Audio-visual installation "The Sounding Patterns“

"The Sounding Patterns“ is an interdisciplinary project consisting of an audio-visual installation and unique stage performances. It is also a conceptual space that creates a link between tradition and modernity in order to disseminate ethnic culture. Through the collaboration of performers and artists, the project had developed into an installation, which was later presented with other means of artistic expression – a performance, a lecture, a concert, a play-mystery (director Tomas Erbrėderis). In this case, the project is presented in the form of an installation.

Based on ancient (Baltic) symbolism in Lithuanian folk art, an original modern eleven minutes- long installation has been created by Aurėja Jucevičiūtė (graphic animation), Agnietė Janušaitė-Vitkūnienė (traditional textile works) and the soundtrack of polyphonic songs sutartinės (Rūta Reutaitė). The plot of the installation intertwines tradition and innovation, reflects the cycle of human life, the seasons and the circle of Rėda that symbolises them. An abstract graphic style has been chosen so that every participant can interpret the image in his own way. The visual language of kinetics, which draws on Baltic and ethnic symbols, creates a dynamic graphic pattern that illustrates different seasons.

The installation presents 6 authentic Lithuanian polyphonic songs (sutartinės), which thematically correspond to different seasons of the year: a song about flax "Trep trepo", "You, My Oak Tree" (Spring), a wedding song "Saulala riedulėla" (Summer), a philosophically-tinged song "Three bees on a clover" (Autumn), and "Apple-tree tuto" and "Fly, worker-bee" (Winter). The original soundtrack (sound artist Rūta Reutaitė) was created using the recordings of sutartinės sung by a group of singers "Sasutalas" of the Kaunas Culture Centre (leader Andrius Morkūnas) and the recordings of the sound of traditional looms (author Rokas Minkus), implemented together with the Lithuanian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, were specially created for this project.

Three young authors Aurėja Jucevičiūtė, Agnietė Janušaitė-Vitkūnienė and Rūta Reutaitė represent different fields of art: graphic design, textiles and music. Like many people, facing the influence of globalisation, technology and challenges in personal lifes and professional activities, the artists have chosen to look back to their roots, ethnic culture and historical memory. Having a desire to get closer to a more essential cognition of the world and wishing the viewers and listeners to experience the same, they  have applied the forms of artistic expression familiar to modern people.

Graphic animation – Aurėja Jucevičiūtė
Textile – Agnietė Janušaitė-Vitkūnienė
Soundtrack – Rūta Reutaitė