Synopsis
PONS (bridge from Latin) an architectural archetype, PONS VAROLLI is a part of the brain stem of humans and mammals.
PONS VAROLLI, a work by pianist and composer Simão Costa, brings together the piano, the orchestra in the 21st century and the SOUND produced by automobiles passing over the metallic network of the 25 de Abril bridge.
Its starting point is an involuntary SOUND that has become a new acoustic landscape for the city of Lisbon (the sound of the bridge), the result of a practical need to reduce the resistance of the deck to the action of the wind.
This work will test the development of bridges between what is deliberate and what is involuntary, what is constructed in a planned way and what emerges from a set of rules/algorithms.
Biography
Simão Costa (b.1979 Lisbon) is a pianist, composer and transdisciplinary artist. SOUND is the main object of his research, working with various possibilities and dimensions of this phenomenon, namely its musical, phenomenological, perceptual, visual, cultural, etc. dimension, exploring its acoustic, kinetic and mechanical potential, viewing the sound phenomenon as a plastic, tangible and physical material.
Since 2004, he has been developing his authorial career (composition, improvisation, coding, exhibitions/installations, circuit bending, sound data) solo and in collaboration with other musicians, visual artists, performers, actors/stage directors, dancers/choreographers and filmmakers. As a pianist who has toured national and international stages, performer and creator, Simão Costa is a multifaceted artist by definition. On the one hand, he has solo projects (on the piano with editions by SHHpuma and Cipsela Records, in the visual arts with MUTE Galery), on the other, he cultivates strong ongoing partnerships in collectives such as SAS Orkestra de Rádios with Sónia Moreira and Ana Trincão, YPSC_Transduction with Yola Pinto, Dança de Materiais Inertes with Marta Cerqueira and in partnership with the artist João Calixto.
You can find his work on stage, on record, in code, in a gallery, in a museum, on the street, in a book, touching on various areas of contemporary music and visual arts.
He has been exhibiting individually and collectively since 2007.
His work has been presented in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Poland, Holland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Estonia, Romania, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
He is a founding member and artistic director of MãoSimMão – a cultural association
He lives and works in Lisbon and Torres Vedras.
