Carlos Giffoni: Eternal Noise
Bottrop-Boy

Carlos Giffoni, a Venezuelan artist currently based in New York , is a “noise terrorist” by trade but anyone expecting blistering cacophony on Eternal Noise will be disappointed (or relieved, depending on one's disposition). The four-part suite is anything but brutal; rather, it's a wide-screen dronescaping exercise distinguished by carefully-calibrated dynamic contrasts. The work begins with the onset of a grinding, rippling behemoth whose hot slabs of grimy feedback rise from its black hole and then swoop like buzzards across barren fields. The opening nineteen-minute section escalates in volume and intensity during its last quarter, becoming increasingly violent before abruptly flaming out. Part two suggests the sound of amplified electrical hum bleeding from telephone wires; the restrained third part is dominated by the lulling rhythms of a snake-like wavering drone that pave the way for the machine-like grinding and low-level plane acrobatics of part four. Though it would be inaccurate to characterize it as tranquil, Giffoni's “musical” Eternal Noise set turns out to be light years removed from ear-shredding tumult.

April 2008