Hats

9 sculptures: white pointed hats

The hats are inspired by an image Floriano Secciani (visual artist) created for the interdisciplinary dance performance installation “Ugo” (2007). The fact of producing nine of them came from the need of creating a visual/sound installation functioning as a stage design and supporting movement language. They have been employed within the research projects “dance sound space poetry” (2011/2012) and for the dance performance installation “Paula” (2013).

Shaped like about 80 cm high cones, they are made of strong cardboard, white on the outside and differently coloured inside. Five of them are fitted with interior speakers, a source of sound that added another level of experience and meaning to the duality of body and object and helped create suspense within their dialogue. The integration of sound and object and their use as stage design is based on the image of the hats and the movements they inspired in the dance. Sound and objects-sculptures interfere both spatially and on a level of meaning.

The creation of the hats is a collaboration in sound and visual art by Fredrik Olofsson and Raffaella Galdi between March and June 2012. Olofsson designed a tiny circuit and built in five copies, one for each of the five hats. With the help of a small magnetic sensor the circuit makes it possible to start and stop sound coming from a mp3 player. The five circuit boards, speakers and mp3 players are mounted inside each pointy hat. They are activated via touch (more info). Galdi designed and realised the hats aesthetics, working with material such as paper cartoon, plaster and elastic bandage.