DIANE LANDRY (CAN)

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Installation: "École d´aviation", en skog av "paraplydragspel" som andas och ger avtryck!
Performance: "La Morue", verk för skivspelare, objekt, skuggor och bearbetat kontaktljud.
Utställningen pågår under Stockholm New Music fram till lör 22/2. Workshops och föreställningar under denna tid kontakta Fylkingen eller se hemsida!
Öppettider: måndag stängt, tis-lör 12-16, torsdag 12-20.
Entré performance/vernissagekvällen 50kr/80kr. Utställningen: fri entré.
Mer info: www.clic.net/~dilandry
Arr: Fylkingen i samarbete med Stockholm New Music

pressmeddelande & information

Installation: "École d´aviation" (Flygskola)
The work stands amidst empty space like an impenetrable island. From it sprout 24 multicoloured umbrellas attached to different rods at different heights, but always within the range of a person´s stature. The umbrellas unfold and fold intermittently, slowly, like a person inhaling and exhaling. While apparently protecting themselves from an unlikely shower, they seem to chant a litany. The plaintive melody comes from little motor-driven accordions, of my making, that lie at the base of each umbrella. They further accentuate the "lung" effect and, often, the spectators adjust their own breathing accordingly. After awhile, one also notices the silhouettes that the halogen lamps cast on the ceiling. These moving silhouettes, projected upwards, resemble a flower opening and then closing, as if drawing into itself. The field of umbrellas moves unpredictably, its vagaries much like those of our climate. The motion follows an ambiguous sequence that echoes the accordion sounds, thus capturing the audience´s attention and altering the way they perceive the work. To animate "École d´aviation", each umbrella-accordion is hooked up to a controller that in turn connects to a computer. A program enables me to compose a sequence that makes the umbrella-accordions unfold or fold one after another. The computer executes the sequence in a continual loop. For each presentation, the sequence is modified and adjusted to the space available. The umbrella-accordions are a hybrid of light and sound, infused with elements of sculpture, musical craftsmanship, and electronic wizardry.

Performance: "La Morue"
At first glance, one sees a long table cluttered with a hodgepodge of diverse objects. Amongst them are two record players, each one lit by halogen lamps. The table and the objects face an immense white screen. I come and place myself in front of the table with my back to the audience. As a DJ would, I begin placing objects on the turntables, instead of the usual vinyl records. The two lamps, positioned near each record player, act as projectors and are directly controllable by rheostats that I adjust throughout the performance. The objects cast giant silhouettes that appear or disappear on the screen. The shadows cut across each other, run parallel to each other, or lie superimposed on each other. At times, two or three silhouettes can be seen in operation, or just one. The objects I choose and project onto the screen are highly evocative. Between them I create a dialogue. Like a storyteller, I know the beginning and the end, but I never tell the same wordless tale. To accentuate each object´s presence and character, I amplify the sound of the turntables. A contact microphone has been attached to the phonograph cartridge and a long steel spike replaces the needle. I place the spike directly onto the turntable and the scratching sound is amplified. A repetitive feedback loop is created with the tone of the sound varying in direct relation to the object on the turntable. I also play with the sound´s stereo effect, making it coincide with the effect of the projections. Everything is done "live." This maniacal merry-go-round of everyday artefacts has evolved greatly since its first presentation in 1997. Although the beginning and the end remain pretty much identical, the tale, woven around ready-made objects, is always changing. The sound component has also greatly progressed.