Tilen Lebar - composition
Mauricio Valdes San Emeterio - disposition of sound (ambisonics)
By Tilen Lebar:
From the beginning of the year 2021 and throughout February, I encountered the phenomenon of liminal space. As a starting point, I investigated the phenomenon itself and consequentially translated it into Slovene. Therefore, the translation indicated as ‘Prehodni Prostor’ became the topic of my following research.
Liminal spaces are thresholds or abandoned residential buildings, areas, corridors, hallways, underground pathways, shopping malls, office buildings, etc. Their initial purpose is to serve as a space crowded with people. The act of abandonment loses their initial desire. The individuals who visited such abandoned areas for the first time reported emotional and memory responses to the spaces themselves. These responses are related to two terms. The first one is Anemoia which indicates nostalgia or excitement about a time you have never known. The second Kenopsia describes a particular Psychophysiological response of an individual who interacted with the liminal space and experienced its atmosphere. We could say that liminal spaces enable us to experience these phenomena. Liminal as a cross-disciplinary term is used widely within anthropology and folklore (e.g., initiation rituals), religion and spirituality (e.g., Ascension Day, reincarnation, etc.) and psychology (e.g., self-realisation and a state of mind within constructing and developing a personality). For instance, if we take a closer look at the theory of Arnold van Gennep, he invented the term ‘Liminality’ at the beginning of the 20th century.
The direct relation to the Latin word Līmen is comprehensive and indicates the threshold and passageway at the same time. Fascinated by the term, its sense of fluidity and the anthropological theory behind it, I was inspired to write an original work. The work itself has three parts. This time you can hear the first movement named 'Preliminality’ that includes metaphorical deviation of the present state and forms a minimalistic and repetitive sonic environment throughout the eight-channel sound installation. The 'Preliminality' does not evolve. It is somehow static (i.e., from the harmony, sound and macro form point of view). The ambisonic movements throughout the sound installation allow it to come to life and to arouse.