The exhibition Dois Stereos [Two Stereos] presents two works by the artist João Pimenta Gomes, connected by the ‘haunting’ of sound. His practice draws on references from the musical realm to explore the relationship between sound, body and space, as well as the deep – and at times hidden – histories embedded within sound technologies.

On the ground floor of the gallery stands a replica of a sonic device – the Western Electric 16A, an acoustic horn originally designed for monophonic sound reproduction in cinemas in the late 1920s. It features a unique dual-horn construction that enables single-point stereophony – or ‘mock stereo.’ Once a mass sound reproduction technology, the WE16A was suspended by chains behind cinema screens and in large auditoriums to project sound to hundreds of listeners. A pivotal item in the transition from silent film to sound film, in this exhibition it continues to release fragmented traces of the human voice, within an acoustic range especially sensitive to the human ear. Austere and imposing, the device has been reconstructed by the artist and emits fixed-duration compositions with variable perception, using modular synthesis in a kind of dialogue between fleeting sonic passages. While its once-impressive materiality has been eclipsed by contemporary playback technologies, its reconfigured scale is dematerialised here, producing timbral and tonal variations within an enduringly commanding form. Where it once bound the human voice to the moving image at a decisive moment in media history, its scale now enables an intimate transmission of spectral sonorities.

On the top floor of the gallery, an acoustic sound sculpture inhabits a space between breath and synthesis. The Cristal Baschet is an instrument composed of glass and metal, developed by the Baschet brothers in the 1950s. In its full version, sound is produced when moistened fingers rub glass rods, transmitting vibrations through metal stems to a complex system of passive resonators – aluminium cones, metal sheets and fibreglass diffusers. The sound is at once shaped and amplified by the unique interplay between touch and resonance, and is generated entirely by acoustic means. Evoking the sleight of a conjurer, this tactile instrument carries a history shaped by presence and wonder: an early version of the Cristal Baschet was even linked to episodes of madness, inciting fervour and mania in performers and listeners alike. In this exhibition, the artist repurposes the Baschet’s resonator cones as passive acoustic amplifiers, with electronic sounds reverberating through the material memory of these otherworldly forms. Pre-recorded vocal material – processed and modulated – is channelled into these petal-like sculptures, thus transforming the resonant body of the Baschet into a vibrating filter through which sound is emitted and re-embodied.

Links:

https://www.artecapital.net/exposicao-900-joa-o-pimenta-gomes-dois-stereos

https://galeriasmunicipais.pt/exposicoes/dois-estereos/