Port AMPs

Zafos Xagoraris at Istanbul Biennial

Istanbul Biennial, September 2007 International artist Zafos Xagoraris presents his project Port Ampliphons in Istanbul Biennial. In the two cities during their Biennials, aMAZElab has produced site-specific sound performance of the Greek artist Zafos Xagoraris. A port city is composed of areas like the water front, docks, wharehouses, beaches, where sea and the urban context merge. These areas are sometimes neglected, either temporarily or permanently, delapidated and largely underpopulated. These empty, deserted and silent urban spaces are both specific and peculiar to the city, while also representing its dark side. In order to make these places come alive, the project “Port Ampliphons” aims at increasing the volume of silence permeating these areas with an amplifying system: expanding the sound from the water front, the mast tops, or the wind. This solid and liquid threshhold is present along the boundary line of many harbours or coastal regions. The project aims at putting together a mapping of sounds from similar settings in order to create an archive of sounds from the port-cities. Partners: Biennale di Istanbul (www.iksv.org/bienal/); Istanbul Modern (www.istanbulmodern.org).