Soundwalk is very happy to announce our newest installation, Ulysses’ Syndrome, at the highly anticipated Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

Ulysses’ Syndrome is a sonic and visual artwork retracing the Odyssey of  Ulysses across the Mediterranean Sea, from Troy to Ithaca. In 2009, the Soundwalk collective set out on an adventure  on board a ship specially equipped with long range antennae, recording the hertzian frequencies along the shores of the Mediterranean.

Soundwalk has captured the humanity of the Mediterranean: conversations of Libyan fishermen on Greek cargo ships, passing yachts on the Corsican coast and customs officers of the Bay of Naples– all represented in these sonic fragments like a tower of Babel. The resulting work is a sonic fresco of 24 hours, resonant of the 24 songs of Homer’s Odyssey.

An audio-visual work of art, Ulysses’ Syndrome is premiering at the Lille Europe Pavilion as part of the Shanghai Expo, in place from May 1- July 15 2010. Visitors will hear the soundscape, while Soundwalk founder Stephan Crasneanscki’s panoramic photos of the sea provide the backdrop, transporting the audience to the Mediterranean. A mobile application will also be available for download during the summer of 2010, like a few drops of the Mediterranean bottled up in your phone.

Click the audio player to hear an excerpt from Puglia, Italy

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Press coverage: Artforum’s review of Ulysses’ Syndrome, l’Officiel Voyage’s feature article, and France Culture ACR’s audio preview of the project.

Blast Magazine has featured an interview with Soundwalk founder Stephan Crasneanscki on their website this month (May 2010). A French publication, Blast profiles the best of what’s happening in design, fashion, and culture. Stephan Crasneanscki expounds upon le Son du Nous, “[A beautiful metaphor of our existence on earth],” and working with designer Philippe Starck.

“[Le Son du Nous was an idea put in place by Philippe. He wanted to revisit sound, sound is a part of his craft. We spoke about revisiting sound in all its forms, in every context, and putting it on stage. For us it was a chance to use Soundwalk's extensive archives, which we've been collecting for ten years: sounds from everywhere in the world-- India, China, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Rio, and to compose a score. It's an odyssey of the history of sound from the cosmos to the fall of the Twin Towers, which is, I believe, the last sound truly symbolizing the age we are now at the heart of.

We created this performance, which was purely audio and not visual. It was interesting because we set it on a stage used for live performances- theater, dance, cinema. This was only sound and Philippe Starck to present it: le Son du Nous was almost orchestral-- thus we performed our odyssey of sound. It was an incredible encounter: Philippe Starck is extremely creative and has a contagious enthusiasm. We collaborated with incredible musicians and sound designers and six sound engineers who work with me at Soundwalk to compose, live, this adventure of sound.

We create audio tracks at Soundwalk but this was the first time we've ever performed on stage, confronted with a live audience of 1,000 people. It was a Proustian experience, a reminiscence through sound. The audience was given the chance to feel the sounds and respond with their own emotions. It was an extraordinary event because I had never before performed live. To find myself in a situation of orchestration, creating pure emotion was very powerful. People do Soundwalks, but I don't see them or their reactions. It was moving to see people who were touched by the performance, if they loved it or hated it, either way they felt something.

It was an amazing idea of Philippe Starck's to evoke the sort of primal scream at the end. One thousand people stood up and screamed in unison, all sharing in the climax of the performance. We captured this scream and will send the recording, encapsulated, into space. In three thousand, or even four hundred million years, it will remain as an enduring record of us. It is everything rolled into one: joy, hate, love-- a metaphor of our existence.]”

Thanks to Blast Magazine for the coverage!