Wildfires, by Stephan Crasneansci. Photo by Tbel Abuseridze

Soundwalk Collective & Patti Smith
CORRESPONDENCES

2023 - 2024

CORRESPONDENCES is an ever-evolving project between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith. Spanning over 10 years, it traverses a wealth of geographies and their natural environments, where the artists have uncovered sonic steps left by poets, filmmakers, revolutionaries and impact of climate change.

Soundwalk Collective’s founder, Stephan Crasneanscki, has explored, captured and collected the world’s remotest places in sound to awaken a sonic memory within the landscape, uncovering traces of past and current histories of the world we are living in. The resulting compositions are made of sound that reflect our relation to this world, the environment, the soul of our existence, and the creative process of the artist.

Initially composed as long travelling shots, soundtracks to an invisible movie, Stephan brought these recordings to Patti Smith, giving her new landscapes to channel her poetic vision. This ongoing resonance between the artists – which started during a chance encounter on a plane – has been shaped by their correspondences: ongoing conversations with the intention of reflecting on life and nature.

For CORRESPONDENCES, their collaboration focuses on eight unique pieces that revert the relationship of sound to image. Sound came first, and only then would imagery be found to tell the music’s story, visually edited to each soundtrack. From a collaboration with TBA21-Academy exploring the destructive impact of seismic airguns and human interventions in the oceans, to the resilience of Nature in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, to the decentralized societies envisioned by Peter Kropotkin, to the wastelands of Pasolini’s last night: the pieces presented become thought-provoking audiovisual journeys.

Eight screens positioned along two perpendicular axes, present an interplay between two movies at one time, as two sides of a vinyl, where the images and sounds mirror one another and act as yet another correspondence.

Elsewhere in the exhibition, lightbox tables display layers of artwork that reflect and document the process of creation of each piece, featuring original drawings, handwritten texts, photographs, scientific data and other studies.

Directed by Stephan Crasneanscki, the 8x films also feature original footage from ‘I Tagli di Medea’ by Pier Paolo Pasolini starring Maria Callas, courtesy of Cinemazero; ‘Pasolini’ by Abel Ferrara starring Willem Dafoe; ‘Andrei Rublev’ by Andrei Tarkovsky and ‘Andrei Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer’ by Andrey A. Tarkovskiy; courtesy of Andrey A. Tarkovskiy; Satellite Imagery by NASA, ESA; Ocean Data Visualisation conceived by Territorial Agency/ John Palmesino and Ann-Sofi Rönnskog with Soundwalk Collective, in collaboration with TBA21–Academy.

Curated by Santiago Gardeazábal, CORRESPONDENCES is produced in collaboration with Nova et Vetera, the Centro Nacional de las Artes Delia Zapata Olivella, Teatro Colón de Bogotá, Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia, and Analogue Foundation.

Artistic Direction : Stephan Crasneanscki with Patti Smith
 Associate Producer : Simone Merli
 Sound and Music by Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith
 Drawings, Photography & Film : Stephan Crasneanscki
 Poems, Texts, Drawings & Words : Patti Smith  

Soundwalk Collective Production :
Elena Origliasso,  Douglas Pisterman, Kato Kacharava, Masha Demianova
Music Co-Production : Russell Elevado  
Guest Musicians & Sound Artists : Aurelien Rivière,  Diego Espinosa Cruz Gonzalez,
Dug Winningham, Francisco Lopez , Hans Tammen, Kamran Sadeghi, Leonardo Heiblum,
 Lucy Railton , Nicolas Becker, Radu Cilinca, Robert Henriques , Szabolcs ‘Szabi’ Bognar
Guest Voices:  Abel Ferrara , Giorgi Javakhshvili, Giorgi Manjgaladze , Jean-Luc Godard , Lashari Georgian Choir , Willem Dafoe  

Field Recording : Stephan Crasneanscki  
Ocean Recordings & Underwater Species : Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza , Jana Winderen, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Tony Myatt ; In Collaboration with TBA21–Academy
Seismic Airgun: Courtesy of NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory VENTS Program
Chernobyl Children's Choir Arrangement : Hans Tammen  
Chief Choirmaster: Igor Gribkov

Recording Engineers : Bastian Lozier,  Erik Breuer, George Gvarjaladze,  Pablo Godin , Stan Neff  
Sound Mixes : Erik Breuer , Russell Elevado
  Studio Assistants: Erwan Abbas,  Heinrich Matis , Rhea Sodemann
 
Directors of Photography : Anastasia Ivanova , Dhanesh Jayaselan, Ennio Guarnieri ,
Kimani Schumann , Roman Klymchuk, Stefano Falivene, Vadim Yusov
 Film Editors : Ann-Sofi Rönnskog, Brian Close, Eva Ibáñez Fuertes, John Palmesino,
Leonardo Daniel Bianchi  
Analogue Film Processing : Pedro Maia 
Film Archivist:  Olivia Streisand 

‘Cry Of The Lost’ features satellite imagery, remote data sensing and ice data by Territorial Agency; footage of Barents Sea protest against seismic blasts courtesy of Greenpeace, all rights reserved 

‘Medea’ features original unreleased footage from ‘I Tagli Di Medea’ by Pier Paolo Pasolini, starring Maria Callas; courtesy of Cinemazero 
‘Pasolini’ features original footage by Abel Ferrara, starring Willem Dafoe; courtesy of Abel Ferrara 

‘The Acolyte’ features original footage from ‘Andrei Rublev’ by Andrei Tarkovsky and from ‘Andrei Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer’ by Andrey A. Tarkovskiy; courtesy of Andrey A. Tarkovskiy
 

  Satellite Imagery by Territorial Agency, NASA, ESA 
Wildfire Footage Courtesy of: California Dept. Of Natural Resources; Critical Past;
Department of Agriculture Forest Service; State of California Division of Forestry;
California Department of Water Resources; Rick Ray/Videvo; Huntley Archives; Kinolibrary; Seattle Municipal Archives; National Advanced Fire and Resource Institute;
National Wildfire Coordinating Group; AirSource Military; 564Fire;
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Line Producers: Andrey Bundin,  Ollie Shor, Tina Makharadze, Zoe Perret  
Photo Retouching : Jakob Axelman , Ryan Boatright  
Photography Printing & Consultation:  Alessio Boni , Masha Demianova 
Graphics : Ekaterina Kachavina  
Text Editing : Jorinde Croese
  Visual Designer : Florian Tobias Schmitt 
Exhibition Documentation: Kato Kacharava, Tbel

Special Thanks : Ali Demirel, Andi Midge, Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, Franziska Benger, Julia Diekaemper, Levan Berulava, Marc Raymond Wilkins, Marcus Gammel, Markus Reymann, Nestan Nijaradza, Petra Linhartova, Riccardo Costantini, Sohichiro Matsumoto, Tony Cederteg, Valeri Chekheria, Analogue Foundation, Audio-Technica, Greenpeace, Language of Sound, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, National Museum of Natural History of Kiev, TBA21–Academy, Territorial Agency. Produced in Collaboration with Nova Et Vetera, Analogue Foundation