Hashtags and Emojis. Video chat windows and text feeds.

Don’t expect any of that.

Think analog physical world. Think about bringing a physical friend.

Each show will last 1 hour. If you arrive late to your ticketed time, you’ll miss some of the “film.” Plan to dress for the elements. You’ll be walking thru an audio theatre amidst a forest of prints.

Take it at your own pace, you won’t be asked to sit in 1 place and you won’t be incubated with 24 visual frames per second. Your first journey thru Eksod might be closer to 1 piece of hand made art per 24 seconds.

Family friendly but open to children ages 8 and above.

Eksod’s audio landscape was designed from stereo field recordings documented over the years in the streets of Tirana.

At times, Fernando would set a handheld stereo recorder in a market or agrarian property, at times he would walk the streets with an XY configured suspension of AKG Blue Line cardiod mics, and at times he would place hidden body mics on characters immersed in the natural environment.

All of the media was captured at 24 bit with an understanding that a stereo sound image would be respected at the design stage. Decisions about microphones and recorders per scene were selected based upon the impact to reality vs the tradeoff in fidelity.

Unlike the industry standard workflow of a film production, audio fidelity was the first focus of each scene and photography was directed around the creative direction required for the sound program. Put another way - if both photography and sound were being captured at the same time, the camera shutter deferred to the sound transpiring in the scene.

While location sound recording a number of films in Albania, [Fermat, Skanderbeg, Triumph] Fernando grew fond of the people and way of life in Tirana. When he wasn’t working he was documenting his inspirations with his cameras and mics.

The imagery presented in Eksod is a combination of verité photography and art directed scenes.

A majority of the images were made using a trim light kit that included a combination of an Alien Bees strobe, speedlights and a full frame DSLR. A few additional photos were shot on 35 mm Ilford SFX film with a Nikon F3.

Approximately 30 analog and digital photographs are displayed, some that lend themselves to Fernando’s handmade acoustic printmaking process, and some that are fittingly displayed by the colors of an Epson machine.

Part of the challenge in producing Eksod’s soundscape was in decluttering the connections typically commanded by house PA systems. Speakers need power and they need signal. Until now, that’s meant being bound to outlets and a roof. As an early adopter of lithium and wireless technology, Fernando and HEARSiGHT repurposed various black boxes for this application.

Eksod was largely sound designed with Pro Tools in southern Oregon’s sunny season using 400 watts worth of solar panels. It was cheaper for Fernando to gain privacy by camping in an isolated environment and it prepared him for the harsh technical realities of popping up in a raw location like Zidell Yards.

The longest time investment and most surprising result of this project was the creation of a print process that lends itself to acoustics.

First came the print that could allow sound pressure to pass thru a fabric so it could be absorbed in a sound panel. Then came the print that could be fixed to the front of a loudspeaker. Each speaker used to produce the soundscape has been faced with one of the photographs contained in Eksod’s story. The creation of this print process also forged a partnership with a local guitar amp builder.

In many ways the hand dyed print process used for Eksod accomplished a shared objective. The search for balance between our senses, symbolized in the Ying Yang design of the HEARSiGHT icon is commemorated with a hand felled frame also on display at this pop-up.

Eksod was printed at a shipyard named Zidell Yards who also hosted this event. Situated between the Max Streetcar, the OHSU Gondola, and the pedestrian only Tillikum Bridge in Portland’s South Waterfront, Zidell Yards was an ideal host.

Typically inaccessible to the public, a walk into the old barge building is worth a trip by itself.

This event was partly made possible by the vision and arts support of Zidell Yards and the greater Old Moody community.

Eksod’s production in Albania was made possible by private donations made thru a crowd funding campaign. Equipment and admin costs required to fabricate the show was aided by a small business development grant administered by the Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO). Additional small business consultation was provided by MercyCorps NW, and trademark and patent support was made possible by the Lewis and Clark’s Small Business Legal Clinic.

This project was also selected as a Catalyst awardee by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and the public facing event was brought to reality by the partnership and aid of the Zidell Yards.

Finally, this project was made collaboratively with an Albanian crew: Altin, Ergys, Eva, Xhorxh, & Endri. Eksod exists primarily because of these 5 individuals .