IMBROS.TONE-01 and IMBROS.TONE-02
Alp Tuğan’s work produced in Gökçeada repositions listening as both a research method and an aesthetic experience, exploring the island’s acoustic ecology through the layers of biophony, geophony, and anthropophony. Using a custom-built piezo contact microphone, the artist captures surface and vibration-based sounds—from the trace of wind on rock to the rhythmic patterns of insects and the residual vibrations of human activity—revealing the hidden agents of the material world. Carefully processed and archived, these recordings transform into a multilayered sound composition that maps the island’s living, non-living, and cultural presences. The resulting installation invites viewers to rediscover their auditory threshold and engage actively with Gökçeada’s soundscape, turning the work into not merely a form of documentation but a practice of awareness that enriches shared memory.
Imbro(s)tone
Imbro(s)tone is a sound sculpture created from a rock whose morphology has been altered by geological and biological factors, encountered by the artist during an exploratory walk along the coast near Gökçeada (Imbros)/Kapıkaya. The formation journey of this found object, shaped by long-term geological events, serves as a symbolic representation of the island’s memory and the phenomenon of migration. Subjected to various metamorphoses, this sedimentary rock has undergone formal and physical changes over time. Due to its structural nature, it is possible to observe that the cavities upon its surface were either created or inhabited by marine organisms. However, this stone, which belongs underwater, has migrated to land for reasons we may never know. Through this forced or natural displacement, one can observe the traces of life left behind by the organisms that once inhabited it. Although we may never know exactly why this rock, likely limestone according to geological literature, broke away from its origin and washed ashore, we know it is an intrinsic part of this region. The Imbro(s)tone whose voice you are listening to is a symbolic reflection of the migration and memory of Imbros. This sound sculpture is realized through the dense vertical cuts the artist carved into the stone’s unseen surface and the vibration motors embedded within.
