Umbral
EL UMBRAL is a 15-minute sound installation created by the Swiss artist and performer Julie Semoroz. It was carried out at the Common Grounds exhibition curated by Séverin Guelpa and Anja Wyden Guelpa as part of the MATZA Egdelands project in Medellín. The intersection between physical and symbolic spaces and their influence on community building is the theme of Julie Semoroz’s work and the Common Grounds exhibition as a whole.
Julie Semoroz, in partnership with Sebastián Ortíz, builds a space where sound tells us about political, urban, and economic issues in Medellín. With an anthropological perspective as a strong reference for her work the artist reflect critically and artistically both on contemporary conditions of living together in the urban space and the social consequences of the acquisition of parts of the city by private investors. The artist collected sound clips from different sources and made a sound composition that she played in metal doors. As a result, the doors vibrated while transmitting. Her composition was made through the combination of sounds created by the sonification of the electromagnetic high frequencies from the neighborhood Perpetuo Socorro, clips from Colombian journalist Maria Jimena Duzán's reporting on things such as buying bets from companies of the Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (GEA), Sara Arango’s sonification of the number of homicides between 2002 and 2022 in Medellín and other security sources (from SIES-M and SISC).
About the artist
About the project
Created by Séverin Guelpa and Anja Wyden Guelpa in collaboration with the Edgelands Institute, MATZA EDGELANDS MEDELLÍN is a project held in Colombia between 31.01 and 17.02.2022. Gathering artists, experts, citizens, and activists together to reflect on contemporary issues, urban dynamics, and social tensions in the heart of Medellín, the project lead to the COMMON GROUND art residency and exhibition, which presented original artworks regarding security, digital surveillance, technology, and urbanization.
