Simina Oprescu

composer & sound artist




analysing the invisible



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Simina Oprescu (b.1993) is a Romanian composer and sound artist based in Berlin, Germany, submersing herself in the intricacies of sound's acoustic and spectral properties. Her compositions embrace a diverse array of instruments, spanning from analog synthesizers to computer music or string instruments. Simina employs acoustic artifacts from physical or natural spaces as recordings, showcasing techniques cultivated through an investigative electroacoustic composition approach.


Her praxis unfolds with a fusion of synthetic and aural elements, ranging from intricate, detail-oriented maximalist stereo compositions to immersive multi-channel sonic minimalism, reshaping the contours of acoustic spaces. Simina's exploration takes her deep into structures and phenomena, weaving potent yet nuanced harmonic narratives influenced by psychoacoustics, consciousness studies, spatial arts, and theoretical or physical sculptural installations. Her artistic thinking centers on unified immersion, sound movement, and gesture, infusing philosophical meaning into her work. Her work was presented in numerous festivals, music/radio platforms, galleries and museums, collaborating with various international video artists, and her sound compositions were exhibited in EVA International | Ireland’s Biennial, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Märkisches Museum Berlin, MOTA Museum Ljubljana, n.b.k Berlin, Hošek Contemporary, Suprainfinit Gallery Bucharest, MARe museum Bucharest (Museum of Recent Art), SONICA, Cynetart, Rokolectiv, Simultan or ORF musikprotokoll and having her work mentioned in various magazines, like Positionen Berlin or The Wire. In 2020 she was selected to be part of the SHAPE platform artist roster. 


education:
 B.A. Department of Dynamic Image & Photography, UNArte (Bucharest) (2012-2016)
Acousmatic & electroacoustic composition, Royal Conservatory of Mons (Belgium) (2017-2018)
M.A. Sound Studies & Sonic Arts at UdK, Berlin (2021 - present). 

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oprescu.simina@gmail.com

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www.instagram.com/siminaoprescu/





Sound of Matter

December 2022











Available for order on Hallow Ground label Bandcamp
Lmt. vinyl sold out







In the archive of Märchises and Staadt Museum in Berlin, exist 15 church bells, dating from the 15th century to the beginning of the 19th. They have all the historical information, including their weight, height, diameter, and material. Most of them are made out of bronze but there are two of them, sitting in front of the museum, that are made out of steel. Each one of the densities of the materials influences the tuning system of the bell and therefore the tone.

After some research, I arrived at the formula of how to calculate the fundamental f of the bell - which in bell language will be translated as Hum, then we will have on the scale the Prime, Tierce, Quint, and the highest Nominal. Each one of them is contained inside the shape of a bell. After I’ve used the formula f = K1t/d2√E/s(1-m2) which includes the K - constant of the material, s - density of the material, t -  thickness of bell at the sound bow, diameter, m - Poisson’s Ratio, E - Young's modulus; I was able to apply f into a Max patch and find its partials to re-create the harmonic tone of the bell. Because of the beating effect that is resulting between the different frequencies, I can sense a movement of sound if I move my head and hear the Nominal and Prime tones, that sometimes are more dominant. The sum of all the different frequencies, being overlayed with multiple Hums creates a multi-dimensional movement in its subtlety and cancels out all the echoes from the space.





















The event PORTALE, a collaboration between the Masters program Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at the UdK Berlin, the Zeiss Großplanetarium and the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institut brings contemporary artistic practices to an iconic Berlin venue and opens up new worlds of immersive audio-visual experiences. Making full use of the 23-meter-high dome equipped with a multi-channel digital projection system as well as a full dome spatial sound system consisting of 49 speakers and four subwoofers, 15 artists present their works, from generative art to real time feed-back systems. These 13 works for frameless media alter and enhance the regular functioning of this theatrical space taking the spectator into various artistic contemplations.  


https://www.udk-berlin.de/en/event/portale-sounds-udk-planetarium-berlin/



ETHEREAL WAVES




Emerging from the cosmic interplay of solar winds and distant stars, a complex array of physical phenomena, including radio waves, intensity fluctuations, particle dissipation, and solar escape velocity at 618 km/s, composes a captivating narrative of the universe. This narrative extends beyond the perceptible, prompting reflections on the nature of reality. In the domain of sound, each manifestation encapsulates a history within a silent cacophony. If we were to encapsulate these auditory emissions within a celestial sphere, they would manifest as intangible oscillations, spatially fluctuating and eventually dissipating. Vibrations, like echoes, endure in accordance with the principle of energy conservation, inviting contemplation into the endurance of phenomena.

Temporal considerations lead to an exploration of the peculiar persistence of stellar luminosity long after celestial extinction, challenging conventional understandings of temporal progression. This hidden temporal dimension, analogous to unheard sounds, necessitates a gradual evolution in our perceptual framework. The exploration unfolds through the intricacies of vibration, reflection, and refraction, leaving imprints within the cosmic spectrum and sine wave interference patterns. In harmony with the cosmos, sustained tones form a continuous syntactical structure, akin to a harmonic arpeggio with a timbre reminiscent of an Overtone singer. Drawing inspiration from Risset's cascade, the journey takes us through a spiral of time—a clash of strange attractors, chaotic systems cycling periodically yet never repeating the exact pattern, and logarithmic spirals, a familiar shape found throughout nature and art. This prompts a reevaluation of time as a dimension that merely defines succession and events, beckoning towards a sense of unity that transcends conventional boundaries between self and object.

Delving further, the exploration encounters the mythical notion of primordial time—a dimension housing dream events and visions. This idea aligns with modern depth psychology's conception of the unconscious, where contact with such a dimension necessitates a state of unconsciousness. Testimonies regarding the relative "timelessness" of the unconscious echo not only in primitive cultures but also in mystical experiences characterized by profound unity with the universe and a sense of timelessness.

The feeling of timelessness inherent in the experiences of the deeper layers of the unconscious, referred to as the collective unconscious by Jung, reflects a structural commonality shared by all individuals. Those who traverse these depths often claim an ability to foresee future events, challenging the conventional delineations of past, present, and future. This mystical experience, sought after in various Eastern religious movements, unfolds as a profound sense of oneness with all things, rooted in the amalgamation of unconscious contents. Consequently, the ordinary temporal experience, with its divisions of past, present, and future, diminishes, giving way to a mystical continuum where time dissolves into the undivided fabric of existence.



https://www.instagram.com/p/C0jT4ZPJept/?img_index=1


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