Wed 9/23 @ 5:30-7:30PM
Akron Soul Train provides short-term residencies for artists in a wide range of disciplines to work on a specific project that it then presents in its gallery or through a partner.
The latter is the case with 2026 artist in residence Óskar Þór Arngrímsson, who performs as Ótal, an Icelandic word meaning “a large unknown number.” Arngrímsson, a musician, composer and sound artist, is now based in Akron, where he moved from his native Iceland in 2023. And it’s Akron that provided the raw material for his project Fjöður, a new album available through his website, that he composed and recorded during his Akron Soul Train residency. https://otal.bandcamp.com/album/fj-ur
It’s based on field recordings collected around Akron, including the sounds of, wildlife, wind, plants, trains, and industrial machinery, which he transformed into compositions with various electronic gear to explore the relationship between the city’s natural and industrial environments.
“During the recording process, I became increasingly aware of a deeper presence within the environment—something ancient that seemed to remain beneath the roads, factories, railways, rivers, and vegetation,” he says. “Fjöður explores this sensation through sound, memory, and transformation, searching for the unseen qualities that can be felt within a place.”
Akron Soul Train will present a live performance of Fjöður on Wednesday September 23 at Youngstown’s McDonough Museum of Art, a performance that will include live videography by Ella Medicus to create an immersive audiovisual experience.
The performance is free and open to the public. For more information, go to akronsoultrain/fjodur-live-electronic-music-performance-by-otal-with-ella-medicus.