SURGERY #1 w/ Ear Transplant

At the core of the programme is Ragnhild May’s new work ‘differences’ commissioned by Ear Transplant. This piece features custom-made sculptural instruments that are built to create difference tones: extra notes that our ears perceive when two or more notes are played together, even though they are not actually being produced by the instruments. 

She writes: ‘I see difference tones as an example of what could be called a prosthetic entanglement between body and instrument. I use this concept of relating the body to objects as a way of thinking of other situations where entanglements can occur. For a short time the body is the instrument, a ghost tone sings from the ears and the usual logic is tilted. A way of listening that points towards another understanding of relations between objects and bodies than how subject-object relations are usually defined. The relation points towards another way of experiencing sound, a relationality to the instrument. The concept of the cyborg, introduced by Donna Haraway, highlights the interconnection of technology and the body, challenging traditional notions of the body as a fixed and natural entity. Karen Barad’s concept of entanglement emphasizes the interrelatedness of different entities, including the body and technology.’

Complementing this new work is Cathy Van Eck’s ‘Music Stands’, which reveals the sonic possibilities of an object that is usually seen as a purely practical vessel, rather than one capable of artistic expression.

In ‘Axis Spirat’ by Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, 4 musicians surround a moving-head light fixture that mercurially casts illuminated shards across the space. Long tones interweave with surgical precision, in counterpoint with the light in a ritualistic and focussed performance. 

The evening is completed by a semi-improvised work devised by Ear Transplant’s 4 core members: Matthew Grouse (e-guitar), Joss Smith (clarinets) Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (accordion), and Irene Bianco (percussion)