Movement 37: the new creative heartbeat of SOLO CSV

Its program opens with an exhibition by Georgian composer and sound artist Koka Nikoladze, which will be on display from September 18 to November 8, with free admission upon download.

Movimiento 37 is the second space to open to the public at SOLO CSV, following the opening of the Bowman Hal gallery in June. Movimiento 37 was created as a place to strengthen the global artistic community through exchanges and residencies, promoting dialogue and collaboration between artists, galleries, collections, institutions, and other agents in the art scene. Its programming will be annual, with access from Calle de Ilustración or through combined visits with other offerings from SOLO CSV, a center that hosts the various projects promoted by SOLO, with its main entrance at Cuesta de San Vicente, 36, in Madrid.

The inaugural exhibition brings together pieces that combine electronics, programming, and carpentry in the form of sound artifacts. Nikoladze’s work thus explores the emotional and functional dimensions of sound, as well as the fragility of the body. Among the pieces, the Drone Boxes series stands out, electromechanical instruments in which everyday objects—such as a pineapple or a paper cup—become resonators coupled to motors, creating automated quartets in which precision coexists with unpredictability. One of the Drone Boxes on display plays the song Tocarte by Jorge Drexler and C. Tangana, transforming a popular hit into an unexpected soundscape. “Every time I feel overwhelmed by chaos, I need to make a new drum machine to maintain that little bit of order for a short period of time,” explains the artist.

The exhibition also includes the video installation People, which reveals another dimension of his artistic sensibility: the observation of human fragility in the face of structures of control. Conceived for the Norwegian vocal group Nordic Voices, the piece was created over a week of recordings in which Nikoladze fixed a chair to the floor and asked the performers to stand perfectly aligned in front of a monitor. The discovery was revealing for the artist: no matter how hard they tried to remain still, their bodies inevitably failed. That impossibility—that trembling, that constant adjustment—became the heart of the work. Edited manually, with no added effects, People transforms monophony into visual and sonic polyphony, constructing a subtle, intense, and imperfect drama.

In addition to creations related to sound art, the exhibition includes the work Koka’s Merch Shop, which addresses the tension between art and the market. Having grown up in a post-Soviet context where talking about money was almost taboo, he acknowledges that he never learned to value his work in monetary terms. Observing how merchandising sometimes overshadows the artwork itself, he came up with a provocative proposal: an online store where the prices of items are assigned randomly by an automatic generator. After scanning a QR code, the same item can cost €1 or €10,000.

This price “lottery” not only democratizes access, but also playfully and critically questions the dynamics of consumption in contemporary art. The opening of the exhibition featured a performance by Nikoladze alongside musician Jorge Drexler, using the Drone Boxes as live instruments.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Koka Nikoladze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. A composer, creator of prepared instruments, and builder of electromechanical musical machines, he explores the intersections between sound, objects, and performance. His works include kinetic sound sculptures, audiovisual creations, and experimental orchestral pieces.

Trained at the Tbilisi State Conservatory, he continued his studies at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart and the Norwegian Academy of Music. He specialized in violin with Ernst Arakelov and later in composition with Zurab Nadarejshvili and Marco Stroppa.

Some of his notable works include the prepared guitar technique with light bulb, Starshine (trio of violin, prepared guitar, and percussion), and experimental electromechanical machines such as Beat Machine and Self-Applauding Machine. Nikoladze’s artistic work is part of the permanent collection of the Pop Music Museum in Oslo and the SOLO Collection in Madrid, among others, and has been presented in venues such as the Wilhelmpalais in Stuttgart and in collaboration with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.

ABOUT SOLO CSV

Designed by architect Juan Herreros and built on the former site of the Rivadeneyra printing presses, SOLO CSV was created as a center dedicated to contemporary art and culture. With an area of approximately 4,500 m², it is conceived as a set of interconnected spaces that will be opened to the public progressively, as the initiatives it hosts are launched, including Onkaos, LeCluf, Batty Purple, OLOS, and El Extraordinario. Its main entrance is located at Cuesta de San Vicente 36, and access to the various projects is free, subject to prior reservation.

Currently, it is possible to view the programming of the Bowman Hall art gallery and Movimiento 37.