phill niblock the movement of people working silent green Kulturquartier, Betonhalle
Saturday, 21 October – Sunday 22 October 2023

24 hours film–video–sound for the 90th birthday of Phill Niblock
presented by silent green + singuhr – projekte

Nine simultaneous projections of films/videos from the series »The Movement of People Working«, permanent electronic drone compositions and every two hours live performances by 12 musicians playing compositions written for them by Phill Niblock.

»The Movement of People Working« by Phill Niblock is a massive cinematic-musical monument. More than 25 hours of film, shot since 1973, initially on 16 mm colour film, later with video and digital technology in Peru, Mexico, Hungary, Hong Kong, Brazil, Lesotho, Portugal, China and Japan, on Sumatra and in the Arctic. Films that show nothing more than manual labour. Documentary, extremely minimalist editing, Niblock presents people in their daily activities and tasks. Hammering, sawing, grinding, harvesting, dyeing, fishing, and much more - work in its most elementary form.

Phill Niblock's minimalist and monumental compositions with their slowly unfolding microtonal drones belong to this film material. Multiple layers of sound material create a continuum of sonic movement and pulsations with an extremely dense texture. 

»The Movement of People Working« at silent green combines both - film and composition - in a 24-hour film-video-sound installation: while the cinematic part of the work unfolds in parallel and permanently projected on eight surfaces, electronic drone compositions Niblocks sound in dense succession, which are also supplemented by live performances every two hours. Invited are musicians from the Berlin scene who have been performing Niblock's music for years. Most of the works were composed especially for them.

Programme:

21:00 Katie Porter & Lucio Capece (bass clarinets) – K&L for KL
23:00 Biliana Voutchkova (violin) – Unipolar Dance
01:00 Anna Clementi (voice) – Zound Delta I & II
03:00 Thomas Ankersmit (serge synthesizer) – Surge 2 (UA)
05:00 Seth Josel (guitar) – Sethwork
07:00 Robyn Schulkowsky (percussion) – Timpani
09:00 Deborah Walker (cello) – Herbal Cooled 2
11:00 Jens Brand (motors) – ExplMotors
15:00 Lucy Railton (cello) – Harm
17:00 Nicola Hein (guitar) – poom
19:00 Natalia Pschenitschnikova (flute) – Nataliawork
and Phill Niblock (Composition, Sound direction)


Katherine Liberovskaya
»Rake« – video-audio single-channel/installation (2015-16, 35:00 min, HD, color, stereo)
The video-sound installation "Rake" by Katherine Liberovskaya will be presented in parallel in the lounge on the ramp of the concrete hall.
A hypnotizing 35 minute long take of an extreme close-up of the boundary between sand and water through the tines of a rake. The raked sand forms constantly changing organic shapes endlessly rising from the ground and crumbling while different bodies (shells, small jellyfish, stones…) get caught and released in the path of the rake's progress.
Created during a residency at iii/Studio Loos, Den Haag, Holland, 2015

silent green, Betonhalle
Gerichtstr. 35
13347 Berlin
Saturday, 21 October – Sunday, 22 October 2023
Opening hours: 9 p.m. – for 24 hours – 9 p.m.
Admission within the 24 hours: 14/10 €
Tickets

Artistic Director: Carsten Seiffarth
Presented by silent green and singuhr – projekte.
Funded by: Musikfonds. Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.