Performances with Biosphere

2007 - present

 

single screen projection - CineChamber performances

Although none of the pieces were especially created to support the music, or Jenssen’s compositions created for the displays, there is a surprising synergy between the work of both artists as they confront the idea of still/motion in a variety of ways. Jenssen’s work can appear monolithic and repetitive for the non-initiated, but rapidly, layers appear that animate the musical structure in totally unique ways. Equally, Mittelstädt’s images often combine still elements within moving forms, challenging the brain to cope in a rational way with distorted reality. At one point for instance, shots of cars driving up and down a busy street are suddenly caught up on a still conveyor-belt-style frozen image from one side of the screen to the other then become animated again, at times vanishing into nothing and reappearing at another point on the screen.

 

The human brain cannot cope well with so much conflicting information and the work becomes totally hallucinogenic, the music adding another layer of trance to the experience. Lost, one is left with no choice but surrender to the combined assault of visuals and sound for the entire set. The only real concession to Biosphere’s natural open-space settings came as he performed an extended version of The Things I Tell You from Substrata, accompanied by a film shot on a small speedboat. As the camera continuously goes round, the moving image, in the middle of the screen, freezes on each side and just washes away. And this is very much the impression left by the experience. A still life caught in motion somewhere between reality and sur-reality, a mind-blowing moment with no real references to normality…

 

(The Milkfactory, 04/2006, www.themilkfactory.co.uk)

contact Atelier Egbert Mittelstädt