Project

Isko Denim Sound Textures

Designer

ISKO, DWA, Chiara Luzzana

Curator

Fabio Di Liberto, Brand Director ISKO

Partners

Wallpaper*

Location

Daimaru Shinsaibashi Store - Floor 9

Address

1 Chōme-7-1 Shinsaibashisuji, Chūō-ku, Osaka

Concept: 
Fabio Di Liberto ISKO Brand Director
Sound Designer: Chiara Luzzana
Exhibition space and sculptures: DWA Design Studio
Websites: ISKO, DWA, Chiara Luzzana

ISKO (iskodenim.com), the leading ingredient brand in global denim production and research, partnered with 10 internationally acclaimed brands, to put on “Denim Sound Textures”: an immersive and interactive space to discover the surprising multi-sensoriality of the fabric. The exhibition showcased denim as material to see, touch and even listen to, in a first-of-its-kind project. According to their style, each brand, different from the next, will interpret a type of denim developed over the years by ISKO. The types of denim used for the installation included: ISKO Pop™, ISKO Scratch & Jean™, ISKO Jool™, ISKO™ Cosy, ISKO™ Straight Stretch, ISKO Future Face™, ISKO Reform™, ISKO Blue Skin™ and ISKO™ Selvedge. Each ISKO denim technology has its story told by an interactive sculpture developed by DWA Design Studio, which gives shape to the fabric, and its sound extracted by Sound designer and composer, Chiara Luzzana. The result is a sequence of installations with an abstract and organic design which stimulate touch and hearing, with the possibility of "listening" to the sounds emitted by the different types of denim. Sound designer and composer, Chiara Luzzana, was entrusted to do the acoustic research around each denim technology, her research investigates noises and objects to create new harmonies. In the "Denim Sound Textures" project, Luzzana has extracted sounds from different types of fabrics, using methods and techniques that are consistent with the characteristics of each one. A violin bow, a pick, a stethoscopic microphone. Objects that touch and manipulate fabrics to capture their specific sound vibrations, creating the Denim Soundscape Sountrack. Each sculpture, when touched, emits a specific acoustic pattern. Sounds "extracted" from different denim technologies reflect their unique characteristics. Depending on the technology, the sound can be rough, fluid, round, soft, warm or enveloping. For ISKO Blue Skin™, denim with exceptional elasticity that stretches like a second skin in four directions, the binaural recording extrapolates an enveloping 3D sound. An acoustic pattern emitted at the touch of the wall- sculpture composed of biomorphic fabric protrusions. A great donut is the figurative sculpture of ISKO POP™, soft and shiny denim like silk. Here the sound is recorded by inserting the fabric into a glass capsule that allows the microphones to record the brilliance of the high frequencies. ISKO Reform™, a type of denim made to sculpt the body, is pulled and stretched to detect a reverse effect sound that expresses its absolute flexibility and hold. In parallel to the installations, ISKO’s brand partners tell their interpretation of technologies in harmony with their own identity.

About “DENIM SOUNDSCAPE”
Composed and Signed by Chiara Luzzana
Sound artist and designer Chiara Luzzana found that each fabric had its own voice. Denim is a rich instrument because of its texture and how it changes from one technology to another. The sound frequencies are intense and powerful. This project started out from one single concept: each fabric is a breathing weave; each has distinct characteristics, and a different sound. The denim technologies were played and recorded by the artist using specific microphones and techniques to emphasize the actual essence of the fabric. The denim sculptures present in the gallery illustrate how the sound were extracted and the properties of each single denim technology. Chiara Luzzana made the soundtrack using all the sound samples extracted from denim, the sound-scape is the musical sublimation of the first experience involving denim in sound design which you can enjoy in the lounge. The initial melody, made with a string of ISKO Jool™, conveys a soft and warm weave, adding to it a more complex nature to decipher. It moves onto ISKO Pop™’s shiny surface, with dynamic and crisp sounds. ISKO Future Face™’s beat is catchy, clear and captivating. ISKO Scratch and Jeans™ literally scratches the fabric changing its rhythm. ISKO™ Selvedge is impotent, ironic and strong, like an electronic drum from the 80s. ISKO™ Straight Stretch is a linear sound complemented by the energy of ISKO Reform™, a series of samples played in reverse. ISKO™ Cosy and the three dimensional sound of ISKO Blue Skin™ have a calming effect and anticipate the velvety sound of ISKO Future Face™. The sound journey ends with ISKO Blue Skin™ in association with a quick-drying technology for a fresh evaporating sound.

Location in Fuorisalone 2019:
Wallpaper* Handmade @ Salone dei Tessuti, via San Gregorio 29, Milan — Italy