string quartet and skyscraper

string quartet and skyscraper is a new work commissioned for Bernd Klug’s large-scale sound installation at the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC, which will be played on, in, and by The Rhythm Method string quartet in September 2015.

Bernd Klug is presenting his first large solo exhibition in New York City at the ACF in Midtown as a part of the liquid architecture / frozen music festival in August through September 2015. For this occasion, Klug turns the architectural landmark, a 22 floor high skyscraper by Raimund Abraham, into a social instrument.The publicly accessible, interactive environment extends over three floors and uses the architectural and institutional structures of the building to create different zones and layers of engagement.

The visitors play an integral role: subtle feedback traces their movements as they walk through the installation, thus altering the soundscape; strings play with the question of the public’s conscious interaction; and electro-magnetic amplification sonifies the unheard noises of their cellphones and electronic devices.

As a part of this installation and with the help of New Music USA, Klug plans to write a piece for his installation played by one of New York’s newest and most eclectic string quartets, The Rhythm Method, in which they will explore the sonic qualities of the installation, playing the strings in the gallery spaces and the building  itself, as well as their usual instruments.

The compositional approach to this piece will be rather unorthodox, based on Klug’s deep roots in cutting edge musical developments and the history of American sound art, European contemporary music and relational aesthetics.
Klug will explore the as yet unheard possibilities of such an interactive social instrument on site together with the musicians, developing possibilities, positions and soundscapes based on resonances and counterbalancing this deep listening approach with the quartet’s repertoire. The members of the quartet will be asked to submit their quartet’s repertoire as well as their personal practice routines and current solo pieces to Klug, who then will cut and paste together frames of their personal artistic experiences into the composition. Just as Klug interweaves space and social content inextricably with his installations, he ensures here that the quartet itself (and its individual members) will become the material of this composition. Having known the quartet personally since its inception, Klug was always fascinated by the different characters of its members and their respective different musical qualities. Through social interaction and professionalism, the members are able to meld all their different qualities and still maintain strong personalities. By examining their individual repertoire and routines, Klug hopes to amplify these personalities as well as the building itself, making all the typically unheard aspects of a classical concert situation audible.

The public premier of this work would take place at the ACF’s Moving Sound Festival 9/11/2015 and we plan to develop site-specific ‘variations’ on this composition for different locations and installations in America and Europe.

(photo by David Plakke)