PAUL ETIENNE LINCOLN

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Sinfonia Torienese: Guido Costa Projects, Turin, 2004.Photo: Maria Bruni. Collection Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples.

Sinfonia Torienese: Guido Costa Projects, Turin, 2004. Photo: Maria Bruni

Sinfonia Torienese: Guido Costa Projects, Turin, 2004. Photo: Maria Bruni

Sinfonia Torienese: the production facility of Sinfonia Torinese: Peristaltic Pump, Still, and the Labyrinth of Herbal Infusions, 2004.

Sinfonia Torienese: detail of the Still, 2004. Photo: Maria Bruni

Sinfonia Torienese: detail of The Labyrinth of Herbal Infusions, 2004. Photo: Maria Bruni

Sinfonia Torinese: detail of the screen, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, 2006.

Sinfonia Torinese: detail of the screen, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, 2006.

Sinfonia Torinese: the sirens Lanius excubitor and Cynopica cyanus preparing to sing, 2004. Photo: Maria Bruni

Sinfonia Torinese: The first performance of Sinfonia Torinese, Guido Costa Projects, Turin, September 21, 2004, conductor Dalmazio Vignali. Photo: Francesco Nonino

Sinfonia Torinese: The first performance of Sinfonia Torinese, Guido Costa Projects, Turin, September 21, 2004, conductor Dalmazio Vignali. Photo: Francesco Nonino

Sinfonia Torinese: Cinemascopia, a precision optical mechanism concealed within a bottle of Punt e Mes, unique work, with printed labels and operating manual, 2004. See Books

Sinfonia Torinese: Prelude series for Sinfonia Torinese, Cynopica cyanus, 2005. See Editions

Sinfonia Torinese: Prelude series for Sinfonia Torinese, Oriolus oriolus, 2005. See Editions

Sinfonia Torinese: pigment print, 53 × 35 in.; 135 × 89 cm, edition: 30, 2006. See Print

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ABOUT SINFONIA TORINESE (2003–2004)

 

Sinfonia Torinese is a homage to the Piedmontese city of Turin, where the local beverage Punt e Mes plays a central role.

 

Manufactured by Carpano, Punt e Mes is an old and greatly respected Torinese aperitif, in this installation it serves as the catalytic fuel. Several of the aperitif's secret herbal constituents were identified by chromatography and were used to establish the images of the lush foliage depicted on a large folding screen. This seven-paneled screen has twenty separate engravings intricately commingled to form one picturesque view. (The original etchings were among the first images of these New World plants.)

 

Mounted on this screen are fourteen migratory songbirds that originate in the same locales as the various plants and which fly to northern Italy each year to sing and mate. Sinfonia Torinese employs a rare Italian Racca automatic piano to play a score from the silent movie Cabiria (directed by Giovanni Pastrone, 1914). When the score is played, the birds sing through minute whistles mounted in their beaks; the whistles are air-powered and regulated by the Peristaltic Pump.

 

The Still extracts pure alcohol from the Punt e Mes, which then trickles to and sensitizes the Pump. The alcohol then travels to the piano when the conductor determines that a performance may commence. The installation’s operation is also controlled by the thermal sensors placed in the performance area , these regulate the Pump's distribution of various herbal essences, creating the pressure required for the birds’ whistles. As visitors walk through the space, they constantly modify the conditions monitored by the sensors, thus ensuring that every performance is unique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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