Viva Vida Frugal, 2021
Invitation to contribute to Nayia Savvas’ solo exhibition at Drivedrive, Nicosia, CyprusPlywood, fullrange Frugal-Horn speaker (Fostex F85WK-8), chain locks, chains, dimensions variable.Speakers diffused the suspended the chords on a Yamaha reface DX on a collaboratively designed preset.
“The horn speakers connected to Nayia’s synth are a work contributed by Emiddio Vasquez.
Titled Viva Vida Frugal, 2021, they were created following open-source DIY tutorials from an online frugal-horn audiophile community. The name is a cross between ‘flugelhorn’, a brass instrument that resembles a trumpet (hence their trumpet-like horn-shape), and ‘frugal’, as in frugality, the quality of being economical or not wasteful. The speakers, typically found in living rooms, have a very particular architecture as they are compartmentalized in such a way to reflect/echo sound via air moving from compartment to compartment, thus outputting a more physically textured listening experience. For Emiddio, the speakers, as well as the locks attached to them (one has the ground attached to it and the other is attached to the ground), carry personal memories growing up in both the Dominican Republic and Cyprus and reflect on frugality which, when pushed to its extreme, can result in hoarding, as nothing is ever disposed of, and things keep piling up. This counters the whole point of the frugal-horns' empty compartments that need space and air to circulate sound within, with the room, and with the listener.”
Text by Peter Eramian.