Mario Verandi (b. 1960, Argentina)
Theatrum Sonorum, 2019

Tonspur Passage, Vienna, Austria / Visited 19/01/2020

An outdoor sound installation with photographs and postcards. Italian-style theatre built in Buenos Aires using Italian marble and Austrian furnishings. Its sounds recorded more than a century later and played back in Vienna.

I have not worked out yet what is it that makes it interesting. But there is something peculiar about meanings arising from objects travelling between various contexts. I am exploring that myself in a number of projects, but it is still a very open-ended exploration. I cannot articulate the point of interest or motivate it rationally.

Another thing that is interesting here is its outdoor presentation. Certainly, Tonspur Passage in Vienna is equipped for that purpose, it is an institutional space rather than a creative intervention in a random location, but nevertheless interesting. It has to interact with the surrounding urban sounds, it can surprise a by-passer who is not aware about the sonic dedication of the passage, you just seamlessly walk into/through it along your way rather than having to navigate interior of a building, buy a ticket, nod to an attendant in the corner…