artist: HERIBERT FRIEDL
title: Raumzitate
catalog number: and/17
release year: 2004
format: CDR
status: sold out
title: Raumzitate
catalog number: and/17
release year: 2004
format: CDR
status: sold out
This is the first release by Austrian sculptor/sound artist Heribert Friedl. This
five part work of fractured soundscapes subtitled "...to reserve the necessary
space" evokes a sense of spatial perception without the use of familiar points
of reference such as human voices or footsteps. The word "raumzitate"
translates in English to something akin to "room quotations."
five part work of fractured soundscapes subtitled "...to reserve the necessary
space" evokes a sense of spatial perception without the use of familiar points
of reference such as human voices or footsteps. The word "raumzitate"
translates in English to something akin to "room quotations."
REVIEWS
TOUCHING EXTREMES (SEPTEMBER 2004)
Raumzitate is a brief essay on microsounds by Viennese Heribert Friedl, whose
work is centripetal towards silence - itself an important factor in these pieces.
Observation and purpose yield a series of sonic fingerprints which stand alone or
accompanied by suggestive faraway drones, like in a fascinating segment of the
final track "Proposal". The crumbling of patterns juxtaposed with these distant
evocations are always of interest, while the rippling hiss of certain separated
frequencies work well when listened amidst the sounds of the outside world,
provided it's not a noisy urban ambiance. Friedl seems to know where his direction
is and I'm willing to trust him for future elaborations: for sure, there's more than
glitches and pops under here. (Massimo Ricci)
Raumzitate is a brief essay on microsounds by Viennese Heribert Friedl, whose
work is centripetal towards silence - itself an important factor in these pieces.
Observation and purpose yield a series of sonic fingerprints which stand alone or
accompanied by suggestive faraway drones, like in a fascinating segment of the
final track "Proposal". The crumbling of patterns juxtaposed with these distant
evocations are always of interest, while the rippling hiss of certain separated
frequencies work well when listened amidst the sounds of the outside world,
provided it's not a noisy urban ambiance. Friedl seems to know where his direction
is and I'm willing to trust him for future elaborations: for sure, there's more than
glitches and pops under here. (Massimo Ricci)
VITAL WEEKLY (SEPTEMBER 2004)
Debut release from this Austrian sculptor/sound artist, of whom I know nothing
else. The work is subtitled "...to reserve the necessary space" and since the title
can be translated as "room quotations", everything here deals with the spatial
quality of sound. It's hard to tell what it is exactly that he does here, but let's
assume that Friedl is using field recordings which he processes with a lot of
computer techniques. That sounds like a lot but in fact, Friedl plays on the edge of
softness here. A sound sounds for a while, and then it dies out, some new sounds
come in, dies out, silence etc. But each new sound that comes in, shows a distinct
development to the previous sound. The sources are only used sparsely, maybe
like the recording of a rolling marble or the sound of a door being closed. Friedl's
work comes close to that of Richard Chartier, Marc Behrens or Roel Meelkop, but is
even more, and yes, that is possible, more austere and silent. In that respect there
is nothing new under the micro-sun, but nevertheless the material is interesting
enough by itself. A most promising start. (Frans de Waard)
Debut release from this Austrian sculptor/sound artist, of whom I know nothing
else. The work is subtitled "...to reserve the necessary space" and since the title
can be translated as "room quotations", everything here deals with the spatial
quality of sound. It's hard to tell what it is exactly that he does here, but let's
assume that Friedl is using field recordings which he processes with a lot of
computer techniques. That sounds like a lot but in fact, Friedl plays on the edge of
softness here. A sound sounds for a while, and then it dies out, some new sounds
come in, dies out, silence etc. But each new sound that comes in, shows a distinct
development to the previous sound. The sources are only used sparsely, maybe
like the recording of a rolling marble or the sound of a door being closed. Friedl's
work comes close to that of Richard Chartier, Marc Behrens or Roel Meelkop, but is
even more, and yes, that is possible, more austere and silent. In that respect there
is nothing new under the micro-sun, but nevertheless the material is interesting
enough by itself. A most promising start. (Frans de Waard)
E / I MAGAZINE (WINTER / SPRING 2006)
In Friedl's Raumzitate, slap-back pointillism and faux-instrumental extensions trade
time with frontline drummerly textures that are respiratory without being explicitly
rhythmic. A Vienna-based "sensory artist" (famous for using fragrances in his
installation work), here Friedl paints with crackling timbre, often able to sustain taut
interplay well longer than he has right to. "Raumzitate" must mean "hail on a tin
roof," "Bayle in a reticent mood," "prop planes outside and overhead," and stark,
"matter-of-fact" sonic punctuation performing syntactic acrobatics. The difference
over materially similar works by RLW or Stephen Vitiello is the difference between
dialog in space and monologue in a vacuum. The tracks do not develop as much as
reveal their structure; it is a rare gift that Friedl understands the durations required
for such revelation and does not extend his compositions beyond them.
(William S. Fields)
In Friedl's Raumzitate, slap-back pointillism and faux-instrumental extensions trade
time with frontline drummerly textures that are respiratory without being explicitly
rhythmic. A Vienna-based "sensory artist" (famous for using fragrances in his
installation work), here Friedl paints with crackling timbre, often able to sustain taut
interplay well longer than he has right to. "Raumzitate" must mean "hail on a tin
roof," "Bayle in a reticent mood," "prop planes outside and overhead," and stark,
"matter-of-fact" sonic punctuation performing syntactic acrobatics. The difference
over materially similar works by RLW or Stephen Vitiello is the difference between
dialog in space and monologue in a vacuum. The tracks do not develop as much as
reveal their structure; it is a rare gift that Friedl understands the durations required
for such revelation and does not extend his compositions beyond them.
(William S. Fields)
