Noise Variations” is a sonic journey into the heart of the Arctic glaciers and our imaginations, where ice resonates, sings, and cracks, and scientists explore, dig, and confront the elusive. In a place where few ears have ventured, Ugo, a passionate young glaciologist, invites his childhood friend Clovis, a sound artist, to join him. Clovis thus becomes one of the few non-scientists to tread and listen in the northernmost community in the world, Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. We find Ugo and his Norwegian team in a bustling preparation phase. They are about to install their seismometers – ultra-sensitive microphones – under 350 meters of ice, a world first. Their goal: to listen to the glacier’s cracks to understand its response to climate change. The ice cracks, the snow melts, and the rivers roar beneath an ever-warming atmosphere.
Deep in the fjord, beyond the cries of birds and the roars of seals, humans become tiny and the glacier resists. It swallows up the measuring instruments, renders them mute, and refuses to reveal its song. The mission fails. Faced with growing doubts and the scientists’ silence, Clovis then lets himself be carried away by the whispers of the Arctic, in rhythm with a perpetual sun. He plunges us into a unique and vulnerable sonic universe. By his side, Ugo also shifts his point of listening and learns to let go in the face of an indomitable reality with which he seeks to coexist, not against but alongside.
And it is then that, by listening closely, whispers begin to arrive.
Check full information, complete media and photo library on the project website.
Clovis Tisserand (Fr/Be/It)
Clovis splits his time between France, Belgium and Italy. Naturally curious and playful, he has an ear for listening, whether it’s to birdsong or vibrating speakers with musical notes.
Whenever possible, he escapes the city to explore the Italian coast in search of volcanoes to listen to. He is the novice who ventures into unknown territory with a desire to understand the environment. Speaking little, he communicates through the sounds he records and through silences—or what could be mistaken for silence—between voices and noises.
Ugo Nanni (Fr/No)
Ugo is based in Norway, working in the Arctic. He blends his desire for exploration with a commitment to contributing to a society that remains connected to what it call “Nature.”
Ugo listens to glaciers by measuring their vibrations using an innovative approach he co-developed during his doctoral thesis. Sound is his companion on this journey, his ally in sharing the icy voices of these climate sentinels. He is passionate about disseminating these sounds beyond the scientific realm to make them accessible to the general public.
Ugo holds a Ph.D. in Glaciology from the University of Grenoble Alpes.
Amélia Nanni (Fr/Be)
Amelia Nanni is French-Italian artist, now based in Belgium. She has always been surrounded by stories—those from her parents that served as both lullabies and awakenings to others. Stories that shape her and those that deconstruct her.
These narratives are her tools for understanding the world, her guides, her weapons, and sometimes her burdens. For over 10 years, she has collected and passed on stories, bringing them to life through various media: cinema, radio, theatrical performances. Each story has its medium, with a commitment to creating connections.
Pak Yan Lau (HK/Be)
Pak Yan is of Hong Kong origin and resides in Brussels. She is a sound artist, musician, and composer who has developed a rich, dense, and captivating sonic universe over the years. Using prepared pianos, toy pianos, synths, electronics, and various sound objects, she skillfully blends electro-acoustic approaches to explore sound in an enchanting manner, merging different sound sources with poetry, magic, and finesse.
Water is one of the primary materials in her creations. Following projects involving sound in a swimming pool, installations around tears, and compositions based on the Pacific Ocean, she embarks on this project to tackle another form of water: the solidified water of glaciers. Here, she creates a musical score inspired by their breaths.
Giovanni di Domenico (It/Be)
Giovanni, a Roman living in Brussels, is a pianist, performer, and composer who has carved a unique path through a wide range of experimental music domains. His prolific output spans various ensembles, solo recordings, and intimate collaborations. Di Domenico has also founded his own label, Silent Water, which hosts an eclectic and unclassifiable production.
In “Noise Variations,” his Rhodes piano will accompany the voices blending with the breath of the Arctic. These voices include those of Clovis and Ugo, as well as the voices in different languages of the scientists involved with this glacier.
Noise Variations – The whisper of the Glaciers
Team
- Directors: Clovis Tisserand, Ugo Nanni & Amelia Nanni
- Sound recording and editing: Clovis Tisserand
- Mixing: Jeanne Debarsy
- Music: Pak Yan Lau & Giovanni Di Domenico
Acknowledgements
The team from Mammamia at the University of Oslo, members of the Ny-Ålesund research station, those who accompanied us during this project…
Infos
- 29.07.2024 | 16:00
- Bruxelles 87.7MHz
- Online > radioairlibre.net
- noisevariations.weebly.com
Production
- Halolalune Production
- With the support of ACSR, Radio Creation Assistance Fund (FACR) of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, The ‘Challenges of Tomorrow’ Scholarship SCAM and Orange Belgium, Transcultures, European Pepinieres of Creation.
- Licence : SCAM Belgique – 2024
