Guest: Vincent Caers, Living Scores - Intermediality and artistic research

At this seminar, Vincent Caers will present his project Living Scores, an artistic research project drawing on intermediality. For those who are on location in Växjö, the seminar will be combined with a concert in the evening at Italienska palatset, in Växjö from 17.00-19.00 (note that this concert has been moved from the 13 to the 12 April).

The seminar is a collaboration between IMS and the department for Film and Literature.

About the seminar and concert

Living scores

Vincent Caers, musician and artistic researcher presents and performs his artistic research. In his research, Caers draws on intermedial theory to develop artistic practice and interartistic collaboration.

Under the title Living scores, Vincent Caers presents his explorations of the musical score as a medium and his performance format Umbraphonics, drawing on Lars Elleström’s theoretical framework. Umbraphonics is a future inspired performance format presenting electro-acoustic mediations of classical and/or contemporary musical scores in unpredictable and unstable sonic environments.

Vincent Caers presents his artistic research at the seminar on Wednesday 13-15 and at a concert and mingle on Thursday evening (tba) at Italienska palatset.

Umbraphonics

Umbraphonics is a future inspired performance format presenting electro-acoustic mediations of classical and/or contemporary musical scores in unpredictable and unstable sonic environments. The format is optimized for embedding score-based performance in cross-disciplinary collaborations because it invites allocating new musical variables to the symbolic notation of the musical score next to those implied by its conventional use. However, this requires from both the performer and the audience a willingness to challenge the borders of what might normally be expected of performing musical scores. Nevertheless, its openness towards the medium offers many opportunities for reconsidering the historical legacy of Western classical music.

Presentation

The first part of the presentation discusses the conceptual background and development of the performance format ‘Umbraphonics’. First is explained how Lars Elleström’s ‘The Modalities of Media: a model for understanding intermedial relations’ provided the overall framework guiding artistic decisions. Next, this model is applied in practice to music and the musical score, and other models are introduced regarding cross-disciplinary collaborations and multimedia art. The case-study on Loops II – a collaboration with visual artist Sigrid Tanghe – then illustrates their application and shows how this led to a major shift in artistic practice. With that in mind, the presentation continues to look at different mediations of a musical score and the development of the software suite lsl.performer, leading to the introduction of umbraphonics. The format has also been the subject of multiple focus group sessions during the research. Their discussion reveals the potential of the format, but also surfaces some criticism. The second part of the presentation then show a selection of artistic work illustrating umbraphonics in art practice.

Concert and mingle

5 -7 pm 12. April, at Italienska palatset, J F Liedholms väg 17, Växjö.

The concert presents a solo version of the Umbraphonics performance based on Bach’s French suite n° 5 and Bartok’s Out of Doors, which has been created for the Night Air festival 2023 in collaboration with pianist Julien Libeer. It explores the flip side of these scores in a dialogue between piano and electronics. Tradition and experiment encounter each other in an immersive environment that submerges the listener in both tranquil beaty and dark soundscapes. With the score at hand, both performers explored a wide sound universe in which recognition and obscurity intertwine. Discover for yourself if you would choose to stare at the sun or rather prefer to cast a glance at the dark side of the score!

Bio

The sonic world of Vincent Caers would be most aptly described as a unique universe mixing dense electronics with subtile acoustic sounds. His approach starts with a critical perspective on the medium of the musical score. Both conventional instrumental interpretations and radical electro-acoustic transmediations lead to surprising and unstable sonic environments balancing between transparency and obscurity. He thereby always aims at extending the playground of the sonic artist within interdisciplinary projects. Along the road, he develops new technological applications to transform classical concepts into driving forces of innovative — and often digital — processes. Through this artistic research he challenges both the audience and performers to reconsider what we are willing to accept as music and/or performance. Next to his own projects as electronic musician and percussionist, he often performs as a freelance musician in ensembles and orchestras internationally and was an Artist in Residence at the ICST (CH), Banff Center for Arts and Creativity (CA) and currently in BAC Art Lab (BE).

How to attend

It is possible to attend the seminar both from Dacke in Växjö and via zoom. Contact Elliott Berggren <elliott.berggren@lnu.se>, if you want to participate via zoom.

Photo: 'Aurora - Connecting Senses’, Cristina Pop-Tiron & Signe Kjær Jensen