Horoi
ὅροι / hóroi : boundary stones used in ancient Greece to name and mark borders.
Horoi is an ecological exploration project that uses sound as a tool for investigating the territory and as a primary means of expression. The goal is to explore the boundary between the human and the non-human, and to question the relationship between humans and the wild in heavily anthropized (human-impacted) environments.
During a residency in Palermo for Studio Rizoma—the first step in a broader artistic research journey—the focus was placed on the wetland area of the Oreto River. In a short listening journey through the territories of Altofonte, Monreale, and Palermo, Clemente documented the surprising biodiversity and resilience of the river.
The recorded sounds are presented to the public through a sound installation, in which waste materials recovered from the mouth of the Oreto River are set into vibration by electroacoustic transducers, alongside speakers salvaged from abandoned technology in the Palermo area. These objects, transformed into resonating bodies, transmit the sounds of the valley’s fauna, flora, and water.
The Oreto River
The Oreto River and its valley epitomize the contradictions of the Sicilian landscape, serving as a powerful symbol of the complexities in the relationship between artificial and natural spaces, between humanity and the wild. Once navigable, the river is now significantly diminished in both flow and function. It has become virtually inaccessible and unknown to the urban population. The Palermo section of the river is almost entirely confined to an artificial channel, straightening its course, while its waters are tainted with the foul stench of sewage. Moving upstream, the river’s more untamed areas disappear into a canyon, rendering it invisible to the public and accessible only through private land. The river also receives the biological waste from three municipalities in the valley: Palermo, Altofonte, and Monreale. Despite these challenges, the Oreto endures. Its ability to naturally purify itself supports a rich biodiversity, with a variety of local and migratory bird species and an abundant presence of Mediterranean scrub. The Oreto, the forgotten river, thus lives in a paradox: as a polluted, unapproachable watercourse, yet also as a natural sanctuary that persists precisely because of the neglect and detachment of the local population.
