Diego Marcon: ToonsTunes
Notes from the artist on the sound of the works
Untitled (All Pigs Must Die) 2015
The film features a muffled, white noise that accompanies the flow of the red leader throughout. Here and there, the noise is marked by low thuds. When it appears, the Winnie-the-Pooh animation fragment has its own soundtrack: Owl’s snore is suddenly interrupted by the sound of Piglet crashing onto the glass window, followed by Owl’s cry of stupor, before the film looks back to white noise.
ToonsTunes (Four Pathetic Movements) 2016
The sound piece is made by editing and looping lo-fi audios taken from Donald Duck cartoon episodes. The sound piece is composed by four ‘movements’, alternating fast and slow rhythms. The first movement creates a nauseating feeling through the repetition of a sound that suggests spiralling or vertigo. The voice of Donald Duck – just sounds, no words – seems to try to free itself from the loud and repetitive track. The movement ends with what may sound like a hit of cymbals, and a scream by Donald that suggests he may have been somehow hit.
The second movement is slow – it seems like there is a broken accordion playing. The atmosphere is a bit sad, and the voice of Donald Duck seems exhausted and sleepy. At the end of the movement, Donald seems to be able to finally fall asleep, but suddenly something upsets him, and he starts to yell and spite loudly.
The third movement again creates a tense atmosphere: this part of the composition is characterised by the stretching sounds, like a rubber band that is pulled, and pulled, and pulled – like a slingshot being loaded. Donald’s voice suggests he is scared. The movement ends with what seems to be the shot of the sling, as if Donald has been thrown very far away.
The fourth and last movement reverts back to a slow rhythm. It is miserable, and sad. A keyboard plays a low melody, and Donald seems to be sobbing. In a more sparkling and slightly brighter arpeggio, the track ends.
Monelle 2017
Monelle is steeped in darkness. The few images that are visible to the eye appear for less than a second, accompanied by a fast and loud thud. There is an ambient, low frequency sound throughout, with some other sounds surfacing from time to time. They might come from bodies moving in the darkness, but it’s hard to tell who they are or what they are doing. Presenting an almost completely black projection, the films plays with the expectations of the audience, using the sound as an activator of emotions, desires, and imagination.
Untitled (Head falling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 2015
These films are silent.
The Parents Rooms 2021
The scene appears to be in complete silence – there is not even a soundscape. The first sound comes from the blackbird’s wings shaking to get rid of the snow. It tweets, and from its whistle, a pop-jazz song shapes up. The musical theme is kind of blue, kind of low. It is characterised by wind instruments. The father starts to sing. His voice reminds that of Frank Sinatra – that of an old and tired start of the Golden Age of Musicals. The voices of the kids are more clumsy: that of the little girl, towards the end of her verse, is even slightly off-key. The Mother has a strong voice, thick and deep. After the last line, sung by the Father, the blackbird flies away, the music ends, and the scene goes back to a complete silence. Here and there, there is the sound of a woodpecker, working on a tree. When the ending credits appear, there is another song, performed by a kid. It is an acappella tune, simple and melancholic.
Il malatino 2017
This film is silent.
La Gola 2024
The entire duration of the film is characterised by a score composed for an organ, recorded in a church. The composition is inspired by Baroque music: there is a theme, introduced at the beginning of the film, followed by several variations. The track is mixed loudly, competing with the voices of the two characters that speak for the duration of the images on screen, sometimes making it hard to understand what they are saying.
Every frame with Gianni, the male character, corresponds to the voiceover of a man. Every frame with Rossana, the female character, corresponds to the voice of a woman. The voice of the man has a giggly tone, often humorous. His voice is warm, seducing, full of excitement. It sounds very confident and smart, sometimes over the top, annoying, and perhaps even a bit vulgar. Conversely, the voice of the woman is low, slow, very exhausted, and blue.
Towards the end, the music reaches a crescendo, accompanying the last letter and voiceover of the woman, which culminates on the final cut. After a couple seconds of silence, and as the credits start, a music track begins – also performed on an organ – which runs until the last line. It is different from the main theme: it is quiet, accompanying the film to the end.
Ludwig 2018
Conceived as a perfect loop, the video starts with a young character lighting a match. The sound is realistic. Its flame seems to spark a series of piano notes. While the young boy moves around, and crosses the frame, the piano keeps playing.
Sometimes – when the lightning bolt bursts on screen, loud thunders cover the sound of the ‘lied’, a very sad and pathetic song. As the young boy approaches the camera, he starts to sing: it is a crystalline, white voice, slightly hurt. Consuming the match, the flame burns his fingers, and a little scream of pain interrupts the singing while the scene goes to dark. In the darkness, the sounds of what seem to be attempts to light the match again might be heard crackling among the piano and the storm. The whole piece starts from the beginning.
