia Mengozzi, Luca Morino and Gabbi Cattani, 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. In 2020, ALMARE inaugurated the production of the audio series Life Chronicles of Dorothea Ïesj S.P.U. In 2021, it contributed to founding the network project The Listeners, which it is a member of along with Metamorfosi Notturne and Cripta 747.


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. Through a holistic and integrated approach, the organisation aims to use culture as a weapon for real social change that follows the principles of justice, equality, and inclusion. In 2021, Timespan was selected for its work as one of five finalists for the Art Fund, an annual award given to the best British museum.

Press office 

Carola Serminato
+39 3491299250
carola.serminato@gmail.com