MARCEL ZAES, 2015
marcelzaes.com

During my time at Residency 108 I realized two parts of an ongoing series of “Living installations”: Setting#1 and Setting#2. With the term “living installation” I aim to conceptualize a novel form of artistic practice which transgresses the boundaries of sound, performance and installation art. I use this concept to describe my work that blends the ephemeral character of sound art with the three-dimensionality and site-specificity of installation art.

The resulting oscillation between the performative, as embodied by the performers employed, and the installation, represented by the various objects placed in the scene, is what constitutes the “living” and the “installation” elements of this new genre. In merging objects and performers, both components are transformed and become hierarchically equivalent constituents of a single, living space. Hence, living installations engage with more than just sight or visuality since the created spatial situation is opened up for a wide range of sensual perception. Seeing sound and hearing the visual is essential and requires the rethinking of compositional parameters. In such a context, the choreography of movement and non-movement or visual elements such as light are inherently conceived as belonging to the vocabulary of composition. 

While in residency, I finalized the text scores of the first two elements of Setting. Number 1 depicts a single person slowly crosses a defined piece of ground while producing a static feedback sound with a megaphone. Number 2 increases the number of performers, each carries a megaphone with attached microphone, producing feedback and crackle sounds while moving through the landscape as defined in the text score.

Setting#1 (2015)

Piece for one performer with a megaphone and attached microphone, and a defined piece of cleared ground.

Setting#2 (2015)

Piece for several performers, each with a megaphone and attached microphone, and a defined piece of cleared ground.

First performed at Residency 108 in collaboration with Bard College by Dana Shimkoski, Antonio Irizarry, Daisy Rosato, Ethan Rogers, Reeves Morris-Stan, Kedian Keohan and Abby Adler, October 2015.