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The Q – Interview

Your favorite virtue ::discipline, persistence

Your favorite qualities in a man :: 
intelligence and humour

Your favorite qualities in a woman :: 
intelligence and humour

Your favorite occupation :: 
creating sounds

Your idea of happiness :: 
swimming in Kipawa lake where time stands still

Your idea of misery :: 
the present world political climate and the rise of intolerance.
losing a child to illness or death.

if not yourself, What I would like to be :: 
an experimental physicist

Where would you like to live :: 
Japan or Italy

Your favorite color :: 
black

Your favorite flower :: 
Lilium Casablanca

Your favorite prose authors :: 
Haruki Murakami

Your favorite poets :: 
none

Your favorite heroes in fiction :: 
Spock

Your favorite heroines in fiction :: 
Arya Stark

Your favorite painters ::
Rothko, Pollock

Your favorite composers :: 
de Bussy, Satie, William Basinski, Richard Chartier, Mika Vainio, Akira Rabelais, Bach, Mozart,

Your favorite heroes in real life :: 
humble heroes – fathers

Your favorite heroines in real life :: 
humble heroines – mothers

What character (s) in history do you most dislike :: 
Abusers of power

Your favorite food and drink :: 
pasta, ramen noodles in Fukuoka, coffee, coffee, coffee

Your pet peeve (something that easily annoys you) :: 
insensitive people

The change you most anticipate :: 
any transition

A gift of nature you would like to have :: 
wings

How I would like to die ::
vacuum decay (google it)

What is your present state of mind :: 
content

For what fault have you the most toleration :: 
insecurity

Your favorite motto :: 
Follow your bliss

28 mars 2019 – 13:02

France Jobin is a sound / installation / artist, composer and curator

⊕ France Jobin
⊕ bandcamp

photo by Fabio Perletta

TheQ

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re:DUO – Exhibit in Japan

mAtter presents:

FRANCE JOBIN + RICHARD CHARTIER | EXHIBITION “RE.DUO”
14th – 24th February 2019 @gift_lab GARAGE
#102 Kiyosumiryo, 1-3-13 Shirakawa
Koutou-ku Tokyo 135-0021 Japan

OPEN 12:00 – 19:00
CLOSED : Tuesday　

”re.DUO” is an exhibition composed on the basis of the release “DUO”,  the first collaborative project from minimal composer France Jobin and Richard Chartier “DUO” on the gorgeous label mAtter.

This exhibition will present prints from Richard Chartier and France Jobin, each prints will be installed to create a scale through the space as DUO.

Original concept

DUO creates an “intemporelle“ and pervading atmosphere, where sounds intermingle within an intricate and delicate system delineated by spatial and temporal boundaries.

France’s printed by Middle Press – Ben Owen (NY)
Richard’s printed by Post Atelier (LA)

〒135-0021東京都江東区白河1-3-13 清洲寮10
半蔵門線·大江戸線 清澄白河駅 徒歩2分。
B1出口より出て、通りの向かい側正面の黄色いビルの1階です。
 

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Australia tour 2019

Perth – January 25 – 31
Melbourne February 1 – 10
Brisbane February 11 – 13

Perth – January 25 – 31
Audible Edge Festival organized by Tone List

Field Recording & Electronic Composition Masterclass 
27 Jan | 10am – 1pm
28 Jan | 10am – 1pm

PICA Northbridge – Old Customs House Fremantle

Facilitated by renowned minimalist composer and sound artist France Jobin, this two-day workshop will immerse participants in the composition of music using field recordings and different sound processing techniques.

Requirements: Please bring your best pair of headphones, a recording device (lo-fi gear is fine!) and a laptop.

Participation cost: Free, but EOIs to info@tonelist.com.au are essential.

Day 1: Listening & recording
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, 10am

Participants will explore the urban environment through sound walks and recording. Recording techniques both conventional and unconventional will be used in order to facilitate new ways of listening to the environment and considering how and why to capture sounds for use in composition. Jobin will also discuss how the recording process itself can facilitate a deeper connection to place, self and others.

Day 2: Processing & composing
Artsource Old Customs House, 10am

Jobin will discuss her own process of manipulating and assembling sounds into compositions. Both technical and conceptual aspects of the processing and composition stage will be discussed, and participants will work on generating short studies to share and discuss with the group.

Concert at PICA 
27 Jan  | 6:30pm – 9:30pm

Perth Cultural Centre, 51 James Street, Northbridge, Perth, WA, 6003

Artists:
– Ben Greene, Matthias Müller & Kirsten Symczycz
– Laura Altman
– Ryan Burge & Christian Marien
– France Jobin
– Plant: Éric Normand & Jim Denley

Melbourne – February 1 – 10
MESS residency – France will be taking part in a 10 day residency at MESS.

Concert
Saturday 2 February, 3pm

MUMA | Monash University Museum of Art
Ground floor, Building F
Monash University, Caulfied Campus
FREE/// All welcome

In collaboration with Room40, Sound Spaces presents France Jobin and Heinz Riegler.

France Jobin: Intrication

Inspired by quantum entanglement, I have attempted to discover the relationship between sound and observing sound.

France Jobin is a sound / installation / artist, composer and curator residing in Montreal, Canada. Her audio art can be qualified as ‘sound-sculpture’, revealing a minimalist approach to complex sound environments where analogue and digital intersect. Her installations express a parallel path, incorporating both musical and visual elements inspired by the architecture of physical spaces. Her works can be ‘experienced’ in a variety of unconventional spaces and new technology festivals across Canada, the United States, South America, South Africa, Europe and Japan.

www.francejobin.com

Heinz Riegler: Score for Uncertainty 3

(Improvisation for Magnetic Tape, Guitar, MP3 Players, Found Objects)

Austrian-born artist Heinz Riegler creates an evolving sound space that folds into itself, building on his Score for Uncertainty work that was debuted at Gallery 5020, Salzburg, in 2017. Part performance, part installation, this piece evolves in unexpected ways, pulling both the listener and the performer through the space.

Heinz Riegler is a musician, artist and curator working between Australia and Europe. Working with an interdisciplinary focus, he operates at the intersection of sound art, installation and performance. Since 1989, Riegler has been releasing musical works with a variety of imprints, such as Room40 and Warner Records, and has played concerts in Australia, Europe, Japan, the UK and USA. In a curatorial capacity, Riegler co-produced a season of performances at the Gallery of Modern Art Cinémathèque, Brisbane, and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the minus20degree Winter Biennale in Flachau, Austria. Riegler is an ARIA Award winner and was twice nominated for the Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship.

www.heinzriegler.com

Brisbane – February 11 – 13

12 Feb 2019 @ IMA

The IMA and Room40 present MONO 31 with France Jobin and special guests Robert Crouch and Yann Novak.

MONO 31

Jobin will present Intrication, a work inspired by quantum entanglement, seeking to discover the relationship between sound and observing sound. Jobin is a sound and installation artist, composer, and curator based in Montreal, Canada. Her sonic work has been described as sound sculpture, fusing both musical and visual elements to create experiential environments where analogue and digital intersect. She often draws inspiration from architecture and her work has been staged in unconventional spaces and at festivals across Canada, the United States, South America, South Africa, Europe, and Japan. MONO is a program of sound curated by Lawrence English of Room40.

Robert Crouch is an artist and curator whose work encompasses sound, performance, and technology. His work can be understood as a conversation between tonality, context, history and subjectivities

Los Angeles based artist and composer Yann Novak explores how intangible materials—sound and light—can act as catalysts to focus our awareness on the felt presence of direct experience. 

France would like to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and Le conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for their support.

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DUO – on mAtter (JP) – France Jobin – Richard Chartier – Toneshift (USA)

My ears have been open to both these artists since the late 90s/early 00s, and though they have each evolved in direction over these decades, and I’ve heard collaborations they have done with others, separately, this may be the first time I’m hearing them play in both ears at the same time. A natural pairing. Both use subtleties to a fault. Both create an atmosphere of voluminous, restrained suspense that looms in space. And together it becomes more amorphous and wide.

The duo offers five long tracks which “creates an “intemporelle“ and pervading atmosphere” that are like the fault lines on thin ice (DUO.1), yet also have the ferocity of a jumbo jet poised to take flight. With the incredibly sensitive mastering by Stephan Mathieu, these two are in the best hands to allow their luxe patina to be showcased as quiet and raw where need be. The sensation, like floating amid embryonic fluid (or in a bath of ash), comes to mind.

There’s a tension of being on eggshells on DUO.5 that is quite palpable, in waves, almost industrial, yet triggered by a ghostly reverberation. The containment of static noise (or is it heavy rainfall?) is complex, and continues into the next track with an even deeper sense of query. Here on DUO.2 a sonic hum twists over and around the continued undertones in the ‘wall of sound’ just as a new reticent melody starts to emit into the cracks. A refreshing break of coloration perfumes the space, distancing itself from the pressurized mechanisms and sonic scape, yet also remains somewhat fleeting. I’m reminded of flying insects, buzzing by, teasing their variegated color, and away they go, free to the wind.

This may be considered minimal, but it’s quite complex. This may be assumed ambient, but it’s far from it. Instead, these artists, who on their own have created a world of micronoise, austere pixelations and other funky sounds, have fused a much larger picture from all sorts of finer parts. In fact, if I didn’t know better I would say DUO.3 was actually a prepared church organ in its bloated oscillation. Through patches, programming and patience Chartier and Jobin superimpose a meta world soundscape that breaks from either of their own traditions, offering a stimulating hybrid.

As this glorious sense of suspension arises and stays awhile there are other moments of contemplation. In the same stroke there is this continued fleeting sensibility that fills the air, like an impending end. On the closer, DUO.4, this only becomes much more dramatically paced at first, but within about four minutes, in a rush of circulated drone, minimal hiss and velocity, brings about a more organic sound. Together they develop a dreamy fusion of harmonic curvatures bathed in duly signature vintage vinyl imperfections, pop, crackle, etc. Towards the end the balanced nature of this blend becomes distorted, entangled, and somewhat flying saucer-like in retrospect. Satellites soften and shut down slowly in fading, static sonics.

TJ Norris (December 2018 Toneshift (USA)

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Intrication No. 919 – Toneshift (USA)

A stalwart of the microsound scene, France Jobin releases her 9th album on the No. label. Despite her previous association with the most lowercase of sounds, this album sees the Montreal-based artist expand her sound palette considerably. These tracks are noticeably fuller in scale and scope, allowing Jobin to explore wider realms of audio. Of course, her signature sine waves are present in many places here, delicate shards and pings of treble and hiss, but overall this collection embraces a warmer, richer aesthetic and it pays off.

Track titles are mysterious, possibly relating to quantum entanglement, as this heady area of theoretical physics was influential in the construction of Intrication. The first piece, “Ph”, is an epic 15-minute track that begins proceedings in style. Glitched-out half-melodies stutter from speaker to speaker, with high pitched crackles following along the periphery. Thicker drones appear, until at the halfway point everything dissolves into a beautifully atmospheric soundscape. Sunlit chords create a languid, melancholy mood. Those trademark sine waves make a sudden entry along the way, injecting high frequencies into the soft pads. It’s an amazing way to kick off the album, and is an absolute highlight for me.

By contrast, the second track, “01V”, is less than a minute long, a sketch of synths that act as a palette cleanser before another sine wave introduces the third track, “N”. This piece spends its first few minutes in typically Jobian territory: sparse, barely audible sine waves ping back and forth, as a midrange drone gradually creeps into the audio view. Ever so slowly, this template builds in volume, while extra tones are added to flesh out the frequency field.

“e-” is a much more substantial piece that starts life with smaller, twinkling sounds that create random patterns of looped melodies, but so tiny that they play tricks with the listener’s perception. Slowly, these metallic sounds are stretched and filtered into different shapes, and widescreen drones begin to fill in between their spaces. Taking its time to develop, this is another long form piece that stands out here, building in intensity until a swarm of buzzing sine waves takes over and fades into silence. Another stand out track for me.

Another enigmatically-named track, “m” starts with simple piano notes struck, that become engulfed in ever-increasing layers of fuzz and glitches. This is one of the most maximal pieces here, and I can imagine this being performed live would be an immersive experience. This thought makes me wonder: as Jobin is a prolific live performer, especially at larger festivals, perhaps her composition approach has been informed by this. The need to fill larger live spaces might steer her towards a lager sound, whereas her earlier work was informed by smaller, more intimate spaces like galleries.

The glitches return in the final track, “graviton”, which could be right at home on a Raster Noton release. Again, an implied melody is staggered into rhythmic cut-ups, fluttering and dancing, and which was briefly touched on in a smaller way on a previous track, “02V”. “graviton” takes this concept and repeats it until the final few minutes, when slightly harsher sounds are permitted, but always in a controlled manner. This album seems to mark a shifting in Jobin’s sound, one that departs from the strictly ultra-minimal ethos she’s known for, and I for one am excited to hear where this goes.

Darren McClure (December 2018) Toneshift

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und transit.03

will be presented within the exhibit ‘Dock / Ancien Palais de Justice’ sound installation and listening space
Les Brasseurs, art contemporain, Liège

Opening: January, 12th, 18:00
Exhibit runs from January 16th – February 02 2019
Opening hours: From Wednesday to Saturday, 14:00-18:00
Rue du Pont 26/28, 4000 Liège, Belgium

und transit.03  – Duration 10:00”

We all have the ability to ignore spaces that surround the paths to our destinations. As with most passageways, they are a means to an end, yet not an end in themselves. 

Struck by the loneliness and practicality of such passageways, I conceptualized the first und transit sound installation in Krems, Austria 2009, a series of compositions, in order to create soundscapes for the emptiness of these spaces.

France Jobin

About the exhibit:

by Paul Devens

Just before the independency of Senegal in 1960, the colonial power of France yielded, at Cap manuel in Dakar, a new courthouse. It is a typical kind of a modernistic, Corbusian approach of that time, where progressive ideas of enlightment and uplift ruled. French architects Daniel Babani (1914 – 2006) and Pierre Roux-Dorlut (1919 – 1995) were the designers of this concrete palace; a complex of courtrooms, office rooms, utility spaces and mezzanines.

After the independency the building remains in its original function but also changes into a monument, one of a past, coloured by western influence and power. 

Recently, long after the courthouse lost its original function, the building serves as a stage for African contemporary art at the Dak’Art biennial.

At first, the western-colonial initiative to build the courthouse according to imposed western standards and the issues of post-colonial identity consequential to that, which questions the significance (more).

Following to that the withdrawal from public life and decay and finally, the promotion to one of the major stages of contemporary art in Africa, mostly shaped by African artists from the Diaspora, mainly to western countries. This transformation throughout these years of existence, became manifest in the building itself, its direct environment, the African context and beyond.

The work ‘Dock / Ancien Palais de Justice’ raises questions within the debate of the western and the non-western art discourse by the appropriation of archetypes, symbols and signs and the inclusion of a multiplicity of perspectives.

The installation ‘Dock / Ancien Palais de Justice’ invites the visitor to walk around in a construction, based upon the original floor plan of the old courthouse. This is indicated by microphone stands and running audiotape, which links the resonance of a past to recorded sounds of today.

The ideas on habitat and identity, colored in a personal human environment, and how it changes when the situation is transitional, opened up ways to invite a number of sound artists to compose a dedicated soundscape for this project. A listening space is equipped with a surround installation to serve a spatial experience of these contributions, curated by Cedrik Fermont and Paul Devens.

With contributions of:

Anne Wellmer (DE/NL)
Cedrik Fermont (CG/BE/DE)
Christian Galarreta (PE/FR) 
Cilia Erens (NL)
Elise ‘t Hart (NL)
Elsa M’Bala (CM/DE)
Eran Sachs (IL)
Erdem Helvacioǧlu (TR/US)
France Jobin (CA)
Jett Ilagan (PH)
Justin Bennett (GB/NL)
Kamran Sadhegi (IR/US)
Leonie Roessler (DE/NL/US)
Lloyd Dunn (CZ/UK)
Mike Kramer (NL)
Raul Keller (EE)
Robert Curgenven (AU/IE)
Simon Weins (DE/GB)
Stelios Manousakis (GR/NL)
Soheil Soheili (IR)
Zeno van den Broek (NL/DK)

A short speech by Mique Eggermont (NL), independend curator and art historian, will open the exhibition. She organized and initiated several contemporary art projects in Senegal, often linked to the contemporary art biennial, Dak’Art.

After the speech, Elsa M’bala, Cedrik Fermont and Paul Devens will give a small concert.

Paul Devens* is a Maastricht based artist and composer, whose practice covers the field of composed sound and architecture and researches social perspectives of the local. 

http://www.pauldevens.com

‘Dock / Ancien Palais de Justice’ is coordinated and curated by Les Brasseurs (Jérôme Mayer and Corentin Lahaye), Paul Devens and Cedrik Fermont.

Technical support: Frankable, Joep Hinssen, Dennis Muñoz Espandiña.

Special thanks to Mique Eggermont.

This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of: Mondriaan Fund and Stichting Stokroos.

* Paul Devens (born 1965 in Maastricht, the Netherlands) is a Dutch contemporary artist. He lives and works in Maastricht.

Drawing on a research-based approach within his artistic practice, Paul Devens develops bodies of works that connect elements from sound and architecture. Collecting site-specific audio recordings, Devens actively considers the physical space and social context. He does this through the method of “acousmatic listening”: selecting aspects from particular situations and implementing them in a new one – oftentimes critiquing the original situation. His research manifests in sound based installations, architectonic interventions, performances, and CD and vinyl releases. Simultaneously, he considers the presence of the audience as an integral part of the work in his installations and performances. His work furthermore alludes to infrastructures around value, preconception and code in civil society.    

His work has also been performed, screened and featured in group exhibitions in Ctrl_Alt_Del (Istanbul, 2003, 2005, 2007); OCA/ISP (Oslo, 2004); Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen, 2010); Radio Art Festival (Tallinn, 2011); Diapason Gallery (New York, 2011); D-0 ARK Biennial of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo, 2013); Jerusalem show (Jerusalem, 2014); Stimulating Synapse, EMAA (Nicosia, 2015); Galerija Umjetnina (Split, 2015); Hacking Habitat (Utrecht, 2016); bb15 (Linz, 2016), Off program ‘Electromagnetique Mobile’ Dak’art (Dakar 2018); IBB ‘Circumstantial Radio’ (Curacao, 2018) among others. Devens plays in bands like Otomax (2016), Kendo Bahn Orchestra (2011) and Meerschaum (2017), he teaches art at Mafad, Maastricht and sometimes works as a curator.   

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DUO on mAtter

We are pleased to announce that DUO will be released on the lovely mAtter label from Japan

MATTER015 | France Jobin + Richard Chartier – DUO
Format : Vinyl / 2LP(with Downoad Code) – 300 limited edition and Digital
Date: 16, December 2018 – Ships out 26, December 2018
Pre order on bandcamp
Preview on vimeo

DUO is the first collaborative project from minimal composer France Jobin and Richard Chartier.
DUO creates an “intemporelle“ and pervading atmosphere, where sounds intermingle within an intricate and delicate system delineated by spatial and temporal boundaries.

A SIDE
DUO.1 – 09:00
DUO.5 – 08:00

B SIDE
DUO.2 – 13:40

C SIDE
DUO.3 – 11:50

D SIDE
DUO.4 – 17:22

composed by France Jobin and Richard Chartier.
mastered by Stephen Mathieu

thank you to Yukitomo Hamasaki and Shuhei Miyagi
design by Richard Chartier

France Jobin and Richard Chartier are both published by Touch Music/Fairwood Music UK Ltd

More news regarding this release to follow in January 2019, stay tuned!

mAtter is an independent label and artistic organization based in Tokyo, founded in 2008 by the Japanese artist Yukitomo Hamasaki. mAtter objective is to create engaging outputs which evolve around the intercorrelations between sound and other aesthetic fields such as visual, design and architecture.

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Soledad – Medellin

Laboratorio de arte sonoro –

Semana #1  – 4 – 12 de Septiembre – Exploratorio
Semana #2 – 18 – 22 de Septiembre – MAMM (LAB3)

Inauguramos nuestra plataforma itinerante con un nuevo taller para el mes de Septiembre.

A raíz de su visita durante la Semana de la Escucha, la artista France Jobin quedó profundamente interesada por explorar más a fondo Medellín y sus sonidos, y es así como nace un laboratorio para proponer el arte sonoro, la música ambient y la escucha minimalista dentro de nuestro contexto.

“Soledad, Medellín” comenzará con una primera etapa de escucha y grabación de campo en el territorio, que se desarrollará en el Exploratorio del Parque Explora; y culminará con una segunda etapa de procesamiento del paisaje sonoro y con el proceso de difusión multi-canal para una instalación a realizarse con los participantes en el LAB3 del Mamm Medellín.

El laboratorio busca reconocer una multidimensionalidad de la escucha al introducirse en el entorno para sentirlo, procesarlo e imaginarlo, en su soledad, que es también esa del escucha.

El laboratorio es gratuito, con cupos limitados e inscripción previa. Más información: http://auditum.co/evento/soledad-medellin-laboratorio-de-arte-sonoro/

“Soledad” will bring the participants closer to their territory by the “act of field recording” in various parts of the city that are sonically contrasting in terms of social dynamics, geography and neighbourhoods. The multidimensionality specific to Medellin offers a rich sound palette that may enable the participants to reconnect with their environment.

Throughout this process, we will share knowledge, perceptions and thoughts which I hope will inspire the participants to re-connect with their environment and ultimately, themselves. The idea of solitude is not approached from a perception of isolation but rather from a recognition of one’s connection in a world of disconnect. Technology has enabled us to be more  connected yet, we have never been so apart. Social media sells this illusion of hyper connected society yet, more people are unhappy and isolated.

With this workshop, I-we hope to achieve a state of “Soledad”, similar to a zen state, utilizing technology, the act of listening and ambient minimal sound art in order re-connect with one, and ultimately others.

“Soledad” will conclude as a multichannel sound installation created by the participants to be presented September 22nd and 23rd  at MAMM -LAB3. They will be taken through the entire process of the creation of a sound installation up to and including the inauguration of their project, an opportunity for us all to experience a collective solitude through sound art.

with the kind support of:
Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada
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framework #651: 2018.07.22 – my favorite things – segment#10

framework #651: 2018.07.22
[click here to hear this edition]

available shortly on
it will also shortly be available on patreon and mixcloud:
http://www.patreon.com/frameworkradio
http://www.mixcloud.com/framework_radio

this edition of framework:afield has been produced in canada by france jobin. after a six-year hiatus, this is the latest installment in her ongoing series these are a few of my favorite things. producer’s notes:

france jobin – my favorite things (Installment #10)

Bonjour, I am france jobin, welcome to these are a few of my favorite things.

As mentioned in earlier installments, my interpretation of field recording based works is very broad. however, the thread I like to follow is to find artists who have mastered their unique identity through the music of sound.

In the last 4 years, I have spent a lot of time in the Abruzzo region of Italy. With this edition of my favorite things, it is my pleasure to showcase the sound artists of this region.

France Jobin

https://www.francejobin.com

[artist / track / released]

Triac  /  departure four  /  LINE – June 2018
http://www.triac-act.com, http://www.lineimprint.com

Lago Fiume  /  Composizione per 16 Civico  /  Unreleased – Composed for installation

Marco Marzuoli  /  Project: Scheletro – Part Two  /  Unreleased
http://marcomarzuoli.com/

Fabio Perletta  /  Concetto Sonoro (per Lucio Fontana)  /  Album: Viva Italia Compilation (CD3) 2017 Monochrome Vision (RU)
http://www.fabioperletta.it, http://www.monochromevision.ru

Triac  /  departure three  /  LINE – June 2018
http://www.triac-act.com, http://www.lineimprint.com

Lago Fiume  /  Composizione per 16 Civico  /  Unreleased – Composed for installation