Between sound and vision: Interview with Romanian artist and musician Hipdiebattery
Published November, 2010
by Easterndaze
Anca Stirbacu is a young Romanian visual artist whose music project was born out of the need to complement her visual works with audio. Though experimenting with currently fashionable genres like witch house, she is planning to further expand her music project, so we are curious to see her future artistic development.
What is your background?
I attended the University of Fine Arts Bucharest and the Interface Culture Department in KunstUni Linz, my background is video and photography, being involved in projects with HBK Saar, RoArchive, AltArt, Spazi Aperti, Time’s Up. I am interested in analogue and new media, fashionable technologies, net art, media archeology, circuit bending, interactive sound installations.
How was Hipdiebattery born?
This project started as I wanted to add an audio layer to almost everything I was producing. It evolved as I started to experiment with sound, field recordings, toy bending, investigating the sonic possibilities of various visual, interactive projects and ambiental installations.
It’s written on your page that it is a complimentary project to your visual work. Could you explain?
Hipdiebattery is an audio recycling project, that goes between all musical genres and unifies them, but it also mixes visuals and music, which are very important for me in generating the effects I want and creating a specific experience. I really enjoy producing music videos and visuals for Hipdiebattery performances.
Do you see any parallels between how you work with visuals and audio?
I believe that audio and visuals work as layers which can be easily manipulated , being two flexible media. In audio as in video, I first set the ground structure and afterwards I add layers with effects, instruments,voice. It is an ongoing process of sound/visual exploration.
How do you create your audio?
Usually, I make the songs using a software tool, a computer and sometimes I add my voice to them using a cheap microphone.
What are you working on right now and what about your plans for the near/distant future?
At the moment I am finishing my first album and I am getting ready for my first performances with Hipdiebattery, one of them will take place at Atelier du Son at The French Institute, Bucharest on December 4th 2010. I am also working on an interactive installation using sound and visuals and I plan to dive more into pure data and generative art field.