Félix Blume – Desierto

Sonic Acts Podcast

NIGHT AIR: SHIFTING SANDS Félix Blume – Desierto 22 April 2022 – OT301, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Félix Blume’s talk and ‘Desierto’ (2021, 24’) listening session transported the audience to Altiplano Potosino in central Mexico, a major gold and silver mining hub. Commissioned by ARTE Radio, the piece is filled with recordings from these elevated plains, emphasising that the desert, far from being hostile, is prolific with life. In the audiovisual work and installations of sound artist and engineer Félix Blume, listening emerges as a core tool, a means to encourage the awareness of the imperceptible, and as an act of encounter with others. Blume’s artistic practice is often collaborative, working with communities and using public space as a context within which to explore and present work. Intrigued by myths and their contemporary reinterpretations, he hones in on human dialogues with both inhabited natural and urban environments, tuning into what voices can say beyond words. Blume's pieces have been broadcasted by radio stations around the world. A recipient of the Paysage Sonore Prize for the video piece ‘Curupira, Creature of the Wood’ (2018), Blume was also presented with the Pierre Schaeffer prize for ‘Los Gritos de México’ (2015) at the Phonurgia Nova Awards. He has participated in festivals and exhibitions including LOOP Barcelona, Ex Teresa, Arts Santa Monica, CTM, Thailand Biennale, IFFR, etc. Blume resides between France, Mexico, and Brazil. Digging into the relationship between sand, the history of pollution, and economy, Shifting Sands featured an audiovisual work by Félix Blume, talks from scholars Jeff Diamanti and Michaela Büsse, as well as films from Enar de Dios Rodríguez, Maika Garnica, Ans Mertens and Yanjin Wu. In the latter part of the evening, artist Farzané delivered a performance of ‘LÖSS’, before DJs Femi, TAAHLIAH, Snufkin, and Europa took over for the night. More information about Shifting Sands and its participants can be found at sonicacts.com/discover/night-air-shifting-sands NIGHT AIR Night Air is a series of Sonic Acts events that aim to make pollution visible by bringing forth the various side-effects of modernity: from exploitation of people and resources to perpetual inequalities brought about by the destruction of the environment and common land – in other words, capitalist practices that shape both our environment and human-nonhuman relations. CREDITS Curation & production: Sonic Acts Design: Toni Brell https://tonibrell.de Video editing: Marie Debarbieux https://mariedebarbieux.wixsite.com Sound mastering: Poul Sven de Haan http://faboem.nl