Catastrophic Structures is a (both Beckettian and Brechtian)
conversation between five entities, characters if you like: Ursulaï,
Human Microphone, Dead Friend, Volcano and Soil. These entities
each have their own visual, sonic and speech vocabulary through
which they reflect on the current state of the world and –
unavoidably – the role of humanity. A world that is characterized by
‘a synergy of ongoing disasters’, to use the word of political
theorist Sabu Kohso. In his recent book Radiation and Revolution
Kohso writes that the ongoing ecological collapse enable us ‘to
imagine an apocalyptic communism’, ‘a rediscovery of the Earth
amidst the decomposition of the World.’ Another source of
inspiration comes from the late writer and activist Mark Fisher.
Fisher coined the term ‘acid communism’, which he defines as ‘the
convergence of class consciousness, socialist-feminist consciousness
raising and psychedelic consciousness, the fusion of new social
movements with a communist project, an unprecedented
aestheticisation of everyday life’.
Catastrophic Structures is an attempt to get to know our planet in
new collective, trans-human and post-human ways while multiple
endless catastrophes are happening, an attempt to synergize Kohso’s
apocalyptic communism with Fisher’s acid communism. What does it
mean to live in such a world? How can the Earth be rediscovered and
even beauty be found amidst the ongoing collapse? Is it possible to
shift perspectives and feel, think and act as planetary inhabitants?
With the support of the Dutch Film Fund and the Creative Industries
Fund NL, numina_gneisspecker have been working throughout 2022 on
the prototype of a multi-channel and multi-screen audio-visual
installation in which the visitor is immersed in a landscape of
images, sounds and words.
numina_gneisspecker (Stijn Verhoeff and Sjoerd Leijten) have been
collaborating since 2015. Together, they’ve developed the radioshow
Radio Gneisspecker (2015), the audio-work De toekomst ligt in zee
(2016), the audio-installation Seinsters (2018) and the
award-winning short film Ansage Ende (2019). Characteristic for
their collaboration is their on-going experiment with the interplay
between text, sound and image. They are constantly looking for new
ways of bringing these different artistic forms together. The
exploration of both analogue and digital technology and the desire
to engage with the world in an active and activist manner are at the
essence of their collaborative work.
MUSIC FOR TRADERS is a performative web-based audiovisual
installation consisting of real-time generative 3D visuals and
audio. The work revolves around an infinitely generative feedback
loop: audio signals feed into the generation of images and image
analysis feeds back into the audio production. Once someone
interacts with it or signals are fed into it, its natural
unpredictability turns the installation into a chaos engine.
These compositions are the result of our exploration and
experimentation with this mercurial machine. In this ongoing process
we attempt to discover how even within the anarchic wilderness
caused by its volatility, we can tune and shape its nature and
character.
A RATIONAL WORLD weaves field
recordings, improvised music and climate activist statements into a
fierce, joyful and poetic call to arms in times of ecological
collapse. The music was created during the making of the
experimental short film ANSAGE ENDE and was recorded inside an old
barn on the farm of Gjalt Tjeerdsma in Beetsterzwaag, Friesland
(NL). Both the film and this release dwell on the question how to
live and fight in an ever more rapidly warming world.
“The seas are rising and so are we!”
This release features exclusive art work by artist Che Go Eun. The
Limited Edition Cassette has its own exclusive design by the artist
and was riso printed at Afreux (afreux.be).
REVIEWS
A CLOSER LISTEN by Maya Merberg
(...) “A Rational World” is a masterpiece of a wakeup call. Haunting
and riotous, it demands the listener’s attention. And though it
elucidates the severity of our crisis, it is not without hope. At
one point a spirited mob chants, “The seas are rising and so are
we!” For all the chilling impartiality that exists, passion
prevails.
VITAL WEEKLY 1339 by Frans de Waard
(...) You could think of this as a radio play had the issue not been
genuine. Yet this message doesn't stand in the way of the music;
there is much to enjoy there. I enjoyed this oddball mix of loopy
electronics, picking up voices, drums, and recorders, set against
the real thing. Sometimes on the verge of breaking down,
traditionally improvised and the next moment scratching and peeping
in true electro-acoustic music fashion. Altogether a fascinating and
robust statement!
credits released May 23, 2022
The music was recorded at the farm of Gjalt Tjeerdsma in
Beetsterzwaag. Field recordings were made during the Code Rood
blockade of the NAM (NL), at the Hambacher Forest (DE) and in
Friesland (NL). All material was recorded in 2018 for ANSAGE ENDE,
an award-winning short film by Sjoerd Leijten and Stijn Verhoeff.
Recorders: Verena Barié Drums and synths: Gerri Jäger Electronics:
Sjoerd Leijten Recording engineer: Malu Peeters Field recordings:
Sjoerd Leijten, Malu Peeters, Stijn Verhoeff Editing: Sjoerd
Leijten, Malu Peeters, Stijn Verhoeff Mastering: Sjoerd Leijten
Cover art: Che Go Eun (chegocheck.cargo.site) Riso printed at Afreux
(afreux.be) Released by NUMINA TAPES in 2022
RADICAL MURMUR is a three-part
sonic essay on the political possibilities of sound. We live in an
age dominated by images and language. What do we learn about
ourselves and the world when we close our eyes and open our ears? RADICAL MURMUR is the full English version of
the bi-lingual sonic essay RADICAAL GEROEZEMOES, that was earlier
published in rekto:verso and Gonzo (circus). We listen and
talked with: Justin Bennett, Evelien van den Broek, Peter Cusack,
Mint Park, Davide Tidoni and Salomé Voegelin.
RADICAL MURMUR is a production by TRASHLINIE. TRASHLINIE is Sjoerd
Leijten and Roel Griffioen. RADICAL MURMUR was made in collaboration
with rekto:verso, Gonzo (circus) and Collateral.
This interactive installation by artist Coralie Vogelaar examines our urge to exert
control over our body. Changes in HRV directly impact on the music
composition by Sjoerd Leijten, created in programming environment
SuperCollider, that resonates via transducers through ceramic organ
like sculptures. The installation was exhibited in the Stedelijk
Museum in Amsterdam as part of the Prix de Rome.
The duo RAINBOWPEEL 475.13 - consisting of visual artist Mariana Lanari and composer Sjoerd
Leijten - create performances, music and installations based on
fragments of Finnegans Wake. The book takes the form of a dream,
written in a dream language, breaking the rules of grammar and
spelling in a prose mixed with musical forms constructed with
onomatopoeic qualities. RAINBOWPEEL 475.13 use voice, DIY software,
acoustic instruments, synthesizers and field recordings leading to
open networks of possibilities and a faithfully unfaithful
renarration. The computer code behind the setup enables to control
and sample on-the-fly, yet also delivers unexpected artifacts,
sounds and structures.
'As we there are' is a performance re-narrating chapter II.2 from
Finnegans Wake. It was performed in toitoiDrome, Antwerp and the Van
Abbemuseum, Eindhoven on the occassion of James Joyce's birthday on
the 2nd of February, 2020.
RAINBOWPEEL
475.13 website - by Remco van Bladel
Watch 'Supernoctural' by RAINBOWPEEL 475.13 down here.
Listen to the track 'End here, us then, finnagain' by RAINBOWPEEL
475.13:
Climate activist film by Stijn Verhoeff and Sjoerd Leijten.
The experimental short film ANSAGE ENDE is an artistic reflection on
being engaged with the world. Combining fiction and documentary,
music and text, this hybrid film calls for a collective and activist
approach to the climate crisis.
The visually stunning ANSAGE ENDE opens with an imaginative journey
through an empty landscape where water meets land. Two characters
walk through the mud, away from the viewer, into an open yet unknown
future. They fantasize about what our rapidly developing world might
bring and question their personal participation in this possible
future. Slowly the film moves away from the imaginary into the real.
Climate destruction becomes ghastly visible: huge machines in a
brown coal mine eat up the soil, searching for energy and profit.
Policemen and women enable sawers to cut down the neighbouring
forest for the expansion of the mine. Young activists occupy the
trees, trying to stop the destruction of this primeval forest.
An experimental musical score strengthens the joyful militancy of
the activists and leads the narrative of the film to a third
location: an old barn. Here, surrounded by animals and farm life,
three musicians play music; their tunes travel to the many corners
of the farm. With subverting fragments of text mixed through the
music, they call for more radical action and hint at overthrowing
the economic elite.
A short, but poignant sci-fi excursion ends ANSAGE ENDE, shedding
dystopic light on our shared future, while a megaphone choir
suggests a collective uprising: “The seas are rising and so are we!”
Watch the film down here
Listen to the audio trailer of the upcoming 'A Rational World'
release here:
Best Experimental Award, Rome Independent Cinema Festival
Climate Award, Cinema Verde, International Environmental Film and
Arts Festival, Florida
DCP, 22 minutes, 2019 Dutch, German and English with English
subtitles
CREW Cinematography - Casper Brink Edit - Jasper de Bruin and Stijn
Verhoeff Sound - Sjoerd Leijten and Malu Peeters Music - Verena
Barie, Gerri Jäger, Sjoerd Leijten Editing, mixing and mastering -
Sjoerd Leijten and Malu Peeters Titles - Karoline Swiezynski
Production - Gneisspecker
WAD Actors - Daan Alkemade and Dries Alkemade Acting coach - Sanne
Nouws Text - Stijn Verhoeff Translation subtitles - Chris Meighan
Catering - Kristina Benjocki
HAMBACH Voice - Sandra Schultz (Deutschlandfunk) Translation
subtitles - Karoline Swiezynskii Police - Nordrhein-Westfalen
Polizei Tree squatters - Hambacher Forst ‘Hambi’ activists
BEETSTERZWAAG Farm owner - Gjalt Tjeerdsma Flutes - Verena Barie
Drums - Gerri Jäger Electronics - Sjoerd Leijten Voice - Andreas
Malm (from the lecture Learning to Fight in a Warming World)
Catering - Kristina Benjocki Animals - the unheard witnesses
2143 megaphone choir – Jo Caimo megaphone choir – Inne Eysermans
megaphone choir – Vesna Faassen megaphone choir – Sjoerd Leijten
Supported by Mondriaan Fonds, AFK and Kunsthuis SYB
At the highest point of West-Terschelling, in and around the
abandoned ‘Seinhuisje’, Olle Kruijt, Sjoerd Leijten and Stijn Verhoeff developed the
site-specific audio installation Seinsters. Featuring in an
‘expedition’, with 14 other artworks at Oerol, they created a
multi-layered and immersive gesamtkunstwerk. Told by two
‘Seinsters’, Ghosts of the Ether, and coming from all cracks and
corners of the abandoned house, Seinsters takes the audience on an
imaginary audio journey around the island of Terschelling. North of
the island the listeners encounter a gas drilling platform, where a
sudden explosion smashes the platform in pieces and sends its
workers into the sea. Southwards, bird island Griend pops up (where
the artists spend three days, see this video), while in the meantime
live radio signals intervene with the stories told and oil drums
come to live through resonating speakers.
The experience is influenced by the weather and its surroundings;
wind makes the fences squeak, rain forces visitors to come closer
the house, sunshine casts a lightening spell on the at times gloomy
at times serene audio work.
The project was commisioned by Oerol and Natuurmonumenten and started off
with a 3 day residency on the bird island Griend. A video report
from Omrop Fryslân can be seen down here.
Site-specific, 8 channel audio installation with megaphones,
resonance speakers, oil drums, plastic buckets, and more.
With the voices of Jeanne-Marie Knops and Caroline Ruigrok.
Text in Dutch, 36 minutes loop.
Listen to a recording of the installation down here:
De toekomst ligt in zee is a dreamy and poetic trip through an
imaginative landscape. Atmospheric sounds fill the gallery, at times
imaginative, at times raw and harsh. Various voices (female, male,
soft, sharp) rise up from the landscape. Three stories are told, a
fourth voice brings the stories together. Like paintings-in-time the
stories come to life. Like in a film the listener travels to and
through places she or he has not yet been before.
Specifically for the outdoor audio exhibition Lûd at Rijsterbos, we
attuned, together with För Künkel, our audio work De toekomst ligt
in zee. The site specific installation features in an exhibition
with artists Uri Aran, Cecilia Bengtsson, Cilia Erens, Dora García /
Jan Mech, Bouke Groen, Voebe de Gruyter, Florian Hecker, Edwin van
der Heide, Saskia Janssen, Laura Maes, Matt Mullican, Jan Ruerd
Oosterhaven, Falke Pisano, Ramon van de Werken and Peter Zegveld.
Audio work - initiated by Stijn Verhoeff - and made in
collaboration with Malu
Peeters. In the fall of 2016 the work - curated by Vincent van
Velsen - premiered at Galerie van Gelder in Amsterdam as a three
channel sound installation. In the summer of 2018 the work was
exhibited inside a 'jachtkansel' as part of the Lûd sound art festival.
With the voices of Roberta Petzoldt, Maarten Pieterson, Caroline
Ruijgrok, Yvo Sprey and Stijn Verhoeff.
Listen the piece here: