Eroica (2010)

Strobe lights, 8 channel surround system

This piece was invited by the Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon, to create a work in dialog with Holon's downtown city square and in relation to public gatherings, celebrations and political events in city squares. The musical part of the piece, composed by musician Maya Dunietz, is an electronic variation to the "royal fanfare". The music is played from a surround 8 channel sound system, spread on the 4 sides of the specific square. A 20 minute musical score, starting with an elephant's call, continues with simple drums tapping, further on with entrance of 30 brass players playing the same tune in different instruments, and developing into a chaotic sound event created from all said before.

The final scene of the 20 minute piece is with the famous Israeli television series opening melody, Haim Shecaele ('Such a Life'), a series dedicated to the memory of significant cultural figures in Israel. Accompanying the sweet melody, are clear sounds of fireworks. On the exact moments where a sound of a spark is heard, large strobe lights fill the square with flash lights and create the reverberation of the spectacle without using the element itself.

The parallel 8 sound channels and the image build up a "culminating event' that is empty of content and which leaves a huge physical space for observation, listening and awe.

Eroica For a Dear Man by Maya Dunietz and Alona Rodeh, Holon, Israel, 2010.