DMSA student Jeph Vanger talks about the influences behind his work.
Hi Jeph, can you tell us a bit about your work?
Sφera (2018) is multichannel sound environment where the physical presence of sound becomes the priority. Loudspeaker Design experiments, 3D Audio and Contemporary Dance amalgamate through a symphony of a hand-built multicell horn speaker, a hand-built subwoofer and the Sonible IKO ambisonics speaker which is able to emit highly directional sound beams around and on the listener’s body.
A major part of the installation, pays tribute to the mournful – yet visceral – sound of the Foghorn, using original recordings from the field performance Foghorn Requiem (2013), where 50 ships sounded their horns to a score taking into account landscape and the physical distance of sound. Sφera derives from the philosophical principles of the philosopher Parmenides, who was interested in the spherical perception of being-in-the-world.
My personal meetings with the composers Hans Peter Kuhn & Orlando Gough, the multicell speaker horn builder Markus Klug, Gesamtatelier’s (London based artistic platform) choreographers Kyriaki Nasioula & Georgia Tegou, the help and support of Ralf Baumgartner, sound engineer and founder of the Sonible innovative audio team based in Austria and the kind provision of sound recordings by Geoff Sample have shaped the installation to what it is today.
What are your plans following graduation?
Following graduation, I will be working on the sound design of the Art of Dying (2018) performance developed by Jukstapoz, Athens-based dance company in collaboration with a great group of people. The piece is going to be performed at both Athens & Epidaurus Festival and Kalamata International Dance Festival. A great honour to work with those guys! Also, during July, I will be the composer in residence for the research and development period of London-based CODA dance company which is active in working with Multiple Screlosis sufferers and multimedia contemporary dance performances. During the end of summer, I will hopefully have some time off traveling around the Aegean sea.
How did you find studying DMSA at Brighton?
Τhe Digital Music & Sound Art course has rapidly changed my life as I discovered new territories of sonic exploration through the interaction with influential students, lecturers, artists and technicians. Brighton is a great place to meet people and without the need to take a bus or a train to get somewhere, everything becomes easier. I was really lucky to discover that the composer of the Foghorn Requiem piece, Orlando Gough, who was the main influence for the compositional context of my installation, is also based in Brighton so I had the chance to meet him at his house and exchange ideas about the project.
Find out more about Jeph’s work
Find out more about BA(Hons) Digital Music and Sound Art
