During the five-week residency at Layer House, the visiting artists gained insight into the dynamic landscape of the independent cultural scene in Slovenia, with an emphasis on Kranj and Ljubljana. Based on their own interests, the residents got to know the spaces, collectives and individuals that co-create the Slovenian independent cultural scene and actively participated in the events. They transformed the experiences of direct engagement in the spaces of independent culture into artistic and research outcomes.
Stati inu obstati is a sound installation (35'), a collage of personal and field recordings, vocal experiments, speech (self)reflections and recycled sound materials that Diona collected during her residency in Slovenia. The artist experiences and processes new, unknown cultural canons and knowledge through intimate comparison with the already internalized experience of everyday life at home, on the basis of which she builds her work. She invites visitors to an ambient-sound experience that opens up a space for reflections and contemplations on different worldviews, according to one's own/collective principles and beliefs.
Speculative Sonic Ecosystems is the title of a publication that was created based on the author's approach to researching Slovenian independent sound and music production. The author does not approach the research analytically but rather speculatively. He compares the sound ecosystem to a water ecosystem, understanding rivers, lakes and the sea as inseparable segments connected to a whole, which in music jargon is called the scene. Ismail writes about the publication, which consists of author's notes and interviews with subjectively selected interlocutors: "... From the crackling airwaves of Radio Študent to the pulsing basements of Metelkova, the sonic undercurrents of its independent scene flow like an untamed river, carving spaces of resistance, connection, and reinvention. This research listens closely to the architects of sound—editors, DJs, organizers, and sonic alchemists— whose voices shape and reshape the country's artistic rhythm..."
