Deriva by Various Artists

Deriva (Drift) [from French dérive] is the perpetuating movement that strides from the known to the unknown, to the absurd and the unplanned. This is a condition that is generated by the observers themselves and implies a distancing from historical events.

The cultural Drift, in ethnology, is a transformation induced by internal factors within the group and not influenced from the exterior. It is alike with the continuity of a tradition when there is no longer control and comparison, like a raft facing the ocean. If within this context we consider the “Universe-System” as a closed structure, the Drift is entropy. In psychology Drift is meant as a moral and ethical connotation, it is to disconfirm a prior decision before its decline, collapse.

The Drift differs consistently from the concept of Transition as it is in default of the final reference point. It embodies the unpredictable, the undefined. It could, from this point of view, be a particular type of exploration that, after everything is planned, designed, and built, is abandoned, left to itself. The abandoned landscape comes with a question that smells of drift.

VacuaMoenia suggested musicians and composers an investigation on this theme. How to represent the Drift through their medium? What practices, forms, and strategies to adopt?

Simone Castellan (1991, Italy) holds a BA in electroacoustic composition from the Conservatory “A. Steffani” of Castelfranco Veneto in Italy, a MA in electroacoustic composition, and a BSc in Urban Design at IUAV University in Venice. http://simonecastellan.com

Stefano Giampietro (1993, Italy) studied electronic music at the Conservatory “San Pietro” in Naples. http://soundcloud.com/stefanogiampietro

Natura Wiva is a project by Pietro La Rocca (1979, Italy) and Carlos Zíngaro (1948, Portugal) focused on soundscape compositions with field recordings and manipulations. http://soundcloud.com/naturawiva

Petri Kuljuntausta (1961, Finland) is a composer, improviser, musician, and sonic artist working with environmental sounds and live-electronics to create sound installations for galleries and museums. http://kuljuntausta.com

Chelidon Frame (1990, Italy) is an experimental electronic music project based in Milan. They work from field recordings, radio waves, processed instruments, and found sounds. http://chelidonframe.com

Rinaldo Marti (1959, Italy) studied double bass and electronic music at the Conservatory “N. Paganini” in Genova. http://soundcloud.com/rinaldo-marti

Emanuele Costantini (1975, Italy) is an award-winning director, sound engineer and sound designer based in London. http://ecsound.net

Dimitrios Savva (1987, Cyprus) holds a BA in music composition from the Ionian University of Corfu and a MA in electroacoustic composition from the University of Manchester. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the Sheffield University under the supervision of Adrian Moore and Adam Stanovic. http://soundcloud.com/demetriosmusic

VacuaMœnia (Fabio R. Lattuca and Pietro Bonanno) is a project to revolutionize the aesthetic meaning of abandoned soundscapes. Committed both on the associative and artistic fronts, on the technological as well as the philosophical one, since 2013 VacuaMœnia realizes events related to acoustic ecology and gives form of artifact to its archives and maps. http://www.vacuamoenia.net

Crónica is a label based in Porto, Portugal.

cronicaelectronica.org