silant.bou.room

Vienna 08.01.2011

digital : an audiovisual love affair presents:

the world premiere of the installation – silant.bou.room

featuring excerpt from a release by i8u, und transit on non visual objects

silant aka Ilan Katin

bou from Geneva

starts at 00h00

Metropol Theater.
Hernalser Hauptstr. 55,
1170 Wien

also :

Acts (Auswahl):
♦ Solo Live Act by T.RAUMSCHMIERE (Shitkatapult / Kompakt) ♦ MARKUS LINDNER (Stadtpark) ♦ SCHEIBOSAN (scheibosan.at) ♦ BURT REYNOLD (Cosmic Resident) ♦ SIMONLEBON (Market / Tjummy) ♦SILANT (Modul8) ♦ BOU (Le Zoo) ♦ BLACKDATA (Hamburg) ♦ PIXKOMPRESSOR (Lichttapete) uvm.

Specials:
♦ Digital 1 Year Anniversary ♦ SOLO LIVE ACT by T.Raumschmiere ♦ Video-Mapping Installation by Silant & Bou ♦ Special Location: Metropol …♦

Wenn Digital am 8. Jänner seinen 1.Geburstag im Wiener Metropol feiert, darf man sich auf einige Überraschungen freuen.
Viel ist im letzten Jahr passiert und das soll auch gebührend gefeiert werden. Neben einer legendären Free Party in der Ankerbrotfabrik kann man zufrieden auf bahnbrechende Kuppelprojektionen, 3D Visuals, fulminante Live-Sets von Kollektiv Turmstrasse oder Apparat, visuelle Darbietungen der besten internationalen und nationalen Visualisten, Ausstellungen, Lesungen und vieles mehr zurückblicken.

Zu diesem besonderen Anlass zieht Digital auch in eine ganz besondere Location. Selten hat man die Gelegenheit im Wiener Metropol – einem Jahrhundertwendetheater – zu feiern, aber am 08. Jänner ist es soweit.

Als besonders extravaganter Gratulant, der sich weder in Schubladen stecken lässt noch in Kategorien denkt, erwartet euch T.Raumschmiere mit einem seiner legendären Solo Live Acts. Mit wilden Performances, die so manchen Rockstar in den Schatten stellen, begeistert der Mann mit Punk-Rock Vergangenheit, der nie ein Techno Artist sein wollte und gerne Aphex Twin als Inspiration nennt, Kritiker, Musikbegeisterte und Clubgänger gleichermaßen. Nach zahlreichen, erfolgreichen genreübergreifenden Releases auf Labels wie Kompakt, Sender oder Shitkatapult und Kollaborationen mit Miss Kittin oder Ellen Allien gratuliert er nun endlich am Digital.

Ein weiterer außergewöhnlicher Gratulant ist niemand geringerer als Silant aka Ilan Katin von der zur Zeit führenden Visualsoftware Modul8 und Allroundkünstler in Personalunion, der eine extra vorbereitete innovative Video-Mapping Installation gemeinsam mit seinem Kollegen Bou aufwartet. Und obendrein tauchen Blackdata, T.Raumschmiere`s VJ-Freund aus Hamburg, Pixkompressor vom Lichtkunstkollektiv Lichttapete, Wemakevisuals, Fitzke Family und der lustige Astronaut die gesamte Location in vollkommen neue Sphären und sorgen für visuelles Vergnügen der Extraklasse.

Nationaler Support in musikalischer Hinsicht kommt vom Stadtpark Mastermind Markus Lindner, dessen Name allein schon für höchste Qualität steht, Cosmic Resident Burt Reynold, dem umtriebigen Scheibosan und Simon Lebon von Tjumy Records.

Wir gratulieren herzlich!

♫ LINE UP (komplett) ♫

●●● DIGITAL FLOOR ●●●
minimal / techno / electro / house

▲T.RAUMSCHMIERE▲ Solo Live Act!
(Random Rave Sessions – LIVE / Shitkatapult / Berlin, Germany)
MARKUS LINDNER (Stadtpark Nacht)
SCHEIBOSAN (scheibosan.at)
BURT REYNOLD (Cosmic Resident)
SIMON LEBON (Market / Tjumy Records)

● VISUELLE GESTALTUNG VON ● :
SILANT (Modul8 Team, Berlin)
BOU (Le Zoo, Geneva)
BLACKDATA (Hamburg)
PIXKOMPRESSOR (Lichttapete, Wien)
WEMAKEVISUALS (Wien)
DER LUSTIGE ASTRONAUT (Optical Matrix)
FITZKE FAMILY (Wien)

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by thorsten soltau, aeamg

CHRISTOPHE CHARLES / Unter den Linden
I8U / Und Transit
Nonvisualobjects

»Unter Den Linden/Und Transit« beginnt mit einer dreißigminütigen Komposition von Christophe Charles, basierend auf einem Konzert welches er im Studio von Mark Fell (SND) gab. Der Anfang ist mikrotonal einfach gehalten, kurzgeschorene Klangpartikel wirbeln aus dem Mix, ehe Bordun und Paukenschlagähnliche Sounds einsetzen und dem Mikrokosmos mehr Breite und Tiefe geben. Im späteren Verlauf kommen manipulierte Flugzeuggeräusche hinzu, aufgenommen aus der Ferne, die den dünnen Klangstrom überlagern. Das Stück tritt nie auf der Stelle, die teilweise noisigen Sequenzen (clever integriert durch den Einsatz von stetig veränderten Equalizerparametern) interagieren als Brücke für einen gänzlich anderen Fortgang des Stückes. Nach einer Viertelstunde verlässt Charles jedoch die Opulenz der ersten Minuten und verwischt granuliertes Flirren mit maschinenhaften Summen zu einem minimalen Soundtrack, der am Ende in ein älteres Stück von 1987 übergeht, basierend auf dem Klang einer Telefonklingel, einem Silo und einem Abfallwagen, der in seiner klanglichen Naivität durchaus in die Livekomponenten von David Jackman gepasst hätte.
Umseitig bieten i8u 5 Kompositionen, die die deutsche Wocheneinteilung abbilden und mit »Montag« eine frequenzangereicherte Droneexkursion bieten, die sich durch röhrende Schachmuster windet und gleichzeitig exorbitant hohe Sinuswellen verarbeitet, die den Hörgenuß zumindest via Kopfhörer etwas erschweren. Dabei finden sich in den Kompositionen durchaus mikrotonale Zusammenhänge verarbeitet, die sich via Lautsprecher schwer fassen lassen dürften. Während »Dienstag« reduziertes Dröhnen mit Sinusschnipseln bietet, fällt die Zurückgenommenheit am »Donnerstag« ganz: eine tödlich schöne Wolke aus
zerfaserten Klassikpartikeln (GAS lässt grüßen) schwebt über dem sinusoiden
Klanguntergrund, in dessen Verlauf sich weitere minimale Schwebebestandteile einbinden. Während der Tag vorm »Wochenende« sich eher an Mika Vainio’s Installationsklangdichte versucht, ist das tatsächliche »Wochenende« ein sich langsam steigender Mix aus Klavierklängen, Feldaufnahmen und Sinustönen, dessen Opulenz sich jedoch bisweilen bis an den Rand des erträglichen bewegt. Eine nicht ganz unanstrengende Arbeit.

(thorsten soltau, aeamg)

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by massimo ricci, brain dead eternity

CHRISTOPHE CHARLES / Unter den Linden
I8U / Und Transit
Nonvisualobjects

Admittedly, your reviewer is still far from enlightenment in regard to the generation of Unter Den Linden. Christophe Charles refers to a concert by Mark Fell in 2009 as a “Grundton” for the composition, then specifies that sources recorded in the same year and in 1987 (!) were also used. Then again, there’s a mention of a prior piece called “HCDC”, made after the death of Daniel Charles in 2008, and a hint to Massenet for good measure. These scattered pills of knowledge should not detour the potential audience from the fact that these 30 minutes surely belong in the high ranks of acousmatic music. A masterful sequence of quiet environments and breath-holding atmospheres, ruptured by extraordinary moans of flying airplanes (as loyal readers know very well, I could listen to those sorrow-eliciting sliding drones for the whole extent of my residual life and die happy). Even the most insignificant constituents become essential, including the chugging of various vehicles or the weak signal of a radio. The composer’s insightfulness does the rest, highlighting the existential breathing that perennially underlies silence in the “right” way, creating a world of vacant presences that place the addressee inside their sheer enormity, ultimately reminding us about what “sensible listening” really means.

I8U presents the sonic result of her observation of “a particular passageway in Minoritenplatz” as she was attending an artistic residency in the Austrian city of Krems. For a second time I am left guessing by the liners, which didn’t manage to let me comprehend if that area was subsequently utilized for a quadraphonic installation, or just inspired it. Und Transit – mainly derived from field recordings – stands on its own legs without the environmental component, though. It is largely based on stationary gaseous matters and distinct tones, motionless chords and slightly anguishing impressions depicted by an otherworldly frozen ensemble (except the first movement, which – at the risk of derision – might vaguely recall the “legendary” intro to Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”). One remains enthralled by these stunning suspensions, enhanced by sharp ultrasonic frequencies that successfully divert our attention from the outside world’s remote manifestations while mixing seamlessly with the evening’s crickets. The struggle of this excellent work to prevail over the depression drawn out by the misshapen mazurka echoes coming from the neighbouring hill emphasizes the seriousness of the gap between actively researching human beings and pork-swallowing retards quite effectively. And yet, both sides share this cosmic macrocosm we were thrown in (which, to be honest, is rather degrading). Therefore, play this in utter quietness to appreciate its true worth: the fourth track – “Freitag” – is the decoding key for shaving the hairiest hearts.
massimo ricci, brain dead eternity)

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by Felix, freistil

CHRISTOPHE CHARLES / Unter den Linden
I8U / Und Transit

Nonvisualobjects

An der Untergrenze der Wahrnehmungsschwelle beginnt dafür die Aufnahme von Christophe Charles, unter den linden (nv°22). Das Stück, das ursprünglich den schönen Titel „Why is there something rather than nothing?“ trug, bezieht seine Umbenennung nicht auf Berlin, sondern auf einen spanischen Lastwagen gleichen Namens sowie auf den Filmtitel „Sous les tilleuls“ von Jules Massenet, der – wie auch dieses Stück gegen das Ende zu – Glockentöne und ihre Veränderung durch Windgeräusche hörbar macht. Komponiert nach dem Tod seines Vaters Daniel Charles, schafft Christophe Charles aus vielen field recordings eine Computermusik in stiller, friedlicher Atmosphäre. Teil zwei dieser 22. nv°-CD entstand während dreier Monate, als i8u, bürgerlich: France Jobin, in Krems/NÖ artist in residence war. Der leere Raum des Minoritenplatzes inspirierte sie zur Quadrophonie-Komposition und transit. Von der Struktur und dem Gestus her ideal zur Arbeit von Christophe Charles passend, öffnet auch die Klanginstallation von i8u ruhige akustische Räume. In Summe zwei wundervolle soundscapes: skulpturale Elektronik an der endlich abgeschafften Grenze zwischen Musik, Architektur und Bildender Kunst.
(felix, freistil)

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by TJ Norris, Toneshift

CHRISTOPHE CHARLES / Unter den Linden
I8U / Und Transit
Nonvisualobjects

This is one of nonvisualobjects’ three new releases, all of which are collaborations, or split eps, by two artists. Here we have the latest by both Marseille’s Christophe Charles and Canadian sound sculptor i8u respectively. Starting with Charles’ Unter den Linden, a wonderfully atmospheric 30-minute composition which was performed in concert at SND Studios (UK) in early 2009. By using the sounds of wind — and of flying things like planes and birds — the skies are heralded. The above and beyond sounds pay homage to his recently deceased father, Daniel Charles. There’s something of a spirited rumble, though this is quite low-flying and vibratory. A transitional piece that lulls and suspends throughout, like a haunting reminder, or a flickering light at the end of a dark cavernous space that you gravitate towards curiously. Once through you are out on a bustling street, walking through the din of the city. Worlds slowly collide, politely shifting as an ascending craft swallows the scene, leaving behind a semblance of trickling water and whisper.

On Und Transit i8u (France Jobin) paints a restrained world with sine waves by bending elegant sounds, paired with the echoey hollows of a passageway in Lower Austria. During an art residency she found a certain inspiration in the Minoritenplatz, a long corridor towards her studio. Within these sounds of emptiness Jobin recorded a certain reverberation here, a path that shuttles you in secret. The five pieces that comprise the recording are a collection of manipulated field recordings in and around the city of Krems known for its eye-popping riverscapes and historical architecture. Unlike most North American cities contemporary art is integral to the social structure of daily life here. i8u helps draw from daily walks through the city in what may be better described as a micro-encoded mapping of her meanderings. It is on Donnerstag that this becomes most evident on this very elusive work. It lifts gently, opens with an airy drone, rises and glides away.

TJ Norris
toneshift

Review – unter den linden – und transit (NVO) 2010 – by Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly

unter den linden – Christophe Charles | und transit – i8u on NVO

The second new release is also a split one, this time between I8U and Christophe Charles. He opens up with a piece called ‘Unter Den Linden’ and it uses various sounds of airplanes, telephone bells, a silo and a Spanish garbage truck. It lasts thirty minutes and it takes a while before it unfolds. The processing seems to be minimal here, but you’re never sure then about these sort of things. Its an alright piece of music based on field recordings, but also the best I ever heard in this field. Canada’s I8U has five pieces, which she recorded while doing a 3 months artist residency in Krems, Austria. While walking to the studio, she noticed some particular passageway at the Minoritenplatz, which seemed ‘lonely’, ignored by those who used it. She collected field recordings around the small city of Krems and did a four channel installation based on the emptiness of the passageway. These five pieces are typical of the current interests of I8U: high pitched sine waves, but not high involume, and down on the ground there are bits of low end sound. Field recordings are hard to recognize here, if at all. Here too I have the idea that I am listening to something that is actually quite good, but also not very surprising. It might be due to the fact that I8U uses a too similar approach to treating her sounds. The outcome, in both cases is however nice enough.

(FdW) Vital Weekly

nonvisualobjects

und transit on NVO 022 (2010)

NVO 022 christophe charles / i8u
unter den linden / und transit
on nonvisuelobjects

unter den linden

The “Grundton” of this 30-minute composition is the recording of the concert given at SND STUDIOS SHEFFIELD (UK) in March 2009, entitled “Why is there something rather than nothing?” by Mark Fell and powered with d&b speakers by Tony Myatt (MRC, University of York). The sounds of planes have been recorded in Mallorca (Spain) in 1987, and in Pilat (France) in 2009. This music comes after HCDC, composed in November 2008 after the death of Daniel Charles – his last days were darkened by breathing difficulties, hence the overall presence of the “wind”. The last five minutes were composed in 1987 with telephone bells, a silo and a Spanish garbage truck, under the name “unter den linden”. The piece is not related with Berlin, but with Jules Massenet’s “Sous les tilleuls” (from “Scenes alsaciennes” where bells are heard in a distance and thus modified by the wind), and evokes a peaceful atmosphere just before the bombs begin to fall.

Christophe Charles, September 2009


This world of ours is one relative world. Any number of other possible or actual worlds are conceivable. Each such world is able to reflect all the others without ceasing
to be the real world that it is of itself.

Nishitani Keiji

und transit

The conceptual framework of “und transit” was conceived while taking part in a 3 months artist residency in Krems, Austria (2008/09). While in transit (daily walks) to my studio, I was inspired by a particular passageway in Minoritenplatz.
Like most passageways, which are a means to an end – and are rarely treated as an end in itself – I was immediately struck by the loneliness and practicality of this space as well as the capacity of the users to ignore it on a daily basis. During the course of my residency I collected a number of field recordings in and around Krems, in order to create a series of soundscapes based on Minoritenplatz’s sound of emptiness through the means of a quadraphonic installation.
These compositions represent some of the pieces composed for “und transit”.

i8u (France Jobin)


Follow your bliss.

Joseph Campell

+

NVO 021
Tim Blechmann / Seijiro Murayama
347
NVO 023
asher / fourm
selected passages / set.grey

Brussels BE 01.22.2010 – framework

January 22.10

This sunday on Framework  resonance.fm : “these are few of my favorite things”  by i8u
/*framework* / – phonography / field recording;
contextual and decontextualized sound activity
presented by patrick mcginley

*framework*/ broadcasts:
sunday, 10pm, london, uk on resonance 104.4fm (http://www.resonancefm.com)
tuesday, 2pm, london, uk on resonance 104.4fm (http://www.resonancefm.com)
wednesday, 12am, thessaloniki, gr on cooradio (http://www.cooradio.com)
wednesday, 3am, lisbon, pt on radio zero (http://www.radiozero.pt)
thursday, 7pm, lisbon, pt on radio zero (http://www.radiozero.pt)
friday, 1am, brussels, be on radio campus 92.1fm (http://www.radiocampusbruxelles.org)
saturday, 5pm, south devon, uk on soundartradio 102.5fm (http://www.soundartradio.org.uk)

Framework – i8u – my favorite things (Installment #3)

As mentioned in earlier installments, my interpretation of field recording based work is very broad, however, the thread I like to follow is to find artists who have mastered their unique identity through the music of sound.

For the next two editions of “my favorite things”, i will focus on a particular label based in Vienna. The label is nvo, non visual objects and it was founded in 2005 by Heribert Friedl and Raphael Moser. In 2007, nvo released : Extract, Portraits of Soundartists, a book and 2 cd’s.
The next hour will be devoted to the 1st cd’s issued as well as excerpts from the book.

Playlist + additional info below

Tracks Artists & Websites

1. Fingers pointing at the moon, Keith Berry – twoinchesofftheground.com
2. A field for recordings 2,  Richard Chartier – 3particles.com
3. Live in Osaka, Taylor Deupreee – 12k.com
4. nbvto, Heribert Friedl – nonvisualobjects.com
5. Précis,  Richard Garet – richardgaret.com
6. Microclimates for Paliku, Andy Graydon – andygraydon.net
7. Listen to what you see,  Bernhard Günter – trenteoiseaux.de
8. Radio, John Hudak – johnhudak.net
9. In Absentia , Dean King – etoami.com
10. Provisional,  Dale Lloyd – and-oar.org

Additional info:

Extract -Portraits of Soundartists nvo 011 (2007)

Introduction

Since we started the label Nonvisualobjects two years ago, many collaborations with artists worldwide have arisen, a large, growing network has evolved and an extensive body of work has been formed that we would like to explore and try to sum up. The book developed from the idea of presenting an extract of artists involved in the current experimental electro-acoustic music scene, often following a rather reduced approach in their work. We would like to present artists that work in different areas in this field of electro-acoustic music, to cover a large spectrum even in this quite specific area.

With essays, interviews, photos, drawings and other materials presented in this book, we try to look at the motivation and intention behind the sound production from different perspectives, to possibly allow for a new/extended approach to this form of music. Many of the artists involved in this project do not exclusively work with sound, but also in other artistic disciplines. In this book we would like to present these other sides of their work to allow crossreferences/crosslinks to open up new aspects of the music.

The chapters consist of collage-like contributions. Images and text should not necessarily be regarded as complete units, but are open to various possibilites of interpretation.

It was not our intention to present a discourse in theories of art and music. It was also not our wish to present a curated work on a specific topic. Instead we wanted to show very personal portraits created by the artists themselves, which describe their way of working, the methodology of their sound production and which also portray the artist’s physical and not only their intellectual environment – where one lives, things of everyday life, things of interest and inspiration.

In the fast moving times of the digital era, it was also our wish to, at least partly, hold on to an analogue medium. Should the inevitable decay of digitally stored media ever lead to the disappearance of much of contemporary art and culture, the possibility to refer to this book would still remain.

Heribert Friedl, Raphael Moser

nonvisualobjects.com

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Review – Extract, Portrait of Soundartists(nvo) 2007 – by Heinrich Deisl, skug

V. A. : EXTRACT-PORTRAITS OF SOUNDARTISTS (NVO_011)
Das Wiener Label Nonvisualobjects legt mit “Extract. Portraits of Soundartists” als formschönes Buch plus DCD akustische Fährten Richtung Mikrosounds und schickt die Ohren auf Entdeckungsreise.
Stille: Spätestens seit John Cage eine ernstzunehmende kompositorische Praxis, von David Toop und anderen kontextualisiert, eine Art Gegenbewegung innerhalb experimenteller Soundart, die zum aktiven Zuhören zwingt. Die minimalisierten Soundcluster und -flächen gehen zwar schon als eigenständige Musik durch, dienen aber vor allem als Transportmedium, um die uns umgebenden Alltagsgeräusche musikalisch bewusster wahrzunehmen.
Bislang fehlte eine österreichische VÖ mit internationaler Relevanz, die sich ausschließlich mit derartigen Phänomenen auseinandersetzt. Nonvisualobjects war 2005 vom Musiker Heribert Friedl und dem Grafiker Raphael Moser gegründet worden. Von Anfang an hatte man sich dabei auf Sounds zwischen Installation, Ambient, Fieldrecordings und Stille verlegt, die Arbeitsmethode ist programmatisch: Reduktion. Experimente e-musikalischer Prägung stehen hier an, als Fluchtlinie sei etwa Bernhard Günter genannt.
Die 22 Tracks von Richard Cartier, Nao Sugimoto, Taylor Duprée, Steinbrüchel, Asmus Tietchens, Jos Smolders und klarerweise Günter und Friedl erforschen jene Klangfelder, die sich sozusagen hinter der Musik aufhalten. Mit der aus Montréal stammenden France Jobin aka I8U ist die einzige Frau auf dieser Compilation vertreten. Wenn auch in sich recht stringent, verzichtet dieser “Beginner’s Guide” auf überbordende Theoretisierungen sondern verlegt sich auf die Personen selbst. Ein löbliches Unterfangen, wenn man endlich mal erfährt, wie eben diese Musik entsteht. “Extract” zeichnet ein vielschichtiges Portrait der Künstler und ihrer interdisziplinären Herangehensweise, die sich vor allem an der Schnittstelle zwischen akustischer/visueller Präsenz/Absenz manifestiert. Dies passiert mittels Interviews, eigenen Texten oder biografischen Skizzen, dazu kommen selektierte Diskografien. Schließlich ist “Extract” reich illustriert mit Projektfotos, Grafiken, Zeichnungen und John Hudak liefert Comics ab. Ambitioniertes Projekt.
(heinrich deisl, skug)

Review – Extract, Portrait of Soundartists(nvo) 2007 – by Massimo Ricci, touching extremes

EXTRACT (2CD + book by Non Visual Objects)

The thought of having passed a whole life transferring tapes to CD and DVD only to clutch at flies at the end is enough to think of myself as a cretin but hey, one has to find something to “enjoy the passage of time”, as James Taylor would have it. Seriously, once upon a time I could only have dreamed about a honest publication containing news and pictures about artists whose music I follow and mostly respect, and that in this case are sonically represented by two CDs containing tracks that they recorded for this special occasion.
The names in question are Keith Berry, Richard Chartier, Taylor Deupree, Heribert Friedl, Richard Garet, Andy Graydon, Bernhard Günter, John Hudak, i8u, Dean King, Dale Lloyd, Roel Meelkop, Will Montgomery, Tomas Phillips, Steve Roden, Jos Smolders, Steinbrüchel, Nao Sugimoto, Asmus Tietchens, Toshiya Tsunoda, Ubeboet, Michael Vorfeld.

Every chapter presents an interview or some personal considerations by the artist about his own work and his/her relationships with other members of the same community. Most of them describe their approach and influences, others let drawings and photographs do the speaking while only a few – like Keith Berry, whose splendid track opens the first disc – report about the intimate sensations that unconsciously introduced them to certain types of withdrawn awareness. It is of course very interesting to know how these people have reached goals while still struggling to develop new means to synthesize determinate conclusions, but it’s equally nice reading about a man like Asmus Tietchens, who distances himself from most everything while being capable of producing music whose level of efficacy on the perceptive system is portentous to say the least.

The discs contain a lot of great moments, the perfect means to complement a very useful reading, and there is no actual sense in defining a “best of”. But, since you asked, Berry, Deupree, Lloyd, Roden, Tietchens and Ubeboet are the tracks that I liked in particular, and it was not an easy choice. What I really suggest is using both the book and the CDs like a breviary: open your windows, turn the volume up, let the sounds mix and read a few pages. Everything will make sense then.
(massimo ricci, touching extremes)