Vex

Vex
Architecture/sound collaboration by Chance de Silva and Scanner at the 2014 Venice Architectural Biennale. It took place at Palazzo Mora, Strada Nuova, Venice between June and November. The Venice installation is linked to 'Vex' - a curving fluted concrete house designed by Chance de Silva, with music/sound by Scanner, to be built in London by late 2016. Architecture and sound both take inspiration from Erik Satie's composition 'Vexations' a long looping piano piece that lasts around 18 hours in continuous performance.

Vex at Palazzo Mora

Vex at Palazzo Mora
View through to 'Vex in Venezia' Chance de Silva's 'formwork' and Scanner's sound installation in the historic Palazzo Mora.

Architecture and Sound

Architects Chance de Silva and electronic composer Scanner are collaborating on an installation as part of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2014. At the invitation of Global Art Affairs Foundation, and part-funded by the Arts Council, Vex in Venezia will be in Palazzo Mora as part of the official Biennale programme.

The architecture and sound piece is installed in a dilapidated stairwell of the partially restored palazzo on one of the main streets, Strada Nuova.

The installation is linked to the London project ‘Vex’, a curved concrete house being built in Stoke Newington between this summer and July 2015. The London project will also incorporate sound by Scanner and be ‘premiered’ in London Open House 2015.

The installation contains a storey-height ‘fragment’ of Vex London in the form of a curved profiled steel wall that interlinks with the fabric of the existing historic staircase. The fragment is made of formwork elements that allude to the casting of the fluted insitu concrete of the eventual building.

In the Venice installation, the room in the palazzo is analogous to one of Chance de Silva’s London sites, and the ‘fragment’ leads the visitor to notice the qualities of the existing palazzo space in which it is situated – analogous to the wider city.

In ‘Vex in Venice’ Scanner has created a sonic world that is architectural in spirit, using the space itself to resonate with the illusory presence of an unseen occupant, and drawing the spectator into this mysterious dilapidated space. In addition the palazzo stair leads to empty and as yet unrestored rooms of the remainder of the palazzo – with sounds hinting at occupation in past or future.

Sunday 31 July 2016

Latest pics from VEX in London - our Satie-inspired collaboration with Scanner (Robin Rimbaud).







Back in 2012, I was approached by architects Chance de Silva to collaborate with them on their project Vex, a curved, fluted, in situ concrete house in London. The work here is an adaptation of the permanent sound installation that exists within the frame of the building itself. Initially inspired by Erik Satie’s Vexations (1893), the composition that was the starting point for the architectural design itself, the final soundscape focuses more on the environmental sounds of construction, the physical pouring of the concrete and so on.
 It’s truly musique concréte!Robin Rimbaud




Sunday 27 April 2014

Welcome! This is a newly set up blog for the project Vex. This is just the first post, with initial information. Much more to follow....
Best wishes
Chance de Silva and Scanner
www.chancedesilva.com
www.scannerdot.com