INTRODUCTION

During the second half of the last century, the pioneers of experimental electronic music started looking for new musical forms based on an economy of elements. The Minimalism movement started during the 60s with composers like Phillip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley, using electronic devices such as tape recorders to create repetitive loops and structures.

'As Classic Minimalism developed, it grew to emphasise not a minimum of material, but a minimum of form, often on a horizontal level, that foregrounded other elements: timbre, texture, and the vertical dimension of the music, which did not so much progress (according to classical/compositional norms) as amass.' from Digital Discipline: Minimalism in House and Techno, Philip Sherburne (1971 -)

Minimalism was recovered in the 80s by a series of experimental electronic artists, and diversified into different aesthetics. Ultra-Minimalism started during the mid 90s and is characterised by the most extreme economy of elements, tonalities and rhythms, using electric impulses and digital tones.

In his essay 'Visual and Acoustic Space', theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) quotes a blind man: 'Sounds had the same individuality as light. They were neither inside nor outside, but were passing through me. They gave me my bearings in space and put me in touch with things. It was not like signals that they functioned but like replies...'

The three live works presented as a part of this evening, all demonstrate relationships between the aural and visual, through the use of software and data manipulation techniques which integrate the production of both sound and image. The collective experience is a visceral embodiment of elements.

Ryoji Ikeda performed a new work, datamatics [proSan Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge and ISEA 2006 Symposiumtotype], co-commissioned by AV Festival 06 and ZeroOne . Supported by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM). Ryoji Ikeda's European touring programme for 2006 is supported by the Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN Programme.

alva noto [Carsten Nicolai] performed the UK premiere of a new work, entitled xerrox.

Robert Henke aka Monolake presents the latest development in an ongoing series of works – previously realised in both concert and installation versions – entitled Atlantic Waves, an improvisational audiovisual performance in collaboration with Torsten 'T++' Pröfrock who performed remotely from Germany.

Ryoji Ikeda and alva noto performances are produced by forma.

Part of UBS Openings: The Long Weekend - Minimalist Monday

See Collection Display: Idea and Object

  Music & Performance