// E V E N T S //

 

WORLD OCEANS DAY 2023 @ UNHQ 

World Oceans Day 2023: Planet Ocean – Tides Are Changing

On 8 June 2023, the United Nations hosted its annual World Oceans Day celebration under the theme, Planet Ocean: Tides Are Changing. This theme emphasized the urgent need to prioritize the ocean in global decision-making.

The hybrid event was organized by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DOALOS), Office of Legal Affairs, in collaboration with Oceanic Global and supported by Panerai, with contributions by Discover Earth. Held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, the event was broadcast live on UNWorldOceansDay.org and other supporting channels to ensure global accessibility.

As part of the event, Toni Castells was commissioned by Oceanic Global to compose the music and soundscapes for the celebration, which were later released globally as an EP.

Event Highlights

  • 110 UN member states reached

  • 102,000 program views

  • 350+ in-person attendees at UNHQ

  • 28 global speakers and performers

  • 67.5 million social media event reach

 

Liam Hodges LFWM AW19-20 (2019)


Liam Hodges, who attended the premiere of Toni Castells’s Hhumann X, later commissioned the composer to create music for his AW19 collection, titled “Mutations in the 4th Dimension”. This collaboration bridged the worlds of fashion and music, reflecting Hodges's innovative approach to storytelling through design.

Mutations in the 4th Dimension

Hodges’s collection responds to the nostalgia and pursuit of perfection often prevalent in the fashion industry. Inspired by the predictions of Ray Kurzweil, who suggested that computers would pass the Turing test by 2029, the collection blends themes of technology, futurism, and imperfection.

Design elements included:

  • Graphics derived from Tesseract projections (a four-dimensional cube).

  • Shirts with intentional reproduction errors, challenging traditional ideas of perfection.

  • References to the 1990s film Hackers and the work of Korean artist Lee Bul, evoking visions of a future as imagined in the past.

The Music

The show featured a reimagined version of Hhumann X, performed by Elliott Liu and soprano Honey Rouhani. This new interpretation complemented the futuristic themes of the collection and was later released as an EP titled Hhumann X Reimagined.

 

Artificialis @ Saatchi gallery (2019) 

"Artificialis" (2019) is a sound piece blending naturalistic sounds and electronics, created in collaboration with Saatchi Gallery artist-in-residence Cyril de Commarque. The piece was showcased at the Saatchi Gallery from 2 November 2019 to 30 March 2020.

Concept and Reflection

"Artificialis" explores the paradox of humanity's remarkable evolution: while our advances in science, technology, and design have transformed civilisation in extraordinary ways, they have also caused irreversible damage to the natural world and its fragile ecosystems. As exponential technologies accelerate this transformation, their unpredictable effects come at the expense of the environment we depend on.

The Soundscape

To capture these contradictions, Artificialis creates an impossible soundscape, where:

  • Birdsong merges with whale calls, blending the aerial and aquatic, and questioning the continuity of physical space.

  • Artificial and mechanical sounds symbolize humanity's anthropomorphic impact.

  • Synthesised voices blur the line between the human and the technologically designed.

Deep low frequencies provide a physical listening experience, where the sound resonates through the body as much as it is heard, grounding the listener in their physical presence within this imaginary world.

 

Château Papillon des Arts, St Moritz, Switzerland (2019)

MONDO GALERIA, in collaboration with PRIMO PIANO, presented Das Magisches Theater in St. Moritz—an art exhibition inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel "Steppenwolf". Curated by AD.IBIZA studio, this immersive exhibition showcased over 30 artworks by 25 local and international artists, ranging from emerging talents to old masters. The works spanned various media, including photography, sculpture, video, and audio installations, and the event ran from 26–30 December 2019.

Call Thou Upon My Name Unto Eternity and It Shall Never Fail (2019)

For the exhibition Das Magisches Theater, Toni Castells created "Call Thou Upon My Name Unto Eternity and It Shall Never Fail", a composition blending naturalistic sounds, electronics, and synthesised voice. The piece draws inspiration from Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, continuing Castells’s exploration of the interplay between natural and artificial soundscapes, and blurring the boundaries between the human and the technological.

Inspiration and the Poem

The composition’s title and thematic essence are rooted in an ancient poem found on a royal sarcophagus, believed to belong to the Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaten. The poem, thought to have been written by Nefertiti for Akhnaten, reflects timeless themes of love, devotion, and eternity. It reads:

Sesenet neftu nedjem / Per em rek / Peteri nefruk em menet / Ta-i nehet sedj emi / Kheruk nedjem en mehit / Renpu ha-i em ankh / En mertuk / Di-ek eni awik kher ka-ek / Shesepi su ankhi yemef / I ashek reni er heh / Ben hehif em rek

*"I breathe the sweet breath
Which comes forth from Thy mouth.
I behold Thy beauty every day.
It is my desire
That I may hear Thy sweet voice,
Even the north wind,
That my limbs may be rejuvenated
With life through love of Thee.

Give me Thy hands, holding Thy spirit,
That I may receive it and may live by it.
Call Thou upon my name unto eternity,
And it shall never fail."*
(Translation by J. Richardson, 1999)

This poetic text forms the spiritual foundation of the composition, inspiring its arpeggiated motif and recurring themes of eternity and devotion.

Musical Elements and Symbolism

The arpeggiated motif, repeated throughout the piece, evokes the timelessness and eternal quality reflected in the poem. A continuous water sound, presented as an eternal waterfall nourishing a dead desert tree, symbolizes the enduring vitality and love described in the text. The juxtaposition of life and desolation mirrors the contrast between eternity and the fleeting nature of existence, reinforcing the profound tension within the piece.