Roberto Pugliese (ITA/FI, b. 1980) is a sound and media artist and researcher based in Helsinki. His work consists of compositions, installations and performances, sometimes based exclusively on sound forms, other times on multimedia combination, often acknowledging and taking advantage of the visitor presence and action. He uses sound and its transformation to establish alternative relations between the visitor and the space. In compositions, by collecting and digitally processing environmental sound and video material, he works towards a common language among visual and sonic imageries. His investigation and practice are often supported by the development of software and self-made electronic tools. While using digital media to initially create audiovisual content, his work is often concerned with memories, the concept of interface and based on the augmentation of physical media. He has presented his work in festivals such as Montreal Videomusic Festival (CAN), AAVE (FI), Plektrum (EE), CARTES FLUX (FI) and Loikka (FI) and in galleries such as MUU Galleria (FI), the Science Gallery (IE) and EYEBEAM (NY). He has also collaborated with dancers and choreographers for the creation of alternative stages and new forms of media performance. “My composition and performances explore the relationship between sound and images, their perceptual integration in time and space and intertwined choreography as one medium.”

The space of a year is a multichannel audiovisual installation, played in a 20-minute loop. Projections are cast on adjacent walls or screens and four speakers placed in a rectangular formation. The space of a year portrays the passage of time during the course of a year and deconstructs visual and sonic material associated with nature and its transformation throughout different seasons. The visual material consists of highly processed videos and photos collected from the nature in different seasons of the year. The sound material is based on field recordings also collected in the nature in different seasons of the year. The field recordings include the sound of footsteps on different surfaces (sand, leaves, snow, etc.) during different times of the year (ice, snow, rain, dry and wet material). https://soundcloud.com/robertopugliese/spaceofayearbergen-redux Contact microphones are placed on the floor letting people in the space activate an alternative soundscape with their footsteps. Every step produces the footstep sound recorded in that specific time of the year. By walking in the installation space the visitor re-enacts the sonic memories collected by the artist. The fieldwork towards the realization of the installation has been carried out during two residencies: Arteles in Hämeenkyrö , September 2012 and AiR Bergen at USF Verftet in Bergen, January – March 2013. As such the installation presents different realities depending on the time of the year that belong to similar latitudes. The work towards the realization of this installation has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and AVEK. more info and video documentation at: http://robertopugliese.net/The-Space-of-A-Year