PERSDOSSIER Groepstentoonstelling Orkest! Oliver Beer / Rubén D’hers / Nicolas Field / Julian Sartorius / Michael Schmid / Konrad Smoleński / Rutger Zuydervelt ZO 07.12 2014 — VR 06.03 2015 Opening ZA 06.12.2014 20:00 Een tentoonstelling over geluid, die klinkt als een uitgerekte symfonie, met een focus op samenspel en interactie. Orkest! is als een partituur voor een sculpturaal ensemble, beïnvloed door de architectuur van Netwerk en het parcours van de bezoeker. Door te bewegen tussen de verschillende werken in de tentoonstelling schrijft iedere bezoeker zijn eigen partituur, met een eigen dynamiek en vol contrasten. De kunstwerken staan niet louter op zichzelf, ze interageren ook met de andere werken in aanpalende ruimtes en versterken elkaar in de tussenruimtes. Orkest! brengt acht installaties van internationale kunstenaars samen voor een drie maanden durende geluidstrip. Rutger Zuydervelt Stay Tuned Wat als je het spannende geluid van een stemmend orkest – net voor de performance uitrekt tot een continue drone? Meer dan 150 individuele muzikanten en zangers registreren een A (de noot la), de stemtoon van een orkest. Met deze variëteit aan instrumenten, technieken en stijlen maakt Rutger Zuydervelt een geluidsinstallatie voor 8 luidsprekers. De bezoeker kan zich vrij bewegen in de installatie, wandelend door het stemmende orkest, waarbij elke stap de geluidswaarneming – de kleur van de drone – beïnvloedt. Een ervaring die de tijd quasi stilzet.
Rutger Zuydervelt (°1978, Nederland) is grafisch ontwerper, muzikant en componist. Sinds 2004 werkt hij onder de naam Machinefabriek. Zijn muziek is een combinatie van ambient, modern klassiek, drone, noise en field recording, waarmee hij 'films zonder beeld' maakt. Naast zijn hoge productiviteit – de teller van zijn releases staat bijna op honderd – is hij steeds vaker betrokken bij dansprojecten, films en installaties. Konrad Smoleński Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More is een sculpturaal instrument dat dagelijks een muziekstuk speelt geschreven voor twee bronzen klokken, twee muren van luidsprekers en resonerende objecten, in dit geval een drumstel. De compositie linkt het rijke symbolische geluid van de klokken aan het abstracte geluid van galm en resonerende noise. Door gebruik te maken van delay en vertragende effecten toont Smoleński een wereld waarin de geschiedenis tot stilstand komt. Deze monumentale installatie was te zien op de Biënnale van Venetië in 2013. Speciaal voor Orkest! wordt het geluid van de klokken versterkt met het geluid van de drum en de zeven overige installaties van de groepstentoonstelling. Smoleński gebruikt het dagelijks geluid van het hele Orkest! als bron voor zijn uitgerekte symfonie.
Konrad Smoleński (°1977, Polen) werkt als beeldend kunstenaar met performance, fotografie, installaties, video’s en optredens met geluid en sculptuur, vaak in samenwerking met andere beeldend kunstenaars en musici. Hij woont en werkt in Warschau en in Bern. Smoleński’s werk gaat internationaal. Denk aan Manifesta 9 in Genk, Palais de Tokyo in Parijs, Museum of Modern Art in Warschau, Performa 13 in New York en recentelijk het Pools Paviljoen van de 55e Biënnale van Venetië en het Volkspaleis 2014 in Den Haag, waar Smoleński een monumentale installatie maakte in het Zuiderstrandtheater. Julian Sartorius Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen De video/geluidsinstallatie Schlaft ein Lied in allen Dingen van de Zwitserse percussionist Julian Sartorius bouwt verder op zijn project Beat Diary. Eén heel jaar lang creëerde hij elke dag een beat op verschillende ondergronden. Denk aan bruggen, treinen, bomen, liften, balustrades... Die 365 composities en fotoregistraties zijn uitgegeven als vinyl box - inclusief fotoboek en dit op 365 exemplaren. De installatie-versie voor drie schermen en zes luidsprekers toont ons per scherm een langere loop met variërende lengte zodat er geen herhaling mogelijk wordt en er steeds weer nieuwe beat- en beeldcombinaties ontstaan. De titel refereert naar het gedicht Wünschelrute van Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen die da träumen fort und fort, und die Welt hebt an zu singen, triffst du nur das Zauberwort
Julian Sartorius (°1981, Zwitserland) is een unieke percussionist die reeds samenwerkte met o.a. Nils Petter Molvaer, Rhys Chatham en Sophie Hunger. Begin 2014 speelde hij nog een innemende solo in de galerij van Netwerk tijdens Drums ’n Friends Again. Oliver Beer Mum’s Continuous Note De video Mum’s Continuous Note toont een moment van intimiteit met de kunstenaar zijn moeder. Ze zingt gedurende 3 minuten zonder te ademen de la noot als lofrede op de schoonheid van geluid en harmonie, en de emoties die ze kunnen veroorzaken. Via de ondertitels verklaart de zangeres – niet zonder humor – haar schijnbare virtuositeit, haar circulaire ademhaling, en het emotioneel potentieel van de harmonieën, die ze creëert met behulp van een blauwe ukelele.
Oliver Beer (°1985, Engeland) is kunstenaar en filmmaker. Zijn interesses gaan zowel uit naar muziek als naar beeldende kunst, naar de relatie tussen geluid en ruimte, naar de manier waarop een stem architectuur beïnvloedt en omgekeerd. Hij vertaalt dit in zijn kunstpraktijk naar fascinerende performances. Rubén D’hers Chords Tunnel #1 Chords Tunnel #1 is een geluidsinstallatie voor veertig akoestische gitaren, tachtig kleine dc-motoren, 800m speakerkabel, een computer en stukjes textiel. De gitaren, geleend door D'hers bij lokale particulieren, vormen de basis voor zijn geluids-
tunnel. Door te bewegen in dit rustgevende sonisch landschap verschuiven de overlappende tonen zachtjes van het ene akkoord naar het andere.
Rubén D’hers (°1980, Venezuela) is muzikant en geluidskunstenaar en leeft in Berlijn. Zijn werk focust op de gitaar in geluidsinstallaties, performances en improvisaties. Zijn werk was eerder onder andere te zien in ZKM in Karslruhe, Neueus Museum Weimar en Weart Festival in Barcelona. Michael Schmid Installatie voor basfluit (werktitel) In de ruimte hangt een basfluit die enkel bespeeld wordt door feedback. Het geluid zingt rond in de ruimte dankzij microfoons in de fluit en de speakers eromheen. Elke microfoon produceert een unieke feedback-toon. De uiteindelijke partituur wordt gespeeld door een digitale mengtafel die de microfoons aanstuurt en zo doet denken aan een hedendaagse versie van de pianola. Michael Schmid (°1973,Duitsland) is fluitist en behoort tot de vaste kern van het Ictus Ensemble. Daarnaast werkt hij als freelancer voor verschillende dirigenten en ensembles zoals Musikfabrik, Nieuw Ensemble, the Radio Kamerorkest Hilversum, … Nicolas Field Shimmering Beast Shimmering Beast is een omgekeerde triangel van vijf bij zes meter, gevormd door zestig briljante cimbalen op evenveel cimbaalstatieven, bas transducers en licht. Deze monumentale en visueel verbluffende collectie bekkens raken elkaar lichtjes en produceren – door de vibrerende vloer – een glinsterend geluid. Shimmering Beast werd gecreëerd tijdens een residentie in het Zwitsers Instituut te Rome en maakte deel uit van de Needcompany voorstelling Caligula.
Institut suisse de Rome, Italie, 11 -18 juillet 2011
Nicolas Field (°1975, Engeland) woont en werkt in Bern, Zwitserland. Hij studeerde percussie in Amsterdam en Den Haag. Hij is mede oprichter van het N-Collective, dat zich toelegde op het ontwikkelen, ondersteunen en promoten van avontuurlijke muziek. Naast zijn werk als muzikant en componist werkt hij sinds 2008 als beeldend kunstenaar aan geluidsinstallaties . Michael Schmid & Nicolas Field All Tones (werktitel) Missa Cuiusvis Toni is een van de meesterwerken van de vroege Vlaamse polyfonie van de 15de eeuwse componist Johannes Ockegem. Het werk is bijzonder daar het namelijk geen vaste modus heeft en in alle toonaarden (cuiusvis toni) gezongen kan worden. Welke keuze dan ook, het levert een coherent en logisch muziekstuk op. De geluidsinstallatie van Michael Schmid en Nicolas Field speelt de 4 toonaarden (Dorisch, Frygisch, Lydisch en Mixolydisch) tegelijk in één ruimte. Het resultaat is een prachtig hedendaags werk vol atonale muziek dat de verborgen niveaus tussen de verschillende toonsoorten blootlegt. Openingsevent Orkest! ZA 06.12.2014 20:00 De tentoonstelling Orkest! bespeelt het volledige Netwerkgebouw. Op de openingsavond mag het nog grootser en wordt het podium zelfs uitgebreid naar de hele stad Aalst. Vanop het dak van Netwerk wordt de tentoonstelling officieel geopend met een
concert voor 23 scheepshoorns van Heleen Van Haegenborgh en wordt de installatie van Konrad Smoleński gevoed door een drumsolo van Julian Sartorius. Heleen Van Haegenborgh op scheepshoorns Signaux Pianiste/componiste Heleen Van Haegenborgh koos voor haar debuut-cd Signaux scheepshoorns als muzikale tegenstem voor haar piano. Via youtube ontdekte ze Raoul de La Roche Aymon, een Fransman die scheepshoorns verzamelt. Uit zijn collectie met meer dan 300 hoorns koos ze er 23 uit, samen goed voor een bereik van twee octaven. Daarvoor liet ze de Fransman een klavier bouwen dat de hoorns bedient. Een soort scheepshoornorgel – hoorbaar tot enkele kilometers ver – want een volumeknop bestaat er niet. Wanneer een toets wordt ingedrukt, wordt er gecompresseerde lucht door de hoorns geperst: een binaire actie – de hoorn blaast of blaast niet – er is geen middenweg, het is alles of niets. De klank wordt enkel gekleurd door het geluid te laten weerklinken in de open ruimte, in dit geval de stad Aalst.
©Raoul de La Roche Aymon
Julian Sartorius drumsolo De installatie Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More van Konrad Smoleński gebruikt de geluiden van alle werken in de Orkest! tentoonstelling en verwerkt ze dagelijks tot een unieke orkestrale performance. Op de openingsavond speelt percussionist Julian Sartorius in het werk van Smoleński een drumsolo die wordt opgenomen als extra geluidsbron voor diens installatie. Tevens wordt de drum deel van het werk – naast de klokken en de luidsprekers – en vormt zo het extra resonerend object tijdens de dagelijkse performance.
Extra info Oliver Beer http://www.oliverbeer.co.uk The video Mum’s Continuous Note (2013) presents a moment of intimacy with the artist’s mother. Eulogy on the beauty of sound and harmony, and the emotions which they can provoke, for 3 minutes she sings a continuous note without seeming to stop to catch her breath. Through the subtitles which appear beneath her image, the singer explains – not without humour – her apparent virtuosity, her method of circular breathing, and emotive potential of the harmonies which she creates with the aid of a miniature blue guitar. https://vimeo.com/60778240 b r a nd ne w, october 2014 by christine macel Christine Macel: Over the last two years you have had many shows and performances — among others, at MAC Lyon; MoMA PS1, New York; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Fon- dation Hermès, Tokyo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Paris. You were trained as a composer, studied art at Oxford and began to exhibit in 2006. You work with space and sound, using frequencies in relationship to architecture in order to create immersive works. Oliver Beer: Often, yes, I use the natural frequen- cies of architectural spaces. Every space has got its own notes, just like a wine glass or an organ pipe has got its own note. In the series “The Resonance Project” (2007– ongoing) I work with the fact that every space has its own inherent harmonies, and though a simple process I can work with singers to stimulate an architectural space to resonate in exactly the same way that a wine glass resonates. It is a very simple and very beautiful process — the moment where the body enters into unison with the room and the resonance of the room entirely eclipses the voice. But this is only just the starting point: the real question is where do we take it, what kind of music is going to be born out of this unique situation? In the piece I am making right now at the Pompidou, certain notes are present and have been quietly resonating ever since it first opened in 1977. I’m working on the project with Les Cris de Paris, one of the top choral ensembles in France. Now for the first time musicians are revealing the inherent harmonies of the architecture. CM: You positioned singers along the transparent top- floor tunnel of the Centre Pompidou, and one can move around and between them to hear the piece. The possibility of the resonance was already there, but what you do is to re- veal the potential of the space. You make audible something that was there already but not perceptible. OB: The title of my last piece, Diabolus in Musica (2014), comes from the Latin “the Devil in music,” a historical term given to any two notes creating the inter- val of a diminished fifth. For centuries religious leaders banned the use of this interval because the dissonance was said to evoke the Devil. Here we have two notes that are
completely abstract [he sings] and for centuries they were forbidden to composers. This piece is included in my show at Thaddaeus Ropac where I built a structure, as I have done for Aural Architecture (2013) at Villa Ar- son and for Rabbit Hole (2014) at MAC Lyon. You can enter it and whisper the right notes and the space will resonate and sing this interval back to you. It’s strange that a physical space can contain harmonies, and that this abstract sound can be charged with such subjective and superstitious meaning.
Colt Waku 1847 (Offside) (2014). Courtesy of the Artist and Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris CM: You work a lot with perception and emotions, also in reference to specific people. For example, you did this piece, Oma’s Kitchen Floor (2008), which consists of the stripped kitchen linoleum floor from your grandmother’s house. Over the last four decades your Oma made several footmarks, and I think it’s a very empathic and emotional work. This is something I feel in many of your pieces. Al- though the meaning is not always clear, what really comes to the viewer is this “emotional content.” OB: After my grandmother died I came to see the linoleum floor of her kitchen like a drawing that she made with her feet, tracing half of her life. And the formal abstraction of the object remained important for me. Like the sculpture A Road to Nowhere (2013) — named in reference to a Talking Heads song from my birth year — where the top surface of two train rails taken from the SNCF between Lyon and Marseille are polished to reveal the patina of all these millions of journeys; but ultimately they’re just two minimal steel lines leading into the distance. CM: Do you imprint a human presence in your work? Why does your work offer this strong experience? This is not a dry conceptual understanding of music. It’s on the one hand written and prepared but on the other very emotional. That’s why to me it has such a big response in such short time. OB: I remember as a teenager playing Shostakov- ich’s fifth in an orchestra. In 1937 he was dangerously out of favor with Stalin, and he had to write a symphony to the glory of the Soviet state and in doing so rehabili- tate himself politically. He did this and yet somehow he managed to code his political dissent into the music. He had an emotional half-hour standing ovation from the public! This abstract music,
in an abstract form, had two simultaneous meanings: one appropriate for the Soviet regime and the other able to evoke the com- munal pain of the people. CM: This is very specific to you because, I think, you have this deep knowledge of music. When I saw you working with the singers, I understood that you are also a director, a “conductor.” It is also very specific to your practice. To me, contrary to what I read, I don’t think it has a relationship with relational aesthetics. You are indeed an artist as a producer and a director, but also a composer. OB: Being a composer is an extraordinary position because not only you create the music, you can also choose to what extent you direct it. You collaborate with performers: it’s about collective expression. For example I suppose my film Reanimation 1 (2013) that I made with Villa Arson in Nice is like a composition. Five hundred children followed a protocol to turn a sequence from Walt Disney’s Snow White into a flicker- ing and psychedelic new film. The child becomes the musician, interpreting the score.
“Diablus in Musica,” installation view at Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (2014). Courtesy of the Artist and Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris
CM: You also make objects, like This is a Pipe (2013), a tobacco pipe cut and immersed in a wall, and also guns, like British Bulldog (2014). You did a piece in crystal and gold entitled Silence is Golden and a window piece, Outside-In (both 2013). OB: At Oxford I was a student adviser for the team of architects designing the new school. They cut through a 3-D model on a screen, and I was entranced: it was like an instant Matta-Clark. The pipe was used for decades, and thousands of liters of air and smoke passed through it and yet until now it never revealed its true anatomy. With the Fondation Hermès I made the series “Outside-In,” windowpanes physically morphed to enter the room and become functioning ear trum- pets. They manipulate the frontier between inside and outside. CM: Like in many of your works, I see a deep interac- tion with the materiality of the world, the body and the environment. OB: To misquote Shakespeare’s King John: “strong reasons make strong interactions.” Rubén D’hers
Oproep: voor een project van de Venezolaanse kunstenaar Rubén D’hers is Netwerk op zoek naar 40 akoestische gitaren. De gitaren worden met zorg behandeld en komen in originele staat terug. Het uiteindelijke resultaat, de installatie Chords Tunnel, zal te zien zijn van 6 december 2014 tot en met 7 maart 2015 tijdens de tentoonstelling Orkest!. Heeft u een akoestische gitaar – of eventueel een klassieke gitaar – en kunt u deze missen voor enkele maanden, mail Hans Bocxstael via
[email protected].
Ruben D’Hers (Caracas, Venezuela 1980), musician and sound artist currently living in Germany. By 2001 he finished studies on Fine Arts with a mayor in Painting at the Cristobal Rojas Visuals Arts School in Venezuela. Since 2009 he began to study electroacoustic composition and sound Design under Robin Minard at the Bauhaus University Weimar in Germany. His learning in music has been self-taught. In Caracas, from 1999 to 2007 he was co-founder and guitarist of the experimental rock band kRé. Since then he works on his solo project which highlights the use of the guitar as a main tool of experimentation. His work focuses on sound installations, compositions and improvised music. He has exhibited his work at venues like ZKM in Karlsruhe, Neues Museum Weimar, Pure Data Convetion Weimar-Berlin, SeaM Weimar Studio für elek-troakustische Musik, Kein Akt - 48 Std Kölln Neu in Berlin, Weart Festival in Barcelona, Spain and at the Nelson Garrido Organization in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2013 he won the Lab 30 Award n Augsburg, Germany. http://rubendhers.blogspot.de/
chords tunnel #1 sound installation, 36 acoustic guitars, 72 motors, cable, fabric and computer, 2013 Chords Tunnel #1 is an installation that uses a variable number of prepared acoustic guitars (contingent on the size of the space) and small dc motors to generate a ‘sound tunnel.’ The visitor perceives a sonic landscape whose overlapping tones shift gently from one chord to the next according to his/her movment through the space. The tunnel consists of multiple guitars, roughly one to two meters apart from one another, mounted on two parallel walls. (see 1. sketch). Each guitar is played continuously by one or two small dc motors with fabric attached to them. The motors are suspended from the ceiling and trace the length of the necks of each guitar resting gently against their strings. As the motors spin, the sustained friction between the fabric and metal strings generates an unpredictable cloud made of chords and overtones that evolves and resonates within the space. Some motors swing in a pendulum-like motion across the neck of the guitars and, as they rotate at a variable speed, they produce a sort of polyrhythmic gesture amidst the mass of chords. The motors are more or less fixed so that they generate a stabile chord surface which reveals an overtone structure with a nebulous form. The chord tunnel would produce a nuanced drone that can ensconces its visitors in sound. The delicate changes and contrasts that are perceived at a spatial and harmonic level, depend on how the visitor chooses to engage with the space. Ultimately, the installation aims to inquire into our sense of space and melody and to challenge our conventional sense of time as measure. In turn, Chord Tunnel draws attention to our sense of time experienced through music.
sketch for installation showing the distribuition of chords in corridor like space
Chord Tunnel #1 works as a continuation or extention of a previous work in which I have explored the guitar as a sound source for a space based on chords. The installation, entitled Playa, was a piece for fourteen guitars that functioned like an autonomous sound sculpture inside a museum space. The dynamics of Playa were controlled by a program, which was built to produce small articulated movements (speed changes) of the motors. Unlike that piece, the compositional approach for Chord Tunnel would rely heavily on the architecture of the space. Rather than being everything programmed in advance, the visitor would feel the dynamics and contrasts as he/she explores the tunnel. “Melody is spatially located, since it depends on where you are sitting or whether you are stationary or moving. As your head moves, your ears behave like fingers on a string instrument activating the various nodes that emphasize different partials of the harmonics spectrum. In fact, the entire space in which the music is housed gives evidence of the physical properties of sound so that many acoustical phenomena can actually be identified”
Nicolas Field Né à Londres en 1975, Nicolas Field arrive en Suisse à 6 ans et grandit entre Bâle et Genève. Il débute la batterie à 12 ans et découvre au fil des années le vaste potentiel de l’instrument. A 20 ans, il décide de s’installer aux Pays-Bas pour suivre des cours de percussion au Conservatoire d’Amsterdam (1996 – 2002) et de sonologie au Conservatoire de La Haye (1997 – 2002). Il suit notamment l’enseignement de Joël Ryan et expérimente durant ces années de multiples techniques musicales, dans une volonté permanente de créer une nouvelle matière sonore à partir de la batterie. Dès le début des années 2000, il commence à sillonner l’Europe en tant que batteur avec différentes formations (musique contemporaine, musique improvisée, jazz). Au fil des rencontres et des tournées qui le mènent notamment aux Etats-Unis, au Japon, en Corée et en Australie, Nicolas Field collabore avec des artistes de renommée internationale tels Otomo Yoshihide (guitare), Anders Hana (guitare), Keiji Haino (guitare/chant), Seijiro Murayama (batterie), Damo Suzuki (ex CAN), Anthony Pateras (Piano), John Hegre (guitare), Tetuzi Akiyama (guitare) ou encore le Rova Saxophone 4tet. Actuellement, ses projets musicaux phares sont « Buttercup Metal Polish» (duo de percussion avec Alexandre Babel), « Cask Strength » (projet musical avec l’électronicien américain Jeff Carey), un duo avec le saxophoniste américain Keir Neuringer, un duo avec le saxophoniste japonais Akira Sakata et une collaboration avec le groupe néerlandais « Cactus Truck ». Progressivement, le goût de Nicolas Field pour l’électronique le mène à travailler également sur des solos de batterie comprenant des capteurs de mouvements et de l’électronique live. Dès 2010, il se produit seul sur scène, avec un vaste dispositif électronique et compose ses premières pièces pour batterie. Il joue notamment au Swiss-Australian Jolt Festival de Bâle, au festival Batterie Genève et au Festival Météo.
Parallèlement, dès 2008, Nicolas Field crée ses premières œuvres plastiques sous la forme d’installations sonores : « Gate 8 » pour le Mapping festival avec Dimitri Delcourt et « Think Thrice » pour l’exposition Dark Designs à la Maison d’Ailleurs d’Yverdon. En 2009, sur invitation du metteur en scène belge Jan Lauwers et de la NeedCompany, il présente durant un mois « Think Thrice » à Roubaix et à Bruxelles dans le cadre de l’exposition « The Tragedy of the Applause ». Durant sa résidence à l’Institut suisse de Rome (2010-2011), Nicolas Field crée Shimmering Beast, une impressionnante installation sonore composée de 60 cymbales qui sera notamment exposée à Rome, Forli et Vienne. Au cours de sa résidence à AirAntwerpen (2011), Nicolas Field présente l’installation sonore et visuelle North Of Black Atlantic Currents, œuvre aux multiples ramifications, véritable structure dans la structure. En 2012, il développe un projet d’installation et de performance avec le plasticien Fritz Welch à la galerie « Corpo 6 » à Berlin. Finalement, Nicolas Field travaille depuis 2006, pour des spectacles de danse et de théâtre. En 2006, il crée la musique pour le spectacle « Disco Pigs » d’Enda Walsh présenté dans le cadre du festival de la Bâtie. Il collabore depuis 2011 avec la compagne de danse 7273 et s’est produit au festival Antigel 2011 avec les danseurs Filipo Armati, Mohamed Toukabri et Marthe Krummenacher. En 2012, il compose la musique de l’installation « In Limbo » de l’artiste genevois Nicolas Robel. La même année, il est choisi pour composer la musique de la pièce Caligula, mise en scène par Jan Lauwers au Burgtheater de Vienne. Shimmering Beast a également été utilisée comme élément de scénographie et occupe une place prépondérante dans la pièce. Shimmering Beast Installation sonore et visuelle, 2011 « Shimmering Beast » a été créee à Rome en 2011 par Nicolas Field, lors de sa résidence à l’Institut suisse de Rome. Cette impressionnante installation sonore et visuelle est composée de 60 cymbales qui sont reliées entre elles et sont accrochées à la verticale sur des pieds de cymbales. Les cymbales sont placées de telle manière qu’elles se touchent légèrement les unes, les autres, créant ainsi un réseau d’interdépendances. Ainsi, lorsque l’une des cymbales bouge, elle entraine dans son sillage et sa résonnance toutes les autres. Le projet dans son entier constitue un triangle de 5.50 mètres sur 6 mètres. L’impressionnante installation sonore et visuelle “Shimmering Beast” a été créee à Rome en 2011. Elle est composée de 60 cymbales qui sont accrochées à la verticale sur des pieds de cymbales. Les cymbales sont placées de telle manière qu’elles se touchent légèrement les unes, les autres, créant ainsi un réseau d’interdépendances. De cette manière, lorsque l’une des cymbales bouge, elle entraine toutes les autres dans son mouvement et sa résonnance. Le projet dans son entier constitue un mur de 5.50 mètres sur 6 mètres. Sous le podium (sur lequel sont posés les pieds de cymbales) sont fixés quatre vibreurs qui amplifient les fréquences basses générées par l’ordinateur, font trembler le plancher sur lequel reposent les pieds de cymbales et accentuent le frémissement (à la manière d’un mini tremblement de terre). Sous
l’action des vibreurs, les cymbales se mettent ainsi à trembler, sonner et résonner. Eclairée par des spots, la construction forme une sorte de paroi dorée, chatoyante et réfléchissante. Les pieds de cymbales font quant à eux office d’armature. La réflexion de la lumière qui est projetée sur les cymbals en mouvement, depuis la face, est influencée par le déplacement des cymbales et scintille à la manière d’une boule à facettes, du soleil sur l’eau ou d’un miroir que l’on déplacerait. « En collaboration avec l’artiste sonore Nicolas Field, Jan Lauwers a distillé à partir du Caligula d’Albert Camus une véritable fête pour les sens. Un arrièreplan acoustique de qualité accompagne l’action. Une installation sonore, des cymbales dorées, confère à la mise en scène une tension, une dramatique particulière, aux bons moments.» Wiener Zeitung - Mai 2012
Le podium sur lequel repose l’installation joue un rôle central : quatre vibreurs sont en effet fixés sous cette structure. Ils amplifient les fréquences basses générées par l’ordinateur relié à l’installation et font trembler le plancher à la manière d’un mini tremblement de terre. Sous l’action des vibreurs, les cymbales se mettent donc à trembler, sonner et résonner.
Eclairée par des spots, la construction forme une paroi dorée, chatoyante et réfléchissante. Les pieds de cymbales font quant à eux office d’armature. La réflexion de la lumière qui est projetée sur les cymbales en mouvement, depuis la face, est influencée par le déplacement des cymbales et scintille à la manière d’une boule à facettes, du soleil sur l’eau ou d’un miroir que l’on déplacerait. Expositions Institut suisse de Rome, Italie, 11 -18 juillet 2011 Festival Crisalide, Oratoire San Sebastiano, Forli, Italie, 1-4 septembre 2011 Burgtheater de Vienne, Autriche. Element scénographique dans la pièce de Caligula, mis en scène par Jan Lauwers, NeedCompany, mai 2012 - mars 2013
Institut suisse de Rome, Italie, 11 -18 juillet 2011
Institut suisse de Rome, Italie, 11 -18 juillet 2011
Julian Sartorius Julian Sartorius, born 30 april 1981 in Thun (CH) The beat is the defining element in the life of Julian Sartorius. Born 1981 in Thun (Switzerland), he began his first drum lessons at the age of five and followed his passion via marches, Michael Jackson and as a member of local underground bands. With his rhythms, which push the boundaries of New Music, Hip-Hop and World Music, Sartorius reveals the endless possibilities and range of his instrument. He often prepares his drums, works with unusual, unprocessed acoustic sounds and develops, beat by beat, an unheard environment of sound. Julian Sartorius was taught by musicians such as Fabian Kuratli, Pierre Favre and Norbert Pfammatter at the Jazz Schools in Bern and Lucerne. He has collaborated with Sophie Hunger, Colin Vallon, Dimlite, Merz, Jürg Halter and Rhys Chatham, and has toured throughout Europe, South America, Canada and the US. Besides that he’s playing solo concerts all over Europe. http://juliansartorius.ch Konrad Smoleński Il Palazzo Enciclopedico @ Biennale Arte - La Biennale di Venezia Venice IT, Polish Pavilion Venice Biennale 2013 Everything Was Forever, Until it Was No More audio installation, 2013 Everything Was Forever, Until it Was No More (video here) is a sculptural instrument that reproduces, at regular intervals, a music piece written for bronze bells, wide range loudspeakers, and other resonating objects."
Everything Was Forever, Until it Was No More is a sculptural instrument that reproduces, at regular intervals, a music piece written for bronze bells, wide range loudspeakers, and other resonating objects. The composition is based on a contrast between the symbolically rich sound of the bells and the abstract resounding noise. By using a delay effect, Smoleński offers an insight into a world where history has come to a standstill, thereby approaching the radical propositions of contemporary physics with its perception of the passage of time as an illusion. ____________________________________________________ The Polish Pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition — la Biennale di Venezia Venice 1 June–24 November 2013 Polish Pavilion Commissioner: Hanna Wróblewska Exhibition Curators: Daniel Muzyczuk and Agnieszka Pindera Assistant Commissioner: Joanna Waśko Concept The two hand-made bronze bells which form the core of Konrad Smoleński’s installation successfully convey a somewhat crude and “primitive” character of a work that alludes to the traditional craft of bell-founding. The bells located in the central part of the space, along with the rows of broadband speakers echoing them and the two opposing walls of metal cases (in the Polish Pavilion) and wooden platform (in CentrePasquArt), serve as an example of a model stereophonic system. Although the form of the individual constituents seems familiar, the interaction between them in this relatively small space is quite startling. What seems especially out of place in this arrangement is the idiophones which are normally placed well above the line of vision. Moreover, the purpose of the enormous wooden platform or two hundred small metal doors are open to interpretation — their size and appearance are quite universal and may be associated with a number of different public spaces and the respective functions that correspond to them. Each of the constituents of this visual and aural arrangement plays an equal part. In Smoleński’s composition the sound of a traditional instrument is first recorded in real time and then processed, delayed and retransmitted. This is alternated with a monotonous drone from the enormous speakers, and finally the sound reverberates through the metal or wooden structures which are integrated with the architecture of the space. Previously shown in Venice, the sound sculpture is based primarily on the manipulation of the tolling of a bell — an ancient instrument which has for centuries set the rhythm of our earthly and “eternal” lives. While transforming this familiar sound, Smoleński changes its meaning: a sound that evokes a variety of associations is now given an abstract frequency which seems devoid of connotations. Not only does the artist free the signal from its source, but he also resorts to the use of delay and reverberation. The accumulation of acoustic waves provides the broadcast sound with a weight which has a direct impact on all the subjects and objects around the installation. It appears that the acoustic signal can move the molecules of both animate and inanimate objects with an equal force. The installation is a continuation of more than a decade of explorations carried out by a visual artist with a keen interest in sound. Smoleński’s works combine punk rock aesthetics with the precision and elegance typical of minimalism. The artist uses both
traditional and self-constructed sound objects to examine the flow of energy and its interaction with the audience. By exploring the possibilities of electricity, sound waves and PA systems, the artist manipulates the meanings we usually attribute to objects which are typically used in rock culture. These artistic endeavors and the way Smoleński uses his “instruments” in Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More bring to mind the illusory nature of time, as proclaimed by Julian Barbour. This British theoretical physicist undermines the significance of time while conjuring up his vision of a timeless universe, where one of the key categories is the present perceived as a three-dimensional snapshot, and where the chronological ordering of events is a result of nothing more than our memory of individual “Nows.” Therefore, time, according to Barbour, is but a sensation of temporality, enhanced by what he calls “time capsules”, or records of what we believe to have existed in the past. Aside from Barbour’s hypotheses, our analysis of the artist’s experiments, including those with the sound of a traditional instrument, is based on a number of other scientific and literary theories, all expressing the inaccuracy or exhaustion of the idea of time. These include science-fiction stories, dissertations on experiments with sound and aural illusions, and studies on such museum concepts as the Encyclopedic Palace (title of the 55th International Art Exhibition in Venice). An echo of the installation used as a tool for accumulating energy can also be found in The Voices of Time by J. G. Ballard which offers an entropic vision of the “last man on Earth” collecting so-called terminal documents. The aforementioned compositional tools used by Smoleński are also typical for Samuel Beckett for whom the notion of time is one of the key issues, both in terms of text and plot structure. Thus, repetition, change and non-accomplishment, primary features of Beckett’s work, are characteristics that also to be found in Smoleński’s works. Both in Beckett’s plays and in Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More, time is regarded as a persistence whose intervals and dimensions, generally known as the past, present and future, merge into one with time itself becoming, in the words of the playwright, “a monster that both condemns and redeems.” The full version of the exhibition’s title taken from the book of Alexei Yurchak: Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More. The Last Soviet Generation (Princeton University Press, 2005). Artist Konrad Smoleński (1977) graduated from the Poznań Academy of Fine Arts (2002). He has shown his work in numerous exhibitions at the following venues, among others: Ludwig Museum, Budapest; Pinchuk Art Center, Kyiv; Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen; Waterside Contemporary, London; Offen auf AEG, Nuremberg; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; and Zachęta — National Gallery of Art, Warsaw. Holder of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage fellowship (2000). Winner of the Deutsche Bank Foundation Award — Views 2011. He lives and works in Warsaw (PL) and Bern (CH). www.konradsmolenski.com
The work at the Polish Pavilion is a logical continuation of the artist’s research into flows and eruptions of energy. Thus, his previous pieces and their qualities can work as a context in analyzing Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More. Energy Hunters (2011) is a film with a complex narration which is projected with the aid of a special structure inspired by a 1970s tweeter. The setting of the film is a roadside area dotted by high-voltage power lines — all these form the backdrop for the noise-rock band Foot Village moving quite slowly. The soundtrack is made up of a number of different sounds, such as different types of interference, growls, variable frequency sounds and scream-like vocals. BNNT (2007–ongoing) are audio performances by Konrad Smoleński and Daniel Szwed, which are held in open public spaces of cities, or in the institutionalized spaces of galleries and festival venues. The band members travel in a van which serves them as an improvised stage where they perform in balaclavas or masks. Each performance involves a sonic attack with the use of a string instrument modeled on the Tomahawk missile (Konrad Smoleński) and a drum set (Daniel Szwed). This is an interdisciplinary project involving both public performance — so-called sound bombing — and a publishing activity, which the duo have run for a few years now. It’s Bigger Than Me (2012) is a sculpture, a monumental figure, albeit minimalistic in shape, resembling a speaker casing or a simplified head which through vibration becomes at the same time a source of sound. Inside there are frequency generators producing the physical sensation of signal reception, which is especially strong from a close distance. Consisting mainly of low tones, the composition was made with the aid of a program used by sound engineers to check the acoustics of a concert hall. Such low tones can carry over long distances. What you hear is a monotonous drone of the type that could be sent out from a distant factory. Here several tracks are superimposed on one another; as a result the sound is at some points pleasantly harmonious and at others starkly dissonant.
Everything Was Forever, Until it Was No More in Netwerk, with the support of
Rutger Zuydervelt Stay Tuned An audio work and installation based on the moment when an orchestra gets in tune, before a performance. Like this. An event that I wish could last forever, which is exactly what 'Stay Tuned' is about.
More then 150 musicians and singers were asked to record an 'A' (which is the note an orchestra normally tunes to), using whatever technique or style they please. So each 'A' has its own unique characteristics, but is also a small part of a much bigger drone. 'Stay Tuned' is presented as a multiple-speaker installation. From each speaker, the sound of an instrument-group is heard, continuously. The speakers are spaciously placed to create an auditive space, so visitors can literally walk through the orchestra. While wandering, the focus shifts from one instrument-group to next. Each listening position slightly changes the 'colour' of the drone, and makes different details, imperfections and instrument-characteristics audible.
http://www.machinefabriek.nu/index.php/art_projects/stay_tuned Besides the installation, a composed stereo version of 'Stay Tuned' will is released on cd by Baskaru. There are also live performance adaptation of the piece. More than 150 musicians contributed to the project: David Aird (Vindicatrix) Mats Aleklint Tetuzi Akiyama Oren Ambarchi Nathan Amundson (Rivulets) Kai Angermann (Insa Donja Kai) Thomas Ankersmit Sigbjørn Apeland (1982) Felicia Atkinson Aidan Baker (Nadja) Michel Banabila Paul Baran Molly Berg Johan Berthling (Tape, Fire!) Jeb Bishop Olivia Block Peter Broderick Chris Brokaw (ex-Codeine, ex-Come) Dave Brown (Candlesnuffer) Mike Bullock (The BSC) Daniel Bürkner (Squares on Both Sides) John Butcher Anna Rose Carter (Moon Ate the Dark) Tim Catlin Travis Chapman (Balmorhea) Xavier Charles Sylvain Chauveau Eric Chenaux Colleen Valerio Cosi Werner Dafeldecker (Polwechsel) Gareth Davis Matt Davis (Zeitkratzer, Otomo Yoshihide) Tony Dekker (Great Lake Swimmers) Jim Denley Bardt van der Dennen (Birdt) Andy Diagram (exTwo Pale Boys, ex-Spaceheads) Gareth Dickson Jorrit Dijkstra Michael Francis Duch (Lemur) Benjamin Duvall (Ex-Easter Island Head) Julia Eckhardt Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (Trondheim Jazzorchestra) Jacco van Elst (This Leo Sunrise) Katie English (Isnaj Dui) Erik Enocksson (Lakes of Grass and Gold) Ferran Fages (Cremaster) Pien Feith Nils Frahm Masayoshi Fujita (El Fog) Lori Goldston (Earth, Secret Chiefs 3) Rachel Grimes (Rachel's) David Grubbs Ivar Grydeland Gudbjorg Hlin Gudmundsdottir (mum) Anne Guthrie Greg Haines (Alvaret Ensemble) Franz Hautzinger Nick
Hennies Carl Ludwig Hübsch Paul Hubweber Sarah Hughes Jenny Hval Hilary Jeffery (The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble) Paul de Jong (The Books) Coti K. (Mohammad) Rebekka Karijord Edita Karkoschka (Nausica) Greg Kelley (Nmperigm) Sarah Kemp (Fieldhead, Brave Timbers) Julia Kent (Antony and the Johnsons, Larsen) Kenneth Kirschner Romke Kleefstra (Piiptsjilling, Alvaret Ensemble) Tobias Klein Jonas Kocher (300 Basses) Are Lothe Kolbeinsen Annette Krebs Martin Küchen (Angles 8, Looper) Anne La Berge (Shackle) Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga Jens Lekman Simon Lenski (D.A.A.U.) Lidwine Eivind Lønning (Espen Reinertsen, Koboku Senju) Mike Majkowski Janne Mansens (Birdt) Aaron Martin Stephan Mathieu Magda Mayas Lauren McMurray (Twigs & Yarn) Violet Meerdink (This Leo Sunrise) Alicia Merz (Birds of Passage) Phil Minton Rie Mitsutake (Oh, Yoko) Andy Moor (The Ex) Jon Mueller Geoff Mullen Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø Puzzle Muteson Lisa Nordström (Midaircondo) Koen Nutters (The Pitch, N-Collective) Lothar Ohlmeier (Not Applicable) Marianne Oldenburg (Ode to the Quiet ) Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson (múm, Sigur Ros) Morten J. Olsen (MoHa!, The Pitch) Daniel Padden (The One Ensemble) Stephanie Pan Andrea Parkins Alden Penner (The Unicorns) Sandro Perri (Polmo Polpo) Steve Peters Stefano Pilia Richard Pinhas Espen Reinertsen (Streifenjunko, Koboku Senju) Iden Reinhart (Strië) Bhob Rhainey (Nmperign, The BSC) Steve Roden Abigail Sanders Saya (Tenniscoats) Dirk Serries (Fear Falls Burning) Insa Schirmer (Insa Donja Kai) Martin Siewert (Trapist, Heaven And) Lukas Simonis (Coolhaven) Erik Skodvin (Svarte Greiner, Dead Center) Steven R. Smith Bram Stadhouders Jasper Stadhouders (Cactus Truck) Andreas Stensland Løwe (Splashgirl) Jeremy Strachan Keiichi Sugimoto (Fourcolor, Minamo) Hild Sofie Tafjord (Lemur, Spunk) Ueno Takashi (Tenniscoats) Martin Taxt (Koboku Senju) Ryan Teague Michael Thieke (The International Nothing, The Pitch) Monica Tormell (Moon & Sun) Eriko Toyoda (So) Rick Treffers Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw) Scott Tuma (ex-Boxhead Ensemble) Ryan Vanderhoof (ex-Akron/Family) Nikos Veliotis (Mohammad) Steven Vinkenoog (Donné et Desirée) Stephen Vitiello Sabine Vogel Håvard Volden Johan G. Winther (Tsukimono) Nate Wooley Enrico Wuttke (Flim) C. Spencer Yeh Richard Youngs
Stay Tuned cd and download, out now Finally, after a long long wait the 'Stay Tuned' cd is here, released by the wonderful Baskaru label! Presumably most of you know about the project by now, but let me just copy/paste the label's press text: Take a walk through the orchestra. That's exactly what Rutger Zuydervelt invites us to do. Stay Tuned started as an installation where each speaker plays a continuous loop of a group of instruments playing an A note, as if they were tuning up. Visitors walk freely in this environment, literally walking through the orchestra; each step they take changes the mix of what they hear. For the CD version released by Baskaru, Zuydervelt produced a 50-minute mix that slowly takes us from section to section of his 153-piece ensemble – a who's who of the global avant-garde music scene, with names ranging from Oren Ambarchi to Richard Youngs, by way of John Butcher and Nate Wooley. There's the expected orchestra instruments (woodwinds, strings, brass, tuned percussion), and also, electric guitars, piano, and voices. The result is a drone in A that develops impressive levels of richness, depth, and movement. It feels like this orchestra will never stop tuning up, and you won't want it to. "If you think a continuous performance of a single "A"-note could hardly be interesting enough to keep your interest for the full 50 minutes, you owe it to yourself to try it out. I'm sure you'll be surprised. Ánd amazed!" - Ambientblog Hear and/or buy 'Stay Tuned' here Or e-mail
[email protected] for your order P.S. When 'Stay Tuned' was presented as installation a few weeks back, at Kunst van Hier tot Ginder, in Okkenbroek (NL), I did a few performances/workshops with local (fanfare) musicians and (chois) singers. Check out this recording.
