opera infinita is a multi-dimensional project conceived by Denise Ferreira da Silva and Jota Mombaça. It departs from the practices of collective sensing, polyvocality, and ‘elemental listening’ activated through a series of multi-local offline and online vocal gatherings. The project’s first activation ‘chapter 0’, presented in the frame of Mombaça’s writer-in-residence at Nottingham Contemporary, is an original sonic statement composed in collaboration with Brazilian producer and researcher Anti Ribeiro.
‘chapter 0’ departs from the question ‘has the fire read the stories it burnt?’ for a deep consideration of what possibilities fire instantiates for elemental forms of listening. In an attempt to move past reductive approaches that consider fire as an obliterant element, this sonic piece deals with sound as heat and fire-induced crackling as re-de-composition of matter and language. Through fragmentation and juxtaposition, the piece mixes various textual elements such as Mombaça’s speculative fiction ‘Can you sound like two thousand?’ and Ferreira da Silva’s poem Terra Vermelha (Red Earth) with elemental sounds and distorted soundscapes. The work was composed between Lisbon, Vancouver and Palmeiras and it opens the path for the upcoming chapters of ‘opera infinita’.
The artists suggest listening to the piece with headphones.
Credits
Creative Direction: Denise Ferreira da Silva and Jota Mombaça
Executive Production: Jota Mombaça
Sound Design: Anti Ribeiro
Composition: Anti Ribeiro, Denise Ferreira da Silva and Jota Mombaça
Vocals: Denise Ferreira da Silva, Jota Mombaça, Nina Simone, Sonia Sanchez, and vozes do Candomblé Ègbé-Nagô/PE.