SOFIO
2004

Installation, Performance -collaboration

variable size (approx. 3 × 4 × 2 m)

SOFIO is a resonant sculptural environment that emerged from an initial performative impulse by Paola Anziche and was subsequently developed through spontaneous collaboration into a spatial and sonic structure shaped by shared experimentation and material exploration.

Rather than following a fixed authorship model, the project evolved through shifting contributions and informal coordination, where spatial, sculptural, and sonic decisions were continuously negotiated during the process of making. The wooden structure translates sonic diagrams generated through music reproduction software into an inhabitable form that can be physically entered and experienced from within.

The acoustic interior was constructed using poly-composite leftovers from the previous year’s Frankfurter Positionen, reflecting a context of material reuse and experimental production at the Städelschule.

During the construction phase, the making of the work itself became performative: the group worked in improvised “astronaut” suits, transforming the building process into a choreographed, bodily engagement with material, space, and resistance. This layer of embodied labour extended the sculptural process into a performative situation where construction and action overlapped.

Despite its animal-like scale and presence within the Aula space, the work generated intimate bodily encounters. Visitors entering the structure experienced resonance as a physical vibration — an immersive spatial condition activated through live sound performance by Paola Anziche.

The work unfolded as an open process in which making, inhabiting, and experiencing the structure were inseparable.

Exhibited at:
Rundgang Städelschule (2004)