- Forgotten Loops’ Sketchbook, 2023-2024 (00:17:06)
Life is a beautiful glitch. A rhythmic essay on our flaws and imperfections. An infinite list of small mistakes and forgetfulness that swirl and thicken in the mind of the poet, a sound artist. Beckettian anti-resolutions that emerge like a litany during a brief meditation on everyday life. The author’s poem, presented by means of a superimposition of vocal lines made up of loops with different psychological framings of the text. Simultaneities. The irregularity of the loops used in the piece, the result of sudden gestures of improvisation on the recorded material, results in an approximation to the technical precariousness of sillon fermé, the closed groove inscribed on old acetate discs. Cuts and overlaps animate the resulting patterns. The piece is made up of three parts: parts 1 and 3, fast and essentially rhythmic. Part 2, broader, slower and cumulative; semi-discursive, punctuated by hesitations and squeaks. Voice: Anna Carl Lucchese.
- Children of Science, 2021 (17:07-18:07)
October, 2020. São Paulo. Three friends in a public park, wearing masks. They talk about life from a safe distance. Shy walkers pass. Children appear. They get on the spinning toy. At a safe distance, they articulate the present. Figure and background. Our anguish exposed to the sun. The pile driver lacks empathy. At night, alone, I listen to what they said: imaginary friends, little magic stones, trips to the Moon and Saturn! “The most dangerous thing in the world? Jump out of a Building. Second, catch the Corona virus.” Children of science, they are. Voice: Roberto D’Ugo Junior.
- Fica Comovido / Be Moved By (final section), 2021-2022 (18:07-27:07)
Mr Laurentino is a street musician who used to play his harmonica on the pavement of Avenida Paulista in the city of São Paulo. One evening in 2018, I conducted a short interview with him. When asked how passers-by reacted to his work, he simply said that everyone is moved when they hear music. I hadn’t seen Mr Laurentino for a long time. In this piece (2021), the phrase ‘Fica comovido’ (be moved by) is subjected to basic electroacoustic processing: slowdown, EQ, granular delay and exhaustive repetition. The irregularity of the loops, the fruit of sudden gestures of improvisation, results in an approximation to the technical precariousness of sillon fermé, the closed groove inscribed on old acetate discs. Repetitions, cuts and overlaps animate ‘resulting patterns’. At the end, I thank the musician, a little awkwardly, for the conversation before I leave. The 45 minutes are derived from a simple phrase said by Mr Laurentino as if he were apologising for something. This piece is neither a report nor a documentary, but a modest audio testimony and a poetic meditation on the human condition.
Roberto D’Ugo Junior is a brazilian artist-researcher dedicated to radio art. His work explores interfaces between magic, technique and art. Based on a poetic-documentary listening to everyday life, he develops an aesthetic investigation that dialogues with surrealism and musical minimalism. One of the main features of his work is the ritualistic repetition of speech residues and fragments of field recordings. He holds a PhD in Visual Arts from the Institute of Arts at São Paulo State University. He was programme and production coordinator at Rádio Cultura FM in São Paulo. He teaches radio and sound media at the Faculdade Cásper Líbero.