Riccardo Benassi
Objekt-tief
"Se oggi, mentre noi possediamo forse mille macchine diverse, possiamo distinguere mille rumori diversi, domani, col moltiplicarsi di nuove macchine, potremo distinguere dieci, venti o trentamila rumori diversi, da non imitare semplicemente, ma da combinare secondo la nostra fantasia."
Luigi Russolo, "L'Arte dei Rumori", 1916
The machine as a doubled form of deceptive packaging, as trompe l’oeil and l’oreille. The record player does not retransmit sound through its traditional means, two guitar amplifiers masturbate, the transistor radio is manic-depressive: to send or to receive, that is the question here. Megahertz mutations and sound caricatures, but only at first glance. Then the groove begins; it overlaps the sound riveted in place by Riccardo Benassi which itself extends into intense rawness, it is part of these sound systems, which fulfil their own requirements. The apparatus protests against the user which it no longer needs, against instruction as the solitary means for the transport for sound. It refuses and becomes newly-redefined, but then nevertheless again goes on to deploy the assistance of the human, the optic-acoustic intermediate artist. Benassi does not change, he modifies and manipulates, he engages himself in the process and leads the usual usage to the absurd. Riccardo Benassi forces the observer to look closely where he would otherwise only listen - rather than the other way around. His accomplices on this journey of the misuse of music are, for example, small, metal balls which tumble about on diaphragms, ricochet through the inner workings of the loudspeakers and mischievously bustle their way at and around the antennas. Thus new life is breathed into the machine, and the rhythm is provided with a basis. No, that is not noise but rather the attempt to push the senses more closely together, to superimpose, to fuse, to direct the ocular towards auditory perception. Benassi’s sound installations, his manipulated loud speakers and turntables, can be read and listened to in many different ways. Steps reverberate through the night, insects circle threateningly over the roof, and in the distance one can hear rhythmic tribal-rituals. Aside from all these stories, which tell us the instruments used by the illusionist Benassi, the sound also serves its purpose for the club - if it leaves dimension below the border of perception and resonates from the boxes. That is it, the poetry of unrest.
by Anna-Bianca Krause
Opening: 7th July 2006 Galerie Davide Gallo Linienstrasse 156 - Berlin 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm
(from Tuesday to Saturday)
