EXERCISE FOR TWO & MORE PLAYERS - premiered at Atalante Gothenburg 20th of Oct 2023

performed by Curious Chamber Players musicians Martin Welander (SWE)  Sofie Karolina Leedo (DK) Rei Munakata (SWE)  and Sofie Thorsbro Dan (DK)

Commissioned by CCP supported by the Swedish Art Council, Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse and Göteborg Stad

The Essence and Idea of the Piece:

The title of the piece refers to the main idea of the installation, which is to practice something new as a group while using our previous physical experiences. The piece is a sound installation, a large instrument that reacts to how we move and how we interact with the wires. The relationship between the performers and the object is challenging because there is a distance between them since they do not have direct physical contact. The wires connect the performers and the object.

   Set up for Exercise for Two & More Players:

 - Three graters with contact mics hanging from the ceiling, all prepared with copper wires and fishing        lines. Some are attached to the wall and the floor, while others are loose.

 - Washboard on the floor with contact microphones

 - Two loose graters on the floor (for part two)

 - Four speakers, two sub bass, each speaker is connected to a grater and one speaker to the washboard

Part One - Participation 

Instrumentation: Three grater hanging and washboard on the floor

Subtle texture versus dynamic sound. Common impulses - unison mixed with isolated sound events. In this part, we will find three sounds/movements each within the installation, which is the limitation and something clear to relate to. With these sounds, we will work on stretching the material, reducing/enlarging, with tempo and dynamics both sonically and visually. 

Listening and give and take space will be a central part of this part of the piece.

Image: Discovering something new together in a group.

Part Two - Conversation Piece / Intermezzo

Instrumentation: Two graters on the floor

Grater with phasers - sharp, intense, comical noise

Grater with springs - contemplative, subtle

Image: Whose voice are we listening to and which information affects us the most? This part refers to today's media landscape and the noise of deepfake we are facing

Part Three - Move Slow

Instrumentation: The three grater hanging 

The rock 'n roll part of the piece. Here we work with extremely slow movements that generate a large sound and noise. 

The same sound material is used by everyone with small variations and a thick dense sound canvas appears.

Image: Human versus the destructive systems we have built that we seem unable to escape, such as eternal growth and inequalities in the global economy. The paradox of wanting to change but our own systems not allowing us to.