silent green Kulturquartier
8.9. — 17.9.2023
»Areal Folds« by the Berlin-based electronic pioneers »Mouse on Mars« is a multi-part composition of interlocking sound situations — a complex course that acoustically explores the silent green kulturquartier in Berlin’s Wedding district. The entire site is activated, the architectures inside and outside are animated with self-built, partly moving loudspeakers. Multiple reflections and refractions in the concrete hall, on the long ramp downwards, and in the inner courtyard of the venue challenge the audience to listen attentively. Completely new interactions between architecture and visitors are created.
Video documentation (Vimeo-Link)
The subterranean concrete hall forms the energetic center of »Areal Folds« – a spatial entity that is not only characterized by its sheer dimension but also by its exposed concrete architecture. Here, »Mouse on Mars« work with computer-generated, robotic loudspeaker objects. A large and active moveable horn loudspeaker, which can be aligned in the space with great precision, activates the architecture in quickly changing perspectives. Extensive loudspeaker panels made up of up to 100 individual loudspeakers, on the other hand, accurately project sounds onto a special spot in the room in a similar manner to a light beam, creating an impression of an autonomous sound that is independent of loudspeakers. Robot-controlled percussion instruments are also used, enriching the entire sound event with their short rhythmic accents. Programmed light sequences continuously restage the acoustic setting.
Live performances along the long access ramp to the hall provide a contrast to this robotic program in the concrete hall. Every day two performers, members of the group »Dynamic Acoustic Research (DAF)«, move across the surface in changing constellations and interact with the architecture and the audience. They, too, are equipped with loudspeakers – mobile panels with which they react to the surroundings situationally, improvising as they go.
Leaving this »hyperactive interior« of the hall behind, the audience comes out into the open space again, where an abrupt change in perspective awaits. A subtle sound field unfolds, a kind of lingering echo of the sounds audible in the hall and on the way out. Installed on one side of the site, a combination of loudspeakers and self-built mechanical objects (»actuators«) creates its very own acoustic situation, some of it sounding very precise and recognizable, some of it seemingly almost automatically embedded into the existing surroundings. This outdoor installation is, at the same time, the beginning as well as the finale of »Areal Folds«. An acoustic course made up of distinct sonic situations unfolds that merge homogenously, enabling ever new interactions between architecture, sound and audience.
»Mouse on Mars« originated in Cologne and Düsseldorf in 1993 during a time of general musical upheaval and an awakening interest in experimental yet non-academic electronic music. Despite this context, however, the project began and has remained an entity that first and foremost pursues a singular agenda, metabolising scenes and trends rather than aligning with them. Since their first album, Vulvaland, was released in 1994 on British label Too Pure, Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner have released 11 albums and numerous solo and collaborative projects, relentlessly pushing forth their uncategorisable sound. Their hybrid style constantly synthesizes new influences and a wide variety of genres. A disorienting mix of pop and experimentation running from noise to strange beauty, their music is at the same time resolutely avant-garde and playful, though always charged with a destructive compulsion. Brimming with fragmented melodies, spacey dissonances, edgy breaks, strange streams of sonic particles, and chaotic overlays, Mouse on Mars’ fluid sound aesthetic reflects their general mutability, which is deeply rooted in their restless ingenuity, quirky sense of humour, and fearless non-conformism.
Performers »Dynamic Acoustic Research (DAF)« group:
Anouk Albrecht, Theresa Hartmann, Ina Ritter, Rudyard Schmidt, Paul Wick and Michael Akstaller
Mouse on Mars – Areal Folds
Sound installations
8. – 17.9.2023
daily 16:00 – 22:00
(closed on Monday, 11 Sep)
Gerichtstr. 35, 13347 Berlin
Admission:
silent green court: Admission free
Betonhalle: 12 Euro / 8 Euro
Mouse on Mars: Andi Toma & Jan St. Werner
Speaker systems: Michael Akstaller
Light: Matthias Singer
Percussion robots: Moritz Simon Geist
Sound Software: Marcin Pietruszewski, Dietrich Pank
Percussion playback: Dirk Rothburst
Technical Direction: Steffen Wolf, Eckehard Güther
Light setup: Jan Bernstein
Light programming: Marcel Schwittlick
Technical assistance: Constantin Carstens, Joaquin Luzoro
Technical assistance stage building: Jan Römer
Organized by singuhr e.V.
Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds
Media partner: Digital in Berlin
In cooperation with silent green Kulturquartier
