Workshop Vito Willems
24 - 05 - 2024
On the 24th of May we, the Platform Project of Emergence 2, welcomed Vito Willems to give a workshop called 'Syndicate of Sound and Space introduces Holos’. It was a special day where we experimented, tinkered, thought, listened and discussed a lot. Overall a very inspirational experience, also meaningful for shaping our own project direction. The program consisted of three different parts that we will further discuss in this article, but first, an introduction of Vito Willems.
Vito Willems
Vito Willems has a background in music and technology, with a degree in Sound Studies and Sonic Arts, at the University of the Arts Berlin. He is now a member of the Syndicate of Sound and Space (SSS) and has created multiple installations within the field of spatial sound, such as the Spatial Sound Studio in Budapest and his latest work Holos. He sees his role as ‘to guide the technology in the desired direction, facilitate public experience spaces and develop circular “entertainment” technologies that explore consciousness from our interiority in an accessible way.’
1 - Introduction
Syndicate of Sound and Space (SSS) and the History of Holos
After introducing ourselves, Vito kicked off the day with a story: a futuristic narrative he had written. One topic he talked about was how abandoned buildings are sometimes taken over by nature again, which raised the question for us: ‘Will nature take its part in AI again?’ After an open conversation, he gave us a presentation on his works, such as the Spatial Sound Studio in Budapest and the history of Holos. He explained how the Holos logo was built up; not too much of an aesthetic/identity put in it, in order not to become dishonest. This philosophy was also used for the Holos experience itself, creating abstract sounds, but never too far detached nor distorted from reality.
2 - Module 1
Holos — Practice
In this module, we got to experience Holos, as we had installed it in our SoundLab. We firstly experimented with the system through making all types of noises that were picked up by the microphones. From whispering voices to lathing machines in the background, to slapping our acoustic panel isolation material against the floor, everything was picked up and in a way transferred back into the soundscape. Holos created a soundscape of what the SoundLab and its surroundings sound like, or even feel like. Some sounds could even infinitely stay in the soundscape, as they were picked up again and again by the system. A unique experience and very insightful to see what spatial sound is capable of. As Vito calls it, it was about ‘intra-actions’: interactions not from a human, but a circular process where the field and the human come into active-reactive unison.
Then, Vito told us a bit of how the ‘magic’ worked by explaining some of the technical details behind Holos. How do the sounds distort, what determines the loop and how long does it all last? Behind the top layer of the art, there are way more layers of software and coding.
3 Module 2
Holos — Theory
The last part was very philosophical as we discussed a lot about our experiences. There was a very open conversation and Vito showed us some examples of how he thinks the world is changing; shifting from an old to a new paradigm and its undefined time in the future. We realized how much we look at the world from this anthropocentric view, and what exactly it is that this means. Some food for thought for our own artistic approach in the Platform Project.
Overall it was a great day with unique experiences and trains of thought.