2024
object, sound composition

Background music consists of neutral sound compositions designed to create an atmosphere conducive to relaxation. This subtle, often instrumental soundtrack incorporates sounds of nature, intended to create a specific experience, usually associated with peace and tranquillity. Its sound and character are unobtrusive, complementing rather than dominating other stimuli or activities. Heard in lifts, banks, or waiting rooms, it is meant to soothe us – or help us unwind during spa treatments. We encounter it in saunas, massage parlours, and yoga studios. Through a generic backdrop of relaxation sounds, the overstimulated, overworked, and fatigued resort guests of today are offered an escape from their daily bustle and transported to a balanced, soothing world of nature. In this shift, they are accompanied by the rustling of leaves, splashing water, and birdsong.

The ambient soundtrack for NARRACJE, composed by Bartosz Kruczyński, is an abstract audio interpretation of Niedźwiednik’s landscape. This background music accompanies festival-goers on their arduous hikes across the moraine hills, offering a breather and inviting them to a music therapy session in Niedźwiednik Resort.

Radio sets playing the soothing sounds, created by Piotr Kowalski, form an integral part of the piece. Their metalwork forms draw inspiration from Niedźwiednik’s architectural landscape: its rhythm, repetition, and continuity. The radios are placed in background spaces: on the often overlooked, disused green areas that bridge the gaps between different sections of the estate.

PIOTR KOWALSKI is an artist and sculptor whose work, positioned at the intersection of city and nature, examines the impact of infrastructure on human behaviour. His post-structural elements serve as both sculptural material and starting point for a reflection on humanity’s place in late capitalism.

BARTOSZ KRUCZYŃSKI is a DJ and producer who explores various electronic genres. His ambient work combines dense synthesizer patches, trance-like repetition, and elements evoking chill-out club rooms. Resident Advisor described his club music as “bittersweet dancefloor moments”. His records have been released by the likes of Phonica Records, Balmat, AUS, and Emotional Response. Kruczyński’s sample-based music (a nod to the cut & paste scene) is recorded under the moniker Pejzaż, and as a producer, he is known as Earth Trax.