Magdi Mostafa: Sound Element

For the first installation in its Project Space, Mathaf invites Egyptian artist Magdi Mostafa to continue exploring the dialogue between sound and space. Mostafa‘s work evokes personal and shared memories, recalling different images and emotions to be experimented by the visitors.

The artist will continue his ongoing series of installations and performances titled Sound Element, for which he is creating a surround-sound installation that blends experimental electronic and found sonics. Sound Element evolved from a series of field recordings that the artist has been doing since 2007, putting an emphasis on different background sounds that often go unnoticed in everyday life.

Rather than planning a series of installations and performances in advance, Mostafaallows the sounds of his work to develop naturally, to let them “grow like the roots of plants and trees.” Using a variety of frequencies, Sound Element is meant to trigger certain layers of “chemical reactions” through the vibrations of sound within the space. The effect that this has is determined by the individual’s nature and becomes a very personal experience. Set in an entirely dark space, Sound Element invites the visitor to use hearing as their primary sense to take in the artwork.

Beyond the physical experience of the artwork, one can interpret the function of sound as material that takes an important space in the development of our societies today, and the revolutions wave in the Arab world gave the sound a voice expressing the idea of change, of progress and movement in general.