Shezad Dawood’s Antifona brings an unprecedented voice to the landscape of the Prosecco Hills, transforming the hidden bioelectrical rhythms of plants and nature into a poetic sonic experience.
The British artist’s project, born from his recent artistic residency among the rolling vineyards and forests of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene, blends science, ecology, and art in a powerful exploration of listening and connection.
Shezad Dawood (London, 1974) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, installation, film, sound, and digital media. His work explores ecology, geopolitics, science, and spirituality, often weaving together historical research and speculative narratives. Exhibited internationally in major institutions and biennials, Dawood frequently collaborates with scientists, musicians, and researchers, investigating the interconnectedness between human and non-human systems and translating invisible natural processes into immersive and sensorial experiences.
This special edition of Corriere Art Collection revolves around Dawood’s concept of translating the vibrational life of the natural world into sound. At its heart is a symbolic collage: Lake Revine and a beech tree equipped with electrodes that capture bioelectrical recordings produced by plants, flowers, fungi, and waterways: a metaphor for the often invisible yet vibrant intelligence of nature.
Available from Tuesday, this collector’s edition includes a QR code granting access to the digital work. Through it, audiences can experience Antifona’s immersive soundscape: a composition born from data gathered in the hills, refined into rhythmic frequencies that echo the landscape’s living pulse.
A Landscape That Listens
For Dawood, Antifona is both an aesthetic and ecological act. In collaboration with ethnobotanist Michal Mos, he conducted low-impact field research across the Prosecco Hills, recording electrical frequencies emitted by the terrestrial environment. These “echoes of the earth” were then transformed into musical material, revealing a dimension of nature that is usually imperceptible to human senses.
“Plants have already invented our future,” neuroscientist Stefano Mancuso reminds us, a perspective echoed in Dawood’s work, which invites us to reconsider our relationship with the living world and to listen more deeply to the voices around us.
From the Real to the Digital
The digital collectible of Antifona captures this poetic transformation, extending the physical artwork into an expanded audiovisual space. By scanning the QR code included in the special edition of laLettura, readers will be able to engage with the work’s sound and conceptual layers directly on their devices melding traditional print collecting with the possibilities of digital art.
This project not only celebrates artistic innovation but also underscores the urgency of protecting what we hold most precious: the sounds, stories, and vibrant life of our natural environment. Antifona stands as a testament to art’s power to reveal the unseen and to foster new ways of listening to the world.