Trails

Trails has been developped during the EASTN-DC artistic residency of Mariam Gviniashvili at the ZKM.

Trails develops soundscapes from what you hear when you walk through Nordmarka, the northern part of the forest around Oslo, towards Lake Maridalsvannet - the largest lake in the municipality. The piece takes the form of a narrative, composed of the processed sounds of birds, streams and waterfalls, cracking and breaking branches, footsteps, falling stones or the echo of boat signals from afar. There are a variety of trails to explore. The deeper you go into the forest and into your own mind, the more the soundscapes transform into other densely constructed soundscapes until you reach Maridalsvannet. There, the calm, peaceful lake stands still, reflecting the gray, heavy clouds hovering in the sky. As the fog moves on and covers the surface of the lake, you step onto the path that leads home in the increasing darkness.

Mariam Gviniashvili is an Oslo-based composer and sound artist originally from Georgia. Her compositional focus lies on investigating the role of spatiality in music. Her artistic practice extends to audiovisual works, where she explores relationships between 3D sound and moving image.

The world premiere of the composition took place on the occasion of the ARD Hörspieltage 2021 at ZKM, the 13th november 2021.
Trails has been played in Karlsruhe, Malmö et Stockholm…