Antonio Mainenti from Italy has brought us a new program that dives deep into the maritime tradition. Radio On is happy to host a caring document of a trade that has added a multi-facetted clippeteeclop sound to the beaches of -maybe- all the smaller and bigger villages around the world: caulking.

Antonio explains, but also plays a composition inspired by this trade. The program is a rework of the original installation. Jannis Kounellis would have been delighted if he’d only known about it.

Antonio’s words

“In April I was in Sicily for an artist residency. I was in Pozzallo, Ragusa district. I had the opportunity to speak with the anthropologist Grazia Dormiente. I had to work on a sound project dedicated to the city where I was staying, to its traditions. I hear the professor Dormiente by phone and speaks to me of a very important job that no longer exists: the caulker.”

“The caulker waterproof the boats, inserted tow tar between the cracks, with a hammer and a chisel. The hammer had resonance holes, needed to hear the sound and understand when waterproofing was ready.”

“On the beach, in the morning, you listening 3, 4 caulker and these sounds have been defined by Professor Dormiente, an orchestra. These sounds do not exist anymore, and don’t have videos only oral testimony. The craft caulker today disappeared because wooden boats are too expensive and the work of the shipyards has totally changed.”

“To the sound composition I worked freely, creating sounds and recordings that evoke environments, dreams, thoughts. The installation is interactive: 24 touch-wires and sounds begin; an FM radio broadcasts and documentary with interviews, an ultrasonic sensor playing a piano with 2 servomotors.”

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