WHAT IS THIS?
Welcome to this not-so-occupied page to which I plan to start pouring the discoveries of my artistic research project. Officially (or rather, institutionally), I started working on it in September 2024, as a 4-year PhD that combines a theoretical-historical study (embraced by the wonderful Ruusbroec Institute in UAntwerpen) with an artistic-pedagogical process (supported by the brilliant Royal Conservatoire Antwerp). But in truth, I've been obsessed (is that the word?) with the sonic qualities of Carmelite spiritual literature for quite a few years now, ever since I stumbled upon Teresa of Avila's mystical guide, The Interior Castle (1572). That was in 2021, while working on a reconstructed requiem program with my Quantum Choir, which featured music by the Avila-born prolific Renaissance composer Tomás Luis De Victoria. I was then working on my MA thesis, and I wanted to investigate relationships between musical and mystical practices. Since Victoria was a highly religious, exceptionally devoted musician, and Teresa a prolific mystic and writer, and they were born in the same Castilian city only 30 years apart (he's the younger), I figured, why not check out what might have been going on in that city during that tumultuous moment of 16th-century Spain?
So I travelled to Avila to find out for myself.
But I'll have to tell you about that later. Now it's a good idea to tell you what this research is about, what its pompous title means, why are people so obsessed with nuns these days, and why the header features a photo of me holding a stereo field recording setup at a lake in the Pyrenees.
That's a lot of questions, though. We're going to have to take it slow.
Interested to know where this is going?
Welcome to this not-so-occupied page to which I plan to start pouring the discoveries of my artistic research project. Officially (or rather, institutionally), I started working on it in September 2024, as a 4-year PhD that combines a theoretical-historical study (embraced by the wonderful Ruusbroec Institute in UAntwerpen) with an artistic-pedagogical process (supported by the brilliant Royal Conservatoire Antwerp). But in truth, I've been obsessed (is that the word?) with the sonic qualities of Carmelite spiritual literature for quite a few years now, ever since I stumbled upon Teresa of Avila's mystical guide, The Interior Castle (1572). That was in 2021, while working on a reconstructed requiem program with my Quantum Choir, which featured music by the Avila-born prolific Renaissance composer Tomás Luis De Victoria. I was then working on my MA thesis, and I wanted to investigate relationships between musical and mystical practices. Since Victoria was a highly religious, exceptionally devoted musician, and Teresa a prolific mystic and writer, and they were born in the same Castilian city only 30 years apart (he's the younger), I figured, why not check out what might have been going on in that city during that tumultuous moment of 16th-century Spain?
So I travelled to Avila to find out for myself.
But I'll have to tell you about that later. Now it's a good idea to tell you what this research is about, what its pompous title means, why are people so obsessed with nuns these days, and why the header features a photo of me holding a stereo field recording setup at a lake in the Pyrenees.
That's a lot of questions, though. We're going to have to take it slow.
Interested to know where this is going?
In the meantime, here are some things that happened so far:
INTERIOR WATERS: AUDIO ESSAY DRAFT
Work in progress.
A first draft (available in Research Catalogue) of my attempt to transmit the knowledge accumulated in the research orally and experientially, with recorded voice, field recordings, and sound design.
Work in progress.
A first draft (available in Research Catalogue) of my attempt to transmit the knowledge accumulated in the research orally and experientially, with recorded voice, field recordings, and sound design.
THE QUANTUM CHOIR: KENOSPHERA
A first performance of the Antwerp-based Quantum Choir featuring nuns' spiritual literature rendered through Iberian folk tunes. More coming soon...
A first performance of the Antwerp-based Quantum Choir featuring nuns' spiritual literature rendered through Iberian folk tunes. More coming soon...
THE QUANTUM CHOIR: BOUNDLESS HEAVY FOLK | RADIO SPECIAL ON SRF RADIO
"The Quantum Choir changes its members depending on the concert venue. There is one constant: its founder, Tomer Damsky. Mysticism like that of Teresa of Ávila combines with the gravity of metal and drone, the immediacy of folklore, and a compositional technique called "acoustemopoetics." With texts in Aramaic, Arabic, Proto-Semitic, Hebrew, Latin, and Spanish, the Quantum Choir crosses borders. Friedemann Dupelius, a participant observer, recounts a phase of the ensemble's project in Antwerp."
GOTA FRÍA UNPLUGGED: SINGING WITH THE WATER
Gota Fría is my duo with partner in crime audiovisual artist Eyal Lally Bitton. I've started to collect some contemplative experiments we've been doing together, mainly raw recordings of us sitting by natural water sources, listening, recording, and singing. You can find some of them here.
