Category: Talk


Diane Barbé, Irwin Barbé & Pablo Diserens (DE/FR): in-animate matter (LIVE)

Diane Barbé, Irwin Barbé & Pablo Diserens
in-animate matter (LIVE)


Friday 16.6.2023 at 19:00.
– Voluntary entry fee –


field recordings, wind instruments, analogical synthesis, ecology, music


in-animate matter
Diane Barbé, Irwin Barbé & Pablo Diserens present in-animate matter, an experimental research project that brings together field recording, wind instruments and analogical synthesis in a practice of soundscape representation and imitation. During a two-week residency at the biological research station of Kilpisjärvi in the Arctic, the three artists investigated the symbiotic linkages between biophonic and geophonic entities in the fells, and will present a series of sound vignettes encountered on their journey.in-animate matter is funded by Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community and by the European Union.

Diane Barbé

Weaving together experimental music, biophonic research and activism, Diane Barbé (she/they) explores human and non-human worlds through sound. Based in Berlin since 2015, she operates at the intersection of ecology and music, working with field recording as much as with synthesis and acoustic instruments. Her debut album of cinema-without-images, “a conference of critters”, was released on the Berlin phonography label forms of minutiae in October 2022. She is currently creating an ensemble of wind instruments, percussions, bird calls and little sound devices, called The Alien Kin, used to explore the playful and ineffable spaces of interspecies communication and nonhuman languages.
latest release: a conference of critters, 2022

Irwin Barbé

Irwin Barbé (he/him) explores the border areas between abstraction, fiction and documentary through musical and visual practices. His work weaves links between heterogeneous worlds : acousmatic music and biomimicry, psychedelism and astronomical research, sensory illusions and urban planning, fractal geometry and mass consumption. These non-dualistic explorations have been presented in various forms over the last years : exhibitions, live performances, books, albums…
latest release: azurescens, 2022

Pablo Diserens
Pablo Diserens (she/they) is a field recordist, musician and artist devoted to non-human realities, attentive listening and possible forms of coexistence between species. Through an ecologically engaged multidisciplinary creative practice, she investigate diverse biomes and acoustic events using acoustic and visual recording techniques. Her work mixes sound, music, images and text to emphasize deep listening and connection. Here, acoustic ecology, photographic and electroacoustic forms bring to the fore the biological and geological properties of the environments explored. In solidarity with a wounded planet, Diserens’ practice invites people to attune to the present in an attempt at rethinking caring strategies and our relationship with the world and its biotic communities.
instagram @pablodiserens
latest release: upstream ensemble, 2023

​Karri Kokko: Open Studio — Avoimet ovet

Karri Kokko: Open Studio — Avoimet ovet

4.-9.10.2022

–THE EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED–


Poet Karri Kokko, who specializes in visual and conceptual poetry, moves his desk to the gallery for a week and invites his friends, colleagues and the public to participate in poetic work. The program also includes surprise visits, music performances, live streamed performances from home and abroad.


Karri Kokko is a Finnish poet specializing in asemic writing and visual poetry. He’s the author of more than thirty books, his first collection of poetry, Uno Boy, was published in 1982. Karri’s work can be found at Lettttere (lettttere.tumblr.com), Nokturno (nokturno.fi/authtor/karri-kokko), Instagram  (instagram.com/karri_kokko) and Soundcloud (souncloud.com/karrikokko). He lives and works in Helsinki.

Governing Bodies mini-festival: Emergence & Microbes

Governing Bodies mini-festival: Emergence & Microbes

Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 16.00 – 21.00

-free entry-


Welcome to join the international research group Governing Bodies for an evening of sounds and performances at Akusmata Saturday June 4, 2022. We start at 16.00 and will finish around 21.00. Feel free to drop in at any time.

FREDDIE ROSS (art historian): ethics of microbes, lecture performance
TINA MARIANE KROGH MADSEN: performance
JEAN-LOUIS HUHTA: performance
Till TILL BOVERMANN: performance

Photo by Till Bovermann


Governing Bodies is a group of artists, musicians and researchers who have met, discussed, cooked, eaten and made interdisciplinary art events about microbes since 2018. In June 2022 the group will travel to Helsinki where they will share their knowledge, experience and also learn from and with you.

In Finland special focus will given to microbes and emergence. Nature is filled with examples of how complex behaviours arise from relatively simple elements: we see this in how ants behave, or in how fish shoals or bird flocks interact. The term emergence is used to describe these fascinating manifestations of self-organisation that can, at first glance, seem inexplicable. Where does the extra injection of complexity suddenly come from? One thing is clear: these emergent phenomena can only be understood as collective behaviours — there is no way to make sense of them without looking at dozens, hundreds, thousands or more of the contributing elements. These wholes are indeed greater than the sums of their parts.


Festival program (1.-5.6.2022)

Wednesday, 1.6. evening
Listening in — diving into an ocean of emergent behaviour.
* 19.00 performance / deep listening at SOLU
* 20.00 EEG-synth experience / meditative one-on-one sessions (2-3 EEG synth sessions) – separate room at SOLU.
* 21.00 Food at SOLU

Thursday, 2.6.
Emergence is surrounding us — examples of emergence on macroscopic and microscopic levels and how they influence us and our life world.
* 10.00 breakfast at SOLU
* 11.00 Introduction to Emergence at SOLU
* 12.00 Kurt Johannssen (ABOUT TIME, CLUMPING AND THE COMPLEX) at SOLU
* 13.00 Lunch
* 16.00 Riina Hannula, Microbial Medi(t)ation (Yoga for Microbes, group exercise) at SOLU (or outside, weather permitting) Please bring/wear comfortable long-sleeved clothing, at SOLU
* 17:30 Bart van den Put: Retinalalian Group Hum_1 — breathing-sounding the retinal code, at SOLU
* 18.30 Annette Arlander “Letter to a Dead Spruce” video screening at SOLU
* 21.00 Dinner

Friday, 3.6.
On microbes and macrobes — scales of observation, behavioural patterns, and inter-system similarities.
* 10.00 breakfast at SOLU
* 10.30 Discussion about emergence with neuroscientist Veikko Jousmäki at SOLU
* 11.30 Till Bovermann Performative walk – City as Organism. (Departure from Solu.)
* 13.00 Lunch on the way
* 14.00-16.00 Sauna, Furuvik Rantasauna
* 19.00 Book release “Governing Bodies” at SOLU
* 19.30 The Experiences of Art as We don’t Know It and Governing Bodies. A round table discussion about creating books with trans-disciplinary content with the Freddie Ross, editor of Governing Bodies and representatives from Bioart Society. Moderated by MaiBritt Giacobini Arnér.
* 21.00 Dinner
* 22.00 Carima Neusser, Performance at SOLU

Saturday, 4.6.
Politics of emergence — layers of consciousness, layers of interpretation.
* 10.00 breakfast at SOLU
* 11.30 Carola Uehlken– walking through city, landscape, building? (Departure from SOLU) Please bring your own headphones and smartphone.
* 13.00 Lunch
* 16.00 Evening at Akusmata
– Freddie Ross – ethics of microbes – lecture performance
Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen – performance
Jean-Louis Huhta and Till Bovermann – performance
* 21.00 Individual dinner

Sunday, 5.6
Beyond emergence? — dispersion and re-formation.
* 11.00 breakfast at SOLU
* 12.00 Summary and departure

[The SOLU Space can be found at Luotsikatu 13, 00160 Helsinki, More info here.]


Governing Bodies is supported by The Nordic Culture Fund in Copenhagen Längmanska kulturfonden, Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki as well as Kulturfonden för Sverige och Finland.


EEGsynth & Body Music demonstration by Oneplusoneisthree +guests

EEGsynth & Body Music demonstration
by Oneplusoneisthree (1+1=3) and guests

*   *   *
Sat 28.9.2019 at 20:00 – 22:00


Oneplusoneisthree (1+1=3) is an artistic platform / community / ecosystem for research and performance. The collective includes musicians, neuroscientists and visual artists. We stage performances where we use real time EEG signals. We use the signals to control sounds, lights and images. Since 2014 we have performed in Sweden, Greece, France, Brazil, the UK and the US. To find out more, you find the 1+1=3 / EEGsynth CV here: http://www.visionforum.eu/113-cv/

What is the EEGsynth?
The EEGsynth is both a device and a collaborative interdisciplinary research project. As a device, it interfaces with the brain and body for artistic and scientific exploration, research and expression, allowing anyone to use their own brain and body activity to flexibly and powerfully control performative equipment in real-time. In short, it transforms electrophysiological signals (EEG, EMG and ECG) into analogue and digital control signals by means of sophisticated neuroscience signal analysis and custom-made hardware. As a project, it brings together musicians, artists, neuroscientists and developers to work together on technology for specific artistic performances.

Why the EEGsynth?
Progress in understanding the human brain is increasingly determining how we perceive ourselves and others. At the same time, new technologies are expanding the possible interactions between technology and the human brain. Brain-computer interfaces have recently become affordable for a wider public, allowing new artistic research into the human condition and new ways of artistic expression. However, to be able to exploit their full potential and to ensure the development of a lasting involvement of the art world in this contemporary dialogue, artists and neuroscientists have to co-create.

The current core group of the project is: Jean-Louis Huhta, Per Huttner, Robert Oostenveld, Samon Takahashi and Stephen Whitmarsh. Collaborative Partners include Selen Atasaoy, Carima Neusser, Marcos Lutyens and Hernan Anllo.

1+1=3 is supported by the Nordic Culture Fund, the Swedish Arts Grants Committe and Kulturbryggan; the EEGsynth is supported by Innovativ kultur, Stockholm County Council, the City of Stockholm and the Swedish Arts Council.

The 1+1=3 website
http://www.oneplusoneisthree.org

The EEGsynth website
http://www.eegsynth.org


As an additional performance Petri Kuljuntausta (brain interface) and Eleni Tsitsirikou (arm interface) performed as the soloists of the 1+1=3 group.

LIVE: MULTI-HAT EVENT

MULTI-HAT EVENT

Tuesday, January 29, 2019, 20:30-24:00

Place: Lavaklubi, Kansallisteatteri (National Theatre)

Address: Läntinen Teatterikuja 1, Helsinki

Free admission


Multi-Hat Event

An evening of video art, music, sound, performance art, design and conversation.

Special guest: video and performance artist Barbara Rosenthal (USA).

 

ARTISTS

Video + Sound, performance – Barbara Rosenthal
Co-hosts – Charlie Morrow, Maija-Leena Remes
* * *
Video graphics + Music – Otto Romanowski
Sounds – Juhani Liimatainen
Sound poet – Juha Valkeapää
Video + Sound – Petri Kuljuntausta
Video, new city project – Martti Aiha
Video + Multitrack sound – Olga Palomäki
Turntable – Harri Koskinen
Video + Sound – Remes & Morrow
3D sound-masking, soundscapes – MorrowSound


SOUND POETRY
Juha Valkeapää & Juhani Liimatainen: Winter Birds
Charlie Morrow: Arctic Sounds (video+audio)

VIDEO WORKS
Barbara Rosenthal: Two Mediated Performances:
1. I’m Growing Up (using projected masks)
2. Existential Photo-Run (blind scrambles through her own projected, distorted photographs)

Martti Aiha: Sculpture Dance & UrBaana
Petri Kuljuntausta: Handshake (with live soundtrack)
Remes & Morrow: Two Cellos 1-2 (performers Juho Laitinen, Seeti Laitinen) & Time Spiral (Hannu Kähönen, designer)
Olga Palomäki: Parallel Landscape I-II
Otto Romanowski: Border

DESIGN
Harri Koskinen: Turntable (the performers will play the instrument during the evening).

DISCUSSION
All artists.


Barbara Rosenthal (born in the Bronx, lives in New York City) is an American avant-garde artist, writer and performer. Her existential themes have contributed to contemporary art and philosophy. Her pseudonyms include “Homo Futurus,” taken from the title of one of her books, and “Cassandra-on-the-Hudson”, which alludes to her studio and residence since 1998 on the Hudson River in Greenwich Village, NYC, and “the dangerous world she envisions”.
Rosenthal is idiosyncratic and prolific. She is known for often revisiting past works, recombining old elements with new, and often appears in her work in some way. These may include x-rays, brain scans and clothing. Sometimes she utilizes physical or textual elements from her journals. As a creative artist within the fields of surrealism and existentialism, Rosenthal brings existential content, via the subconscious, to conceptual art and is known for her intense introspection. and by using herself “as a guinea pig”, explores what it means to be human. Her personal vision evolves with advancing technology.
As an artist, Rosenthal is known as an Old Master of New Media because of her long history in media including photography, video, performance, projection installation, interactive, electronic and digital media, text, collage, prints, artists’ books and objects. Almost all are produced in editions. Most combine camera, text and performative aspects. Elements of Rosenthal’s body of work, “Surreal Photography” are often present.
http://www.barbararosenthal.org/

Note: On Monday 28.1.2019, 18:00-21:00, Barbara Rosenthal event is at Vuotalo, Vuosaari Helsinki. Discussion at 17:00 at Vuotalo Cafe. See more about the event.


Charlie Morrow (born in Newark NJ, based in Barton, Vermont and Helsinki ) is an American sound artist, composer, conceptualist and performer. His creative projects have included chanting and healing works, museum and gallery installations, large-scale festival events, radio and TV broadcasts, film soundtracks, commercial sound design and advertising jingles. He holds patents in immersive sound method and believes: “the future lies in composing environments as well as music as we know it: bringing the skills of composition to where we live, work and circulate, as in a city.” Born to a family of doctors and inventors, Morrow uses his creativity to make tools to share with others—not only musicians and sound artists, but teachers, architects, and engineers – “so that they might create positive spaces for work, education, and healing.” He is creative director of Charles Morrow Productions LLC CMP PBP. www.charliemorrow.com, www.morrowsound.com


Olga Palomäki is a visual and sound artist. S/he is fascinated by the lost, forgotten and the unseen. Palomäki makes experimental sounds based on field recordings. Olga’s sound works are influenced by dark ambient- and drone music. S/he captures man-made sounds and background noise, using them as instrumenta by modifying the recordings and shaping them into a new form. Palomäki makes videos that illustrate the world created by the sounds. Palomäki’s works have been on display in several solo- and joint exhibitions, radio shows and sound art/experimental music events, film- and video festivals and screenings in Finland and several other European countries. Palomäki has perfomed live at different venues in Finland and abroad. S/he graduated from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Fine Arts Programme in 2007. http://olgapalomaki.net/


Maija-Leena Remes is editor, writer and translator in multiple languages. She creates and develops MorrowSound presentations, exhibitions, installations and business in Europe and in the USA. She has produced 3D sound recordings, videos and interactive media. She created the Modern English libretto and subtitles for MorrowSound’s DVD Beowulf, featuring Ben Bagby singing solo in Old English. She edited the MorrowSound Empire State Building audio tour script and supervised its translation into seven foreign languages. She is editor of medical, technological and literary texts for various international clients. She is literary translator of essays and 30 books for numerous publishing houses. As a permanent free-lance journalist of the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, she translated, edited and directed production of subtitles and voice-overs, ranging from plays, movies, songs and documentaries to children’s programs. Her hobby is music and she is an amateur violist. As a child she was singer and performer on YLE Radio. With Charlie Morrow, she is co-producer of video works including Two Cellos and Time Spiral.


Martti Aiha is a widely acknowledged artist, not least for public sculptures in Helsinki such as the starkly monumental Rumba (1992) at Salmisaari and the more ambient Länsilinkki (2011), an artistic articulation of a bridge for the ‘Western Link’ highway. Aiha’s idiosyncratic mix of frivolous automatism, reliable craftsmanship and heavy-duty construction became a hallmark of Finnish art in the 1980s and also earned him a following in the other Nordic countries. He was, for instance, awarded the Prince Eugene Medal in Sweden in 2013. His new book- Martti Aiha: Drawings published by Parus Verus.


Otto Romanowski has studied the theory of music, computer music and composing at the Sibelius Academy, in addition to musicology at the Helsinki University. Romanowski is one of the most notable Finnish authorities in computer music. His works are essentially interdisciplinary and inter artistic, and since 1990 he has concentrated also on creating computer graphics and multimedia. Romanowski is a renowned lecturer in music technology and is currently employed as a lecturer at the Sibelius Academy Department of Music Technology in the University of the Arts Helsinki. http://romanowski.art

Border, (video+audio)
In the concert, we will hear version with real-time improvisation. Total dur. about 5-7′. Border is simple by definition, but many borders are actually very complex (mentally, culturally or politically). Hopefully world and people would need less and less borders.


Juha Valkeapää & Juhani Liimatainen

Juhani Liimatainen is a Finnish sound designer and sound artist who worked as a sound designer at Yleisradio (Finnish Broadcasting Company) between 1974-2002, and as a professor of sound design at the Theatre Academy of the University of Arts, Finland. At Yleisradio he maintained and developed the Experimental Studio, taught composers and musicians, and oversaw the design and execution of live electronics for studio and concert productions. He has done studio work with composers such as Paavo Heininen, Magnus Lindberg, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kaija Saariaho, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Since 2002 Liimatainen has been professor of sound design at the Theatre Academy of Finland. He is a longtime member of the Toimii Ensemble, where he has been responsible for sound reproduction, live electronics, tapes, and videos, and with which he has appeared frequently as part of the solo group in Magnus Lindberg’s Kraft. He has also worked with the Avanti! orchestra and the Finnish Theater Orchestra, among other ensembles, and has performed with the groups Free Okapi, Son Panic and HumppAvanti! Liimatainen’s sound design and compositional work includes numerous theatrical productions, operas, festivals, and recordings.

*   *   *

Juha Valkeapää is a vocal artist and performance maker with a 25-year long career of performances, installations, radio pieces and soundscapes – solos and various group works – vocal & sound & performance art, theatre, music, dance. The key elements of his art are voice / sound, presence, space and improvisation. Juha is more than a vocal artist and performance maker. The subject sets the form: most of his art is based on sound and performance, but if the subject demands a three-meter high wooden guy, he will sculpt one, and if it needs a book, he will write one. Wooden Guy is a sound sculpture. He performs with it in A Guy and a Wooden Guy. And he has written a booklet, with the same title, of the process of making it & other stuff.

*   *   *

Winter Birds

The duo creates a scenery of everyday and mythological birds, like sparrow, great tit, starling, pigeon, seagull, swan, eagle owl, raven, loon, cuckoo, phoenix, and Tux penguin. Juhani plays synthesizers, Juha his voice. And they dress in feathers. The Bird Concert’s first version was performed at Saaren kartano in May 2018.


Petri Kuljuntausta is a composer, improviser, musician, and sonic artist. He has performed underwater music for an underwater audience, improvised with the birds, and made music out of whale calls and the sounds of the northern lights. As an artist he often works with environmental sounds, live-electronics, and installation art. Kuljuntausta has performed or collaborated with Morton Subotnick, Atau Tanaka, Richard Lerman, David Rothenberg, and Sami van Ingen, among others. He has made over 100 recordings for various record labels in Australia, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Sweden, UK and the USA. Star’s End and Inner Space radio shows selected Kuljuntausta’s ”Momentum” as one of the most significant CD releases of the year. Kuljuntausta has published three books on Sound Art and Electronic Music. In 2005 he won an award, The Finnish State Prize for Art, from the Finnish government as a distinguished national artist. http://kuljuntausta.com/


Harri Koskinen has an uncompromising, bold design aesthetic that has gained him international renown since the early days of his career. Practicality, a spare style and a conceptual approach to product and spatial design are Koskinen’s trademarks. Founded in 2000, Koskinen’s creative industrial design agency Friends of Industry Ltd. is involved in concept and product design. In 2009, Koskinen launched his first namesake furniture collection, Harri Koskinen Works.
Koskinen’s works have been on display in exhibitions around the world. He has been awarded several major design prizes, such as the Kaj Franck Design Prize (2014), Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize (2009), the Pro Finlandia Medal (2007) and the Compasso d’Oro prize (2004). His clients include Alessi, Arabia, Artek, Cassina IXC, Design House Stockholm, Finlandia Vodka Worldwide, Gallerie Kreo, Genelec, Iittala, Issey Miyake, Montina, Muji, Panasonic, Seiko Instruments Inc., Swarovski, Venini and Woodnotes.

 

Akusmata artists on YLE TV and Radio Broadcasts

Akusmata artists on YLE TV and Radio Broadcasts

Saturday 21.9.2017
YLE Radio1 News 17:00
YLE TV1 News 20:30
YLE News Article by Jussi Mankkinen


Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE visited at Akusmata Sound Festival during September 1st – 3rd 2017, recorded live performances and interviewed the performing artists. On Saturday, September 21st YLE broadcasted the interviews on YLE TV1 main evening News and earlier in the evening on YLE Radio1 News. A longer article was also published during the same day at YLE’s website. Included was also clips and interviews from Lovi-klubi / Lavaklubi event at the Finnish National Theatre.



‘New notes of Finnish experimental music. Many musicians are currently building their own instruments, and with traditional instruments they make bold experiments.’ /
   ‘Kokeellisen kotimaisen musiikin uusia nuotteja. Monet muusikot rakentavat tällä hetkellä soittimiaan itse ja perinteisilläkin soittimilla tehdään rohkeita kokeiluja.’
Sat 21.10.2017, klo 17.00
https://areena.yle.fi/1-4229791
Petteri Mäkiniemi, Tottumiskysymys & Ville Olaskari, Jarno Tikka – Suvi Linnovaara duo, Esa Ruoho, Juha-Matti Rautiainen.
‘Experimental Music Produces Unique Sounds’ /
‘Kokeellinen musiikki tuottaa ainutlaatuisia ääniä’

Sat 21.10.2017, klo 20.30
https://areena.yle.fi/1-3825304

Petteri Mäkiniemi, Tottumiskysymys & Ville Olaskari, Jarno Tikka – Suvi Linnovaara duo, Esa Ruoho, Juha-Matti Rautiainen.


Article

‘What a strange thing this is Ginette – in Finnish experimental music, original instruments are invented and musicians are happy in the margin’ /

  Mikä ihmeen Ginette – kotimaisessa kokeellisessa musiikissa keksitään omaperäisiä soittimia ja ollaan tyytyväisinä marginaalissa’
Sat 21.10.2017
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9892678
Petteri Mäkiniemi, Tottumiskysymys & Ville Olaskari, Jarno Tikka – Suvi Linnovaara duo, Desert M, Esa Ruoho, Juha-Matti Rautiainen.

Akusmata Sound Festival 2017

Akusmata Sound Festival 2017
1.9. – 3.9.2017

LIVE

WEDNESDAY 30.8.  |  18:00 – 22:00  |  Akusmata
Pre-Festival Event: City Escapes (EST, FIN)

 

FRIDAY 1.9.  |  19:00 – 22:00 Akusmata

Biblioteq Mdulair (SUI, FRA) & Synkie (SUI): Emma Souharce, Daniel Maszkowicz, Max Egger
dno< sound theater
(AUS, RUS): Denis Sorokin, Sergei Tumanov

 

SATURDAY 2.9.  |  19:00 – 22:00 |  Akusmata
Peak to Valley Ratio (DE): Adda Schade, David Krützkamp
Desert M (FIN): Valtteri Hyvärinen
Tottumiskysymys
(FIN): Olli Haveri, Jukka Laine, Ville Olaskari

 

SUNDAY 3.9.  |  18:00 – 22:00  |  Akusmata
Elías Merino (ESP)
Petteri Mäkiniemi (FIN)
Jarno Tikka & Suvi Linnovaara (FIN)
Housefire (USA):  Luciann Waldrup

20:00 Outdoor audiovisual concert | Tukholma park
City Mirage (SWE, FIN): Nina-Maria Oförsagd, PerViktor Hjalmarsson, Petri Kuljuntausta, Daniel Nyman, Jarno Tikka & Suvi Linnovaara

 

FULL PROGRAM (pdf) 

LIVE: Tanja Tiekso

Tanja Tiekso

Wed 25.1.2017
10.00-12:00 AM

All Welcome!

The morning performance is part of the Aalto university’s Gender Issues in Sound Studies course led by PhD Taina Riikonen.

*   *   *

Tanja Tiekso: Live Performance, Demonstration, Lecture

Tanja Tiekso (b. 1977) is a Helsinki-based art scholar, journalist, musician and critic.
In her publications, she has focused on avant-garde, sound and environmental art, and experimental, electronic and contemporary classical music. Tiekso has been worked as an editor of Musiikin suunta magazine and her texts have been published in several cultural magazines, and specialist forums.

Minimalism Unbounded! The 5th International Conference on Minimalist Music

Akusmata Sound Art Gallery is collaborating with the Minimalism Unbounded! conference and curates content for the Music & Installation Program.

 
 

Minimalism Unbounded! The Fifth International Conference on Minimalist Music

At this conference we will encourage new debates about the sounds and cultural meanings of minimalist music.

Usually associated with the North American style propagated since the 1960s by composers like Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and La Monte Young, the influence of minimalism on musical life and cross-arts practices extends beyond these now canonical figures and arguably also predates them. This conference will continue to direct focused attention towards the core repertory, but will also encourage work which challenges our assumptions about the boundaries of the style and its significance.

Minimalism Unbounded! will focus above all on the relevance of the minimalist style in the 21st century. The influence of minimalism is especially evident in music performed in multimodal and cross-artistic settings, including film, musical theatre, sound, installation and performance art. It has disseminated and transformed beyond its reductive origins in the musical avant-garde and is today heard in diverse settings, some of them recognisably postminimalist, informed by environmental concerns, inspired by spiritual or mystical ideas, and permeating popular styles and forms including film scores, ambient and drone music, glitch and IDM.

We welcome musicologists and composers, cultural theorists and philosophers, inter-arts researchers and music theorists with a view to stimulating lively debate about the past and current state of the art in minimalist music and cognate artistic practices.

Minimalism Unbounded! will be a dynamic academic and cultural event staged in two cities, Turku and Helsinki. It will include performances of recent and older music, workshops for composers, public talks and debates, and high-level academic presentations and discussions.

Music & Installation Program

Wed 23.9
8:00 pm CYCLES
Sirkkala (lobby between Artium & Minerva buildings), University of Turku
Performers: E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr, Slow Floe, Atte Häkkinen
Terry Riley: Keyboard Studies II (arrangement for two synthesizers), performed by E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr
E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr: Sequencer variations (from Keyboard Studies II)
John Richardson: The Fold (song cycle in five parts), performed by Slow Floe
Atte Häkkinen: Loop impro (solo)

Thu 24.9
9:00 pm EGGS AND BASKETS
Sibelius Museum, Turku
Performers: Veli Kujala accordion, Tom Johnson narrator, and students of TUAS Arts Academy, coached by Mikko Luoma: Orestis Willemen, guitar, Freya Annina Frinschknecht, flute, Vadim Grumeza, violin, Anna-Maria Huohvanainen, violin.Erkki Salmenhaara: Sonatine for Flute and Guitar (10′, 1981)
Morton Feldman: Trio for Flutes (4’,30”, 1972)
Erkki Salmenhhara: Sonatine for Two Violins (12’, 1972)
Kyle Gann: Reticent Behemoth for quarter-tone accordion (6′, 2015, world premiere)
Tom Johnson: Eggs And Baskets for narrator, guitar and violin (12′, 1987)
Philip Glass: Head-on for piano trio (4′, 1967)

Fri 25 Sep
8:30 pm ÄÄNIVÄKEÄ – SOUND PEOPLE
Wegelius hall, Sibelius Academy, Töölönkatu 28, Helsinki
Performers: Eija Kankaanranta, Juulia Pölönen, Emma Kuntsi, Sarah Palu, kantele, Petri Kuljuntausta & Äänikuoro (sound choir), Assi Karttunen harpsichord, Antti Tolvi, pianoAntti Tolvi: Ääniväki (Sound Elves) (25’, 2012)
Hannu Saha: Arndt for 5-string kanteles (5′, 1986), performed by Eija Kankaanranta, Emma Kuntsi & Sarah Palu
Pekka Jalkanen: Toccata for kantele (8′, 1992), performed by Juulia Pölönen
John Bull, In nomine for harpsichord (4′, 16th Century), performed by Assi Karttunen
Katri Nironen: Agadir (extract) (6′, 1965),
Charlie Morrow: Counting to 9 – Toadfish Language (1973), performed by Petri Kuljuntausta & Äänikuoro
John Adams, China Gates (5′, 1977), arr. for kantele and harpsichord
Matthew Whittall: Wine-dark Sea for kantele and harpsichord (15’, 2008) performed by Eija Kankaanranta & Assi Karttunen
Tom Johnson: Counting To Seven (6′, 2012), performed by Petri Kuljuntausta & Äänikuoro

Sat 26.9. 
3:30-5:00 pm
Helsinki Music Centre, main entrance
Meri Kytö: Soundwalk (soundscape listening tour)
6:00-6:40 pm
Akusmata Sound Art Gallery (Tukholmankatu 7K, Helsinki)
Marko Timlin: Musta monoliitti (Black monolite) (30-40′, 2015), solo for äänilevykone.
7:30 pm FOCUS KYLE GANN
Black Box, Helsinki Music Centre
Performers: Emil Holmström, keyboard, Veli Kujala, quarter-tone accordion, Eija Kankaanranta, electric kantele, Antti Ohenoja, Jussi Markkanen, Petteri Kippo, Aleksi Haapaniemi, percussion, Jon-Patrik Kuhlefelt, sound7:30 pm
Kyle Gann interviewed by Matthew Whittall
8 pm
Kyle Gann: Unquiet Night (Mechanical Piano Study No. 10) (16’, 2004)
Tom Johnson: Tango, arrangement for 5-string kantele and accordion (4’, 1984)
Kyle Gann: Reticent Behemoth for quarter-tone accordion (6′, 2015)
Kyle Gann: The Unnameable for keyboard sampler and soundfile (12’, 2012)
Juhani Nuorvala: Concertino for electric kantele and soundtrack (7′, 2000/2014)
Kyle Gann: Snake Dance No. 2 for percussion quartet (12’, 1995)

Wed 23 – Sun 27

SOUND INSTALLATIONS

Juha van Ingen & Janne Särkelä ‘ASLAP. A 1000 year long animated GIF loop’ (Hommagé to John Cage) (2015). Fish Gallery (Alppikatu 17 lh2, Helsinki) Installation open only on Sat 26th, 2-7 pm.

Marko Timlin
‘Bits and Bytes’ (2015). Akusmata Sound Art Gallery (Tukholmankatu 7K, Helsinki)​
Installation open 2-6 pm daily

Petri Kuljuntausta
‘Transporter’ (2015), Sirkkala, University of Turku
Installation open Wed-Fri 8 am-8 pm, Sat-Sun 8 am-4 pm

Marko Timlin

Bits and Bytes
sound installation by Marko Timlin

19.9. – 27.9.2015
Opening hours: Mon – Sun 14 – 18

* * *

“Bits and Bytes” is a large-scale sound installation combining sound art and technology. This work is based on the use of 104 3,5“ floppy disk drive recycled from old computers.

The installation resembles a living organism: imagine being inside an ant-hill, surrounded by never-ending short sounds, clicks, crackles and tiny movements: there are endless sonic and visual variations inside a clearly defined overall structure.

This work expresses my deep admiration for the splendour and infinite diversity of nature. If we listen to natural phenomena like rivers, or the sound of leaves moving in the wind or the crackling of fire, we realize that all these phenomena share the same characteristics: they repeat themselves, but never quite exact, there are patterns with disturbances. This is why this installation is in a constant state of flux combining variation and structure, stasis and movement, chaos and order.

This work has been realized with the kind support of Suomen Kulttuurirahasto and Kuusakoski.

More information: www.timlin.de