Project Background

My work has been evolving as a site for engaging both visual and audio elements. How something is seen and heard; how a space might engage sound; and how a time-frame might evolve a particular narrative of actions, sounds being made and in turn acted upon. This particular project Tower [a composition for architecture and two musicians] explores the relationship between architectural space and the realisation of a performed improvisation by two musicians, Jennifer Allum and Ute Kanngiesser. It follows on from a film I directed in Rome (Via di San Teodoro 2010) which has been shown in Rome, Berlin, Seoul and will be screened in New York and Brussels later this year. It explored the spaces of the house of composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-88). As in this latter film, Tower will explore the specifics of a location in relation to a performance ‘housed’ with the filmic exploration of the architecture from both a visual and aural perspective. I am particularly interested in an unfolding interrogation of the relationship between sound and image beyond the confines of a ‘soundtrack.’ How sonic actions and gestures unfold in the particularities of a space (in this sense a challenge to the expectations of filmed performance or the ‘music video.’)

 

The setting is the medieval Bell Tower of St Augustine in the centre of Hackney, London. The bell tower would have functioned, as part of the St Augustine church (no longer existant) as the prime sonic territorialization of rural Hackney. Today it sits in close proximity to the busy hub of social traffic and transport networks around Mare street, with an atmosphere in sharp contrast to contemporary urban flow. It has four main spaces stacked on top of each other: a small meeting room with a wooden platform and pendulum; a room with an elaborate ancient clock (dating from the 1580s); the bell tower itself, and a roof terrace where the skyline of Hackney and beyond can be taken in within a 360 degree rotation (although this will not be used in the filming).

The film is envisioned to be in two parts in total lasting 25-30 minutes: firstly an exploration of the spaces of the tower, and then the exploration of those spaces by the musicians. Jennifer Allum and Ute Kanngiesser have developed an extraordinary rapport as an improvising duo and both are extremely sensitive to context and environment. One of the key aspects of the film will be the relationship of their playing and movement through the spaces. Each of those spaces also have a very particular relationship to the exterior urban noises (most prominent in the bell tower space itself). Also the synchronous relationships of time or its measurement – present in the spaces with the pendulum and the clock; each of these facets will have an in influence in the playing of the two improvising musicians, and the film-making itself. A feature of the film will be the navigation of the proximity and distance of both image and sound slowly revealed by the processes of filming itself. A key to the piece is also the relationship between composing and improvisation: how each might situate themselves within the specifics of location and place, in the sense of both looking and listening, the act of filming, and the act of performing.  This film project has been supported by the Arts Council England and Anglia Ruskin University.

Jennifer Allum is a London based violinist who grew-up in the Middle East. She focuses on experimental and improvised music, having previously studied at York University and Goldsmiths, University of London. She has been a regular attendee at Eddie Prevost's weekly improvisation workshop since 2005, with whom she has recently released the duo CD Penumbrae. She is the founding member of the Post Quartet, with whom she has worked with composers like Christian Wolff, Tom Johnson, Michael Pisaro and Michael Parsons. In and around London Jennifer has performed at Freedom of the City, Cafe Oto, the ICA, Servant Jazz Quarters, the As Alike As Trees festival, Serpentine Gallery, Music We'd Like to Hear, Rational Rec, Non-classical and more.

jenniferallum.info

Ute Kanngiesser is a London based cellist. Classically trained as a child and not playing at all for a few years (studying economics and media culture) she came back to music and specifically improvisation while training in physical theatre and dance in Berlin. Since then she has played internationally with a wide range of improvising and experimenting musicians and collaborated with dancers, visual artists and filmmakers. She has a particularly strong playing relationship with some musicians around Eddie Prevost's workshop including Jennifer Allum, Sebastian Lexer, Paul Abbott, Guillaume Viltard, Jamie Coleman, Seymour Wright, and Grundik Kasyansky. Ute has CD releases on Matchless Recordings (with AMM) and on Another Timbre. 

www.utekanngiesser.com