Wateranalfabeet.
mechanisch kletterende Regendruppels ploffen,
poffen met vol gewicht een
met de natuur. Lijkt het
nog niet overgewaaid?vraag
het de secretaresse
zij tuurt voetje voor voetje voorzichtig over straat.
haar Kees weet waarschijnlijk meer,
maar haar regenhoed spreekt boekdelen.
De letters die op haar neerplenzen
lijken te spellen. Echter.
Simeon Ten Holt- Canto Ostinato for 4 piano’s – Muziekgebouw Eindhoven
When I was 8 years old I saw this magical performance on tv. It featured 4 pianists and the music was beautiful. I could not remember this occasion, until i saw it on television again when i was thirteen at my grandmother’s house. I was certain it was the same piece. I found out it was dutch and that it was called canto ostinato. Being the walking encyclopedia i am i never would forget about it.
In 2005 Kruidvat released a special 12-cd box of this composer’s works for 4 piano’s and by chance I discovered this release in an article. I bought it and have played this a lot. To me, the music is infinite. When I discovered that Canto Ostinato was being performed in Eindhoven by the Van Veen’s , who were also responsible for the studio recordings I got my hands on, i could not help but feel really excited.
The piece itself and all of Simeon ten Holt’s work for 4 piano’s falls under the modern classical nomer “serialism”. Which basically means the piece is a large book of tiny variations on a theme, with a couple of bridges and roughly the same buildup each time. The rest is up to the team of pianists’ imagination or improvisation. The first time Horizon was performed in public, the performance took 32 hours!
None of this I expected, times have changed. The cd-version was a performance of 3 hours . Still I could have the patience to sit through several hours of this, so i was hoping for that. Finally , it was saturday 2 april.
The performance started and there was a strange atmosphere, there was a lot of coughing going on. People seemed quite restless. The music started, visuals were provided by the seemingly ubiquitous NLXL. But being a designer, into design and hopefully making a living out of that soon, I guess it is impossible to ignore. However it made for a nice touch, all we needed was someone quoting Hendrik Marsman and we ‘d have a nationalistic performance to almost be proud of. Luckily this wasnt the case.
The coughing went on, I guess a lot of people were getting ill, i pondered. Slowly the piece started doing it’s magic. The coughing disappeared into the background, I closed my eyes and went into the music. This performance felt rushed, the parts not gently flowing, but almost breaking the concentration by the fast switches between movements. This seemed to wear the restless out and slowly the quality unfolded. The way the movements were arranged was very impressive. Fast switching kept mellowing and the movements became longer. The passionate playfulness of the pianists, which makes this sometimes be waved away like new age music, became much more mature by the way new clusters were grouped and prolonged. Amazingly the performance only lasted one and a half hour, yet the experience felt much more intense. The complexity increased threefold and it seemed yet again there was a new way of looking at this piece.
I enjoyed this thoroughly, felt completely mindblown afterwards. I am now definitely an addict and will try to see this as often as I can, clearly there are many possiblities still to uncover with passing time.
Aural Architecture
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00j3w8k
An interesting documentary on Aural Architecture, The spaces that speak.
—
Science broadcaster Professor Trevor Cox explores the science of aural architecture – the relationship between sound, design and human experience.
Building design and city planning is dominated by the visual. But a new science has emerged which explores the relationship between design, acoustics and the human experience, called aural architecture. Every space has its own unique soundscape, created by a combination of the overall design, the materials used in construction and the way that space is used by humans.
Until very recently, few architects ever gave much thought to what affect that soundscape might have on the people inhabiting the space, be they office workers, school pupils, teachers or shoppers. This has resulted in railways stations where train announcements are unintelligible, restaurants where you have to shout to be heard and open-plan schools in which teaching is all but impossible. More recently, research has shown that a poor aural experience can have a considerable negative effect on how we feel and behave, even at a subconscious level.
Professor Cox hears for himself how some spaces ‘speak’ and meets architects, designers and researchers hoping to transform our aural experience for the better.
—
more from these people on salford ‘s website:
Film Review : The Balcony – Joseph Strick
The film The Balcony is a early 1960′s B/W work based on the play “Le Balcon”by Jean Genet. Being familiar with Genet’s strong surrealist visual style, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this film. Initially I felt slightly annoyed by the slow pace, and its theatrical performance. The film initially focuses on a rather violent civil war and we see Shelley Winters at a big metal door, meant to keep things in and to keep things out. A strong instruction how to view the rest of the film. Half dressed-up prostitutes have gathered in the main room , where they engage in daily activities like knitting and what looks like a type of Meccano.
The plot focuses around this Brothel , where sex is not necessarily the essence, but an excuse to live out the fantasies of each person. On this the early part of the film focuses in a cringeworthy attempt to display the interaction between the girls and customers. The dialogues seem forced, is this conscious or because we are dealing with an adaptation of a play?
This is where the film becomes interesting and succeeds where f.e. David Lynch’s Inland Empire recently seems to fail in engaging the viewer. The characters become caricatures, a milkman becomes a general , a gasman becomes a bishop, a madam could be a queen. The dialogue sometimes clumsy and overtly played. In the Balcony it is still possible to think in reference-points of your own life instead of disconnecting entirely into a dreamlike state Lynch is so good at. .
Through the blatant metaphors hurled at us at a higher pace than the film itself, one questions himself. Assuming the original play was a continuation of the anarchist state of mind that Genet promotes, it’s an interesting take that this version seems to use Hollywood’s world as the brothel. the place where dreams come true, and the real politics of the mind are played. The influence of the media to the people who wish to be led. The independent state of mind is something not many people dare to engage, rather choosing to prolong the safer status quo.
It is only when we are removed of our clothes, our power and securities, our shames exposed and without the uniform that we realize all is just a masquerade we kept believing in, even against better judgement.
And then we are sent home by Madam Irma, with a cheeky wink, this message slowly opening in our brain. Wondering if any of this is real. THAT is the power of cinema. All of that achieved in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jr_s_ted_prize_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out.html
A very powerful execution of work for a very simple subject. Showing the real world:) Presentation is everything in this.
Little People
http://little-people.blogspot.com/
Slinkachu is a London artist/ blogger. There is something about this blog i really like. It’s cute , yes, but there’s something nice about this “hidden world”he portrays.
This one in particular i think is very clever, where he’s referring to objet-trouves, context and location becomes a new layer, whereas a lot of it is just fun.
via zone5300.nl
Patricia Piccinini
An artist that does some amazing figurative art, starting from the concept ”what does genetic manipulation mean and where are its borders? “. She does some great sketch drawing and although the thinking process is relatively simple each sculpture offers a new segment of exploration into the theme. Without getting dull or obvious, she ‘s a storyteller at heart. As proof I recommend you have a look at some of the “scenes” where the creatures occupy their unnatural habitat, watching dragraces and feeling quite at home in the suburban jungle. Effective website with a lot to discover.
Wees Blij (Be Glad) Website
http://www.wees-blij.nl/home.html
I came up with the same title and did a search to find someone has been doing something similar to my intentions. I have e-mailed this person to see what the story is behind it. Perhaps they would like to reach a bit further with it. Still , I really like that other people ARE toying with this idea. I think it may just be a small trigger people need to leave the comfort of their own home and actually do something. This is however something for the future. It is important to also consider what this campaign is meant to do.
Game: Symon
Symon
http://gambit.mit.edu/loadgame/summer2010/symon_play.php. This experimental flash game is described as follows:
Symon is an experimental adventure game. The puzzles try to reproduce the odd logic of dreams, where things make sense, but not quite. This logic becomes the underlying system of the game, which generates new puzzles procedurally whenever you start dreaming. The theme (being in a dream) is therefore embodied in the game design, which at the same time aims at introducing replayability in the adventure game genre.
I like this , it approaches the feel of dreams’logic.Set in a hospital and graves feature heavily, it feels like the melancholy of letting go of life. Definitely the fact it doesnt end (yet?) gives it a sense of foreboding. Yet another example of our obsession with mortality.
via Lazylaces.com
Effective Use of Social Media Requires Tapping Emotions, Book Says
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1008/feature-aaker.html
I find it’s a bit creepy that Stanford recommends putting this to use in a regular business profile, but I trust this “technique” mainly works for socially engaging themes. People are less trusting if something looks “too professional”.
