The origins of "Bernardino Da Siena" began in 2018 while I was writing a slew of songs between the styles of extreme metal and techno. This musical focus was a way to process the conflicts between my trans-femme, immigrant identity and the various strands of misogyny and transphobia that ran respectively through my countries of origin; the Unites States and Italy. At the same time, a separate project proposal of mine had been accepted by 33 Officina Creativa (33OC), which is an art residency located in a small, Italian town called Toffia. I therefore had to shelve the metal - techno songs and prepare for my trip from the Unites States to Europe instead.
33OC is housed inside a de-consecrated, medieval convent that had been built by Franciscan friars. I found out during my stay that the church within had been dedicated to Bernardino da Siena (1380 - 1444), who had apparently stayed in Toffia during one of his pilgrimages from Rome in 1430. Bernardino was a missionary who spent his life traveling through Italy to preach and reinvigorate the people’s faith in Catholicism. In 1450, he was canonized as a saint by the Pope. Upon further research, I became aware of Bernardino’s pivotal role in influencing the Roman Catholic Church’s violent treatment of Queer people and women; his speeches often decried witchcraft, ’sodomy’, and other forms of ‘sin’. It seemed that I had, almost by chance, discovered a historical root to the culturally - pervasive repression that had caused me such strife.
So, I decided to respond to Bernardino’s poisonous legacy with black metal and techno; a historically anti - clerical genre and a historically Queer genre of music. I abandoned the initial project proposal for 33OC and continued, for the rest of my time in Toffia, to work on the shelved songs that I had started in the United States.
A fresco from the 1400’s still remains inside that church, with depictions of Bernardino and other religious figures present. I would start my days by gazing upon the fresco, then playback and record sounds with the reverb of that church’s concrete interior. This is how/ Bernardino da Siena / was made.

A bell, a creaking door, my screams, the two rivers that surround Toffia, feedback… all these sounds gave life to the silent image of Bernardino and I would feel, for a brief moment, that my ire could reach him.

Onirologia a.k.a. Costantino Toth is an Italian - American composer and multimedia artist born in Sarasota, Florida and currently based in Berlin. Their work amalgamates themes of homemaking and transformation with a process that highlights a ‘conceptual commitment to the sample’. Onirologia’s debut album, "O" (2017), was made mostly with archival material that pertained to the artist’s personal and cultural lineage (relatives' voices, old VHS tapes, an EEG, etc) in order to convey the strange, divisive experience of being a 1st-generation, trans immigrant. Since then, “O” has become a further exploration into sonic sedimentation, and will continue indefinitely through annual reiterations. 

Production and Mixing by Onirologia
Lyrics and Vocals by Onirologia
Mastering by Emme Moises at SoundLab
Artwork by Daniel Mangosing
V23

Bernardino Da Siena

Ash and Gravel

Onirologia - Ash and Gravel

Human curation of music in the age of algorithmic based taste.

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