ESCR #19



29-30/11 Farewell Örö

Winter has finally come to the archipelago. I took a last walk to the northern tip. This end of Örö is almost always windy and colder than the southern and eastern shores, although the distance is only few kilometers. The late afternoon light was dim with dreary clouds and a snowstorm approaching. At the same time, a dark grey Finnish warship had appeared in western direction. Military performances were being held right in front of the shore. Heavy gun fire erupted at irregular intervals. I could feel the strong detonations in my body; the loudest ones always blasted in quintuples. On the stony shore, I found a spot full of bleached and twisted juniper wood. In my imagination, the woods evoked the image of a baroque sculpture garden. In the midst of the wooden forms I spotted torn remnants of a seal carcass. Another layer of biological baroqueness. I recorded, took pictures, and filmed. A feast for the eyes, in low phenomena terrain.

On my way back I met a brown eagle. Eagles occur in boreal forests, as I have been told. With dusk falling in, I quietly moved along the shoreline. Shrubs and sparse trees were standing below, closer to the water. The huge bird flew off from one the juniper bushes nearby, appraoched me from behind and passed me just by my left shoulder, less than two meters away, quickly disappearing along the path and higher into the forest. It came so close that I felt like I could hold on to its back and take off. I clearly saw its feathery head and the muscular shoulders moving its strong wings. I have never seen a flying eagle from this perspective, let alone that close.

On my way back I met a brown eagle. Eagles occur in boreal forests, as I have been told. With dusk falling in, I quietly moved along the shoreline. Shrubs and sparse trees were standing below, closer to the water. The huge bird flew off from one the juniper bushes nearby, appraoched me from behind and passed me just by my left shoulder, less than two meters away, quickly disappearing along the path and higher into the forest. It came so close that I felt like I could hold on to its back and take off. I clearly saw its feathery head and the muscular shoulders moving its strong wings. I have never seen a flying eagle from this perspective, let alone that close.

I have now returned to Helsinki. The journey took seven hours, including two hours that Marja and I had to spend waiting at the Örö harbour, while the ferry got ready for departure. At this time of the year, there are no fixed schedules for ferry rides; everything must be negotiated according to various professional needs. Heavy machinery was unloaded and brought to various places at the island. The machines will be used for building purposes; several of the century-old wooden houses are being renovated. At the same time, all power supplies on the island were shut down. Our residency was cold, without light and water. The truck then went back to the mainland with the ferry, too.

The boat was old and weathered. I immediately fall in love with the ancient workbench on deck. The experienced captain steered in his socks. The strictly observed Finnish rule to take off one’s shoes whenever entering a house was to be followed in his cabin, too. With a carpet on the floor and an orchid in the window, this cabin was a living room, indeed. Outside the weather was stormy, waves quite high. A hitchhike towards Helsinki greatly helped Marja and me on our way home. A construction engineer whom we met in the ferry offered a ride to us, including our bulky luggage. From Kasnäs, at this time of the year, no bus connections to Helsinki are available; we were truly lucky.


I’m back to urban life, to people, cars, roads, city noises, shops, flashing lights all over. At the moment, it is nearly impossible to find words. I’m in a state of in-between. I carry the imprint of an island on my heart.

ESCR #18

28/11 Resilience and Change

During my strolls over the island I have noticed a number of uniquely formed trees. The boreal forest in Örö is relatively young. When Örö was first used for military purposes, the woods were felled. Aerial views from the beginning of the 20th century show a barren landscape with multiple military edifices such as harbours, dockyard, barracks, heavy guns, artillery positions, industrial buildings, stables, the road and even a short railroad track. Over the last decades, the forest and shrubs were allowed to regrow; woodland quickly spread out. However, conditions in the archipelago are rough; trees must cope with strong winds and poor soil.

Three peculiar trees, unique specimen, caught my attention. Their life stores have touched me, as an artist and human being. Studying their shape, I read about their lives and experiences, and how they reacted individually. I learn to know them as personalities, with their peculiar characters. Trees communicate their life stories through their form and growth – a mode of embodied plant story telling. I often stayed for a longer time in the company of one of them. Observing the tree in silence, it becomes close to me, almost like a friend, but certainly like an individual that I know very well. The trees featured here have all been deeply wounded in middle age, most likely by heavy winds. Every one of them demonstrates remarkable resilience. With great admiration, I learned about their unique processes of healing and alternative modes of growth in adverse circumstances.

In particular, I want to draw attention to this fallen tree. It lives on the north-western coast of Örö, close to the coat line. In this plant, I detect a universe of resilience. The tree was felled by a gale as an already mature specimen. Yet, with only part of its roots still connected to the ground, it continued to grow.


For many years, it expanded further, via the few major branches that happened to point straight up after the fall. The upright branches took over as substitute trunks. The problem of such ersatz trunks is their relatively unsafe anchoring. Without roots as support, they need other modes of stabilisation. Seeking for additional support, the lowest secondary trunk entered into a precarious relationship with a young tree growing close by. Over the course of years, the branch virtually circled around its tree partner.


Like twins, both have currently grown to the same height. Very recently, the mother tree suffered yet another heavy wound. One of the strongest substitute stems was broken off by winds. Coming winter, will the mother tree survive? To ease the healing process, workers of the National Forest maintenance sawed off the severed branch.


With Örö being so small, I come across the same places over and over again. Almost every day, I visit certain key spots and look at the same constellations of objects, rocks, or plants. An opportunity opened up to study certain processes and change. My experience is that my perception took another direction in the archipelago, intensifying over the duration of the month. Due to the external circumstance, it is not possible to extend perception into new territories or into new themes. Therefore, perception deepens. That is, rather than exploring the new, I look into details and differences that happen over time. Change as a process came to the foreground of my perceptional explorations. Repeatedly observing a specific object, over days and weeks, my perception began to take note differences that appeared with or around that very object. Such was the case with the trees featured here.

ESCR #17

27/11 Heimat, Sicherheit und Illusion.

Ich komme zu einer Anhöhe. Von der Wiese aus, hinter der Hügelkuppe, hat man einen schönen Blick aufs Yspertal. Ich wandere im Waldviertel, den Weg kenne ich gut. Jedesmal noch hat mich der Ausblick erfreut, besonders der Gedanke an das feine Gasthaus mit den zwei alten Birnbäumen davor, das an der Landstraße dahinter steht, weckt Erinnerungen: Klänge, Gerüche, Wärme nach einem kühlen Tag im Freien. Wohlige Erwartung beschleunigt meine Schritte.

Soweit die Fiktion. In Wirklichkeit bin ich immer noch auf der Insel Örö, fünf Meter über dem Meeresspiegel. Wenn ich weitergehe, weicht die Wiese einem Moospolster und Wacholderbüschen. Runde Granitfelsen fallen sanft zum Wasser ab. Der Blick weitet sich übers Meer. Ich sehe viele benachbarte Inselchen in allen Größen, soweit mein Auge reicht. Es gibt keine Landstraße, keine Birnbäume, und das nächste offene Restaurant ist 12km entfernt – am Festland in Kasnäs.

Immer wieder komme ich auf meinen Inselstreifzügen zu Plätzen, wo ich plötzlich ein Gefühl von Vertrautheit spüre. Kleinräumige Landschaften kommen mir mit einem Mal bekannt vor. Meine Wahrnehmung verbindet sich mit der Erinnerung, Illusionen verschleiern die offensichtliche Realität. Ich gebe diesen Orten geheime Namen: Waldviertel, Raxweg, Wienerwaldweg. Die Illusion hält nur an, solange ich den Blick eingrenze, nicht hebe. Manchmal spiele ich damit.

Ich beobachte, wie zugleich mit der Verschiebung meiner Wahrnehmung Erwartungen und Vorurteile an den jeweiligen Ort aufsteigen: ich kenne mich hier aus. Eine innere Sicherheit stellt sich ein, ein Eindruck von In-sich-ruhen. Hier bin ich nicht nur sicher, hier bin ich… Daheim? Verwurzelt? Entspannt? Gehalten? Bei mir/bei Freunden/wo ich verstanden werde? Selbst die Sprache verstehe? Den Weg kenne? Weiß, was mich auf der Speisekarte erwartet? Steckt hinter der Illusion vertrauter Umgebungen eine Sehnsucht nach so etwas wie Heimat? Wünsche ich mir, nicht ständig Unbekanntes entschlüsseln zu müssen? Bedeutet Heimat Sicherheit, und weniger Anstrengung – weil ich in der Fremde meine Wahrnehmungen dauernd scannen muss, ob auch alles sicher ist?

Erinnerung ist immer eine Form der Imagination. Erinnerung und Imagination sind miteinander verbunden. Wahrnehmung ist keinesfalls passiv, meint Eric Kandel, Neurowissenschafter und Nobelpreisträger (Eric Kandel, 2014, Das Zeitalter der Erkenntnis. München, Pantheon Verlag). Im Vorgang der Wahrnehmung wird die Welt aktiv und kreativ hergestellt. Ich habe die Wahl, meinen Blick einzugrenzen oder zu weiten. Wie Siri Hustvedt (2013, Living, Thinking, Looking. London, Hodder & Stoughton) schreibt:

“We don’t just digest the world; we make it.”

 

ESCR #16

25/11 The Art of Foraging. Noises.

 

This piece is dedicated to the Whopper swan, Finnish national bird. I performed the piece on a quiet day, no wind on the performance site. At times, a hum could be heard in the distance, probably from the nearby radar. The swans started calling soon after I had begun making my own noises. Some individuals flew across the performance site, sounding out. A large flock of birds gathered in a peaceful bay nearby and continued their communication, long after sunset.

I had fun doing some processing with the sounds. I think the swans would like it that way, too.

ESCR #15

24/11 The Art of Foraging. Apaja.

 

The forests of southern Finland are known to be rich in mushrooms and berries. Since my childhood, that is, as long as I can remember, I have been foraging for edible plants in the woods near Vienna – taught by my parents, with contagious passion. Upon arrival at the Örö residency quarters, the old school building situated within the forest, I was delighted to discover mushrooms growing right in front of my window. Moreover, my residential colleague, environmental researcher Marja Salo, herself a skilled and ardent forager with a broad expertise in Finnish berries and mushrooms, shares my enthusiasm.


It helps a lot to know that I can identify my harvest with her;  Marja’s knowledge of local plants allows me to safely forage in a foreign environment. Beyond the question of safety, the culinary potential of the various findings is discussed, among likeminded practitioners of the art.

In the archipelago, the fall season is extended, because the sea cools off more slowly. After this year’s exceptionally hot summer, a nice variety of berries and mushrooms is still available –  enriching the limited range of supplies we brought here. Risotto with mushrooms and mushroom sauce are delightfully tasty. Rose hips and cranberries turn into wild desserts, or add flavour to porridge and apple crumble. An exploration into strudel with blueberries, including self-made strudel dough, was also successful.

Sea kale is a pioneer plant growing on the shore. Its green leaves are edible, have a nice, crisp texture, with a taste similar to kale, fresh and slightly salty. However, the plant is strictly protected and should not be harvested by humans. Caterpillars may do so.

 

In his brilliant essay The Art of Mushroom Foraging Roope Kaaronen explores perceptional processes in connection with mushroom harvesting. Here, I learned about the Finnish term apaja – quoting Kaaronen:

“A forager does not generally enter a forest without prior experience and knowledge. We have a curious word in my native language, Finnish, for this: apaja. Apaja loosely translates into “area known to have plentiful catch,” entailing a higher prior probability for encounter. I know, among several others, of chanterelle apaja, bolete apaja, milk-cap apaja, and my personal favourites, yellowfoot and black trumpet apaja. Curiously, knowledge of an apaja, whilst socially transmitted, is often kept a guarded secret within an in-group. An unwritten rule applies: You do not talk about an apaja with strangers.”

“An apaja is generally understood as a physical and material space in the environment, as a location a forager enters. Upon closer inspection, though, this is not entirely accurate. An apaja is more akin to a predictive cognitive map, which is validated against the ecological information harvested from the directly perceivable environment. Specifically, an apaja is a prior expectation, a prediction, pertaining to the distribution of mushroom species in the environment.”

It seems to me that certain parallels exist in human behaviour, regarding the mushroom apaja of Finland and the job/security apaja of Austria: locals do not want to share it with strangers.

 

In Finland, foraging including fishing is granted and regulated via the Everyman’s Right. Details can be found at the website of the Ministry of Environment under
http://www.ym.fi/en-US/Latest_news/Publications/Brochures/Everymans_right(4484)

Read Kaaronen’s complete essay under
http://thesideview.co/articles/the-art-of-mushroom-foraging/

ESCR #14

22/11 FERN BOWL PIECE

 

No bowl is an island
Even deep in the forest
Behold my hammer
I have found you and come to wake you up
From hundred years of sleep

Cast iron roughness cast away powerless violator

Wake up
Ferns
Shake up
Fronds
Let your spores rain all over
Spread ferns instead of death and war

Heavy iron hand holds good compost
And precious life
Lovely green fernbrake
Safe from destruction

I got a hammer
I got a bell
Full of ferns
In the middle of an island

I got a hammer
And a stone
I hammer out ferns
I ring the bracken bell
All night long
All over this island

Bowl, compost, roots, ferns and all, vibrate!

I strike the bowl bell
Twelf times
And more

Composting equality
Composting freedom
Composting respect
Composting tenderness
Composting the noise of crazy women
All over this island
All into the intestines of these rocks
Deep into dark tunnels of narrow minds
I ring out my warning

A bell meant to bring death
A bell used to practise killing
So what

First you served soldiers ringing out death
Then you served nature ringing out compost
Now you serve my whims ringing out songs of dusk
And tenderness

Ringing all over
Ringing for art
Ringing for compost
Ringing for composers
Ringing for nature
Ringing for trees, for swans, for ferns
For mushrooms, for cows,
For countless bushels of sea kale on the shore now freezing into a cold sleep
And hungry caterpillars, too
So vulnerable!

Birds in the sky
White swans
Wake up
Answer my call
From above
join and sound your trumpets

Don’t ask
For whom
What for
Why
Is it art? Is it music? Is it foolish?

The fern bell
Tolls
For thee

 

ESCR #13

20/11 Walden… Island

 

“Moreover, I on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men’s lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land to me.”

I dedicate this post to Henry David Thoreau, and his self-experiment about living in the forest in solitude for over two years. During my residency, I find his book Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854) most interesting to read. After a few weeks in the Finnish natural park, my experiences have brought me to strikingly similar insights, about my own process as a composer. Thoreau is probably the first self-made artistic researcher, because he analysed and described his own process, and published a book about his radical ‘artist residency’.  

“I go and come with a strange liberty in Nature, a part of herself. As I walk along the stony shore of the pond in my shirt sleeves, though it is cool as well as cloudy and windy, and I see nothing special to attract me, all the elements are unusually congenial to me.”

By now, Örö island has turned into Terra Cognita for me – I have explored it in detail, I have bodily and mentally mapped its coastlines. I have become familiar with its landscape, forests, meadows, shores, mushrooms, berries, even with its intestines, the bunkers. 

“Most of the luxuries, and many of the so called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind…None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty. Of a life of luxury the fruit is luxury, whether in agriculture, or commerce, or literature, or art. There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but no philosophers.”

The food that I eat is good, adequate and healthy. It does not offer entertainment. I could not bring chocolate… it was simply not possible to transport things like that. I had to confine myself to the bare necessities – with the exception of good coffee from Hornig’s Viennese store. Thoreau also mentions that people asked what he would eat, whether he would feel lonesome, of whether he would be afraid. That sounds familiar to me. In this short discourse about art, I appreciate Thoreau’s cynicism and his radical arguments: 

“…men have become the tools of their tools. The man who independently plucked the fruits when he was hungry is become a farmer; and he who stood under a tree for shelter, a housekeeper. We now no longer camp as for a night, but have settled down on earth and forgotten heaven. We have adopted Christianity merely as an improved method of agri-culture. We have built for this world a family mansion, and for the next a family tomb. The best works of art are the expression of man’s struggle to free himself from this condition, but the effect of our art is merely to make this low state comfortable and that higher state to be forgotten. There is actually no place in this village for a work of fine art, if any had come down to us, to stand, for our lives, our houses and streets, furnish no proper pedestal for it.… Before we can adorn our houses with beautiful objects the walls must be stripped, and our lives must be stripped, and beautiful housekeeping and beautiful living be laid for a foundation: now, a taste for the beautiful is most cultivated out of doors, where there is no house and no housekeeper.”

It seems that I’m in the process of stripping my life, my internal walls, in order to rebuild the foundations for… what kind of art, or music, or noise?

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience is online available for free on www.gutenberg.org

 

ESCR #12

18/11 Security

 

Today is Sunday. Weekdays carry no meaning here. No shops, restaurants, churches, offices, nothing exists to mark the time. Nothing from outside has an influence how I plan my day, except maybe the weather and daylight. However, I open one of my two bottles of wine today. They were brought in by Marja’s guests from Helsinki, last weekend.

I work on my desk, writing, researching, and composing. I take extended excursions outside. When the light fits for filming, I take the good camera with me. The only important date for island life is the arrival and departure of Thursday’s ferry. Different ferries or boats are used, depending on what must be transported. If two or three people need a ride, a small boat is enough. A bigger ferry is used to bring in a new tractor for forest work or building material.

By now, all military people left the island. A few workers from Estonia arrived to renovate one of the nicer old houses. On the island, they use bicycles to cover the distance from their living quarters to the building site on the other shore. Örö is empty, nowadays. Other than the working men, the only company we have is a herd of Highland cattle, a peaceful and curious group grazing on the eastern shores. When food gets too scarce, later in fall, they will leave, taking the ferry, too.

Marja Salo, currently also here as resident, is a researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, doctoral student at Helsinki University, and a sustainable consumption specialist. Together, we share a passion for foraging, for berries and mushrooms. We talk about safety. When telling friends of our plans to spend a month in a remote island, both of us had similar experiences – people asking us questions such as: Will you feel safe? Aren’t you afraid? What will you eat? If anyting happens, what will you do?

Personally, I felt afraid the first night I spent in Örö. Nights are quite dark here, in spite of the few ‘street lamps’ right in front of our door. When the sky is clear, stars are magnificent. The waxing moon shines brightly. But no wild and dangerous animals live in the forest, except some snakes and ticks in summer (as in Austria, in mountain areas). No wolves, no bears, not even a dog. No giant spiders nor rats. In fact, Örö is an utterly peaceful place. Also, I did not experience the soldiers as threatening presence. They all behaved in a polite and friendly way, as well mannered people.

Speaking of security and fear: there are numerous bunkers and fortifications on this island, smaller ones where only one person can fit in, and big underground edifices that can accommodate dozens of people. Most of them are open all year round, their doors stay unlocked. Tourists are invited to explore them at will. Only a general warning sign asks visitors to be aware of falling and take care of one’s steps. I do feel quite uncomfortable, rather unsafe, when entering these dark, narrow spaces. The muffled sounds of my steps reverberating from close walls. Again, the question is: what am I afraid of? With my headlamp on, I entered, taking videos. Please follow me inside…

 

 

The largest bunker can only be accessed through a narrow, crumbled concrete entrance. With the visitors from Helsinki, I dared to set foot into the tunnel. The bunker is hewn into rock, three stories deep. From a maze of tunnels, a narrow iron stair leads down into an abyss of darkness. Inside, the space widens into a set of several larger rooms. They look as though they had been abandoned decades ago and left in their original state, to crumble and decay.

 

Read Marja Salo’s publications under
Marja Salo’s publications
https://scholar.google.fi/citations?hl=en&user=DoYcMYAAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

 

 

ESCR #11

15/11 Fuzzy terrains

 

 

It is raining a lot. Lichens grow and expand everywhere, covering trees, rocks, the ground. The world looks fuzzy and contours lack definition. 

I decided to occupy the historic mess hall (now hosting a small exhibition) at the southwestern end of Örö. The acoustics are good, the house is made of wood except for the foundations. Inside, it is dry and quite a bit warmer than outside, still, although the door does not close properly. I like the smell of the old wooden floor, blackened with tar; it is a smell that recalls pleasant childhood memories. The room is spacious.

 

It has three huge stoves (not working) and a mural from the 1930-ies. This photo from Örön Linnake (2008), Johanna Pakola’s comprehensive investigation into the history of the island, shows the hall in its former function.

Since nobody else is there now, and the door stands open, I have turned the hall into a studio space – as long as temperatures will allow. I walk through coastal woods with my instrument and gear, thinking: let’s make experimental music for the soldiers of the past who look down on me from the photographs pinned to the walls (the accordionist is here, too). Last Tuesday, I recorded three pieces. Lichens worlds, and my sense of defiance towards military thinking played a certain role in the making of this performance. In the background, the constant noise of the sea is faintly audible. The hall stands near the shore.

 

Yesterday, I came across this wonderful passage in a book I currently read: Siri Hustvedt’s Living, Thinking, Looking (2012, Hodder&Stoughton, London) – some of her books are also available in German translation. Indeed, I took her book to the island with me, in print format. Within the context of experiencing a loss in perspective for my work, on this island, I find these sentences interesting:

“A willigness to lose perspective means an openness to others who are guided by a set of unfamiliar propositions. It means entertaining a confounding, even frightening and radical intersubjectivity. It also means that however happy you are among the few residents of your particular island, that little island is not the whole world.”

From afar, I wave at the Wien Modern audience. I miss you.

ESCR #10

13/11 Music, an endangered species?

 

 

Since the beginning of my residency period at Örö, I have been looking for locations and places that might be interesting for (musical) performances. During the first days of November, I experimented in the woods near our house, the old school building. At that time, much military personnel was stationed in Örö, because of the Nato exercise Trident Junction that took place across the Baltic region.


This picture was taken on November 4th. I had just set up my instrument and began to play, when two Finnish soldiers with machine guns in hands came marching along the pathway, noticed me, turned and curiously approached, to watch! They acted friendly, even tried to talk to me, yet I found I’m not really used to performing with machine guns that close nearby – yet. The instrument soon gave up, because of the weather conditions; it is too cold, too windy, and too damp to perform outside.

 

Several buildings in Örö are unlocked and open to the public, even in this time of the year. One of them is a former mess hall near the west coast; here, a collection of historic photographs is on exhibition. One of the photos shows a very young accordion player in uniform in the middle of a large group of soldiers. Among the many historic photographs about Örö fortress I have seen so far, in books or on display, only this one shows a musical instrument. I would like to know more about the anonymous musician. Who was he? Without question, he holds a prominent position in this assembly and looks at rest with his instrument.


The numerous military structures and buildings all over the island emanate a harsh, functional, brutal background noise. They resonate a mode of thinking that is geared towards power, warfare, control, and force – in the name of (national) safety and protection. Current activities around the anniversary of the end of WWI come to my mind. Nowadays, much is being done to ensure a friendly and positive image of the military. For example, see the official reports on Trident Junction on twitter under
https://twitter.com/hashtag/tridentjuncture?vertical=default&src=hash

 

 

Other than the military, there is wilderness. Nature’s stern rule governs island life. I spend much time outside, exposed to wind, coldness, moisture and rain, listening to the roar of the sea and the woods. Walking over sand, moss, and rocks, I find myself touched – and changed. After long periods of darkness and clouded skies, I enjoy brief moments of brilliant sunshine. I take delight in simple and small things: gnarled trees, graceful waves, tiny flowers, a handful of edible mushrooms, remarkable rocks, a few birds or the squirrel we saw from the kitchen window. 

It appears that music is the most endangered species on this island. Is it a question of protecting my artistic process? Does music need protection and safety, within a martial and harsh environment and culture? What is it that music needs to live and unfold?

Personally, I notice how the pervasive presence of military culture as found in Örö Linnake interrupts my artistic drive and my compositional activity. I notice how I strive to work against, around it, in between.

Through the rain, I walk defiantly.

 

Dusk Song (Pia Palme 2018) from Palmeworks on Vimeo.

 

ESCR #9

11/11 Listening #2: mattoteline

 

All over the island, sturdy and foldable metal racks – Finn. mattoteline – are installed near living quarters or holiday homes, for hanging carpets or laundry. They serve multiple functions. This mattoteline stands near the sauna and a group of holiday cottages. I am attracted to their sound: a multipurpose outdoor version of tubular bells. I use crude wooden beaters that I found nearby; handling the pieces of wood, I aim at simple sonic structures. For recording this performance, I once more use the AKG contact mic. Listening inside… outside weather: around 7° and a stiff breeze. As it turned out, the wind had shifted around my iphone on its stand, during the visual recording. 

ESCR #8

 

10-11/11 Alltagsgegenstände – Finnish Design

Diesen Eintrag schreibe ich in meiner Muttersprache. Es geht diesmal um Dinge des alltäglichen Lebens und den Haushalt, da kann ich mich in Deutsch einfach besser ausdrücken. Finnisches Design ist für seine Funktionalität und Schlichtheit weltbekannt; auf Örö bin ich zum Fan des ganz gewöhnlichen finnischen Alltagsdesigns geworden.

Praktisch finde ich den Geschirrkasten zum Abtropfen, genau über der Abwasch. Gitter statt Bretter machen es möglich, nasses Geschirr direkt nach dem Abspülen einzuordnen. Türen zu, und die Küche wirkt – oder besser: sie ist – sofort aufgeräumt.

In die Küche wurde da ein groß dimensioniertes und klug entworfenes Teigbrett integriert. Man zieht es heraus und hat sofort eine praktische Arbeitsfläche. Für uns eine Erleichterung, denn Marja und ich backen eigenes Brot – frisches kann man auf Örö nicht kaufen, und wir wollen vier Wochen auskommen. Wir haben Weizen-, Roggen-, und Gerstenmehl mitgebracht, Sauerteig und Hefe.

Wir, die Residents, wohnen derzeit in der ehemaligen Schule von Örö, die heute zu Wohn- und Schulungszwecken verwendet wird (siehe Foto ganz oben). Sie liegt an einer der beleuchteten ‘Hauptstraßen’ der Insel. Bis in die 1970er Jahre wurden in unserer Wohnküche/Unterrichtsraum Kinder unterrichtet. In den kleineren Zimmern wohnten LehrerInnen und Personal. Das historische Foto zeigt genau unseren Hauseingang.

 

Bürsten beim Haustor sind wichtig. Ich habe nur zwei Paar Schuhe mit, leichte und schwere Wanderschuhe. In Finnland sollte man unbedingt Schuhe im Vorzimmer ausziehen.

 

In der Personalsauna, die wir benützen dürfen, hängt ein wunderschönes altes Thermometer, das rekordverdächtige Temperaturen messen kann. Der Mann, der da mit nacktem Oberkörper ruhig zum Saunahaus im Wäldchen schreitet, hat eine einfache Arbeitshose an. Man erkennt, dass die Sauna nicht als Lifestyle Spa für urbanes Publikum mit Freizeit und Geld entstanden ist, sondern arbeitenden Menschen zur Körperpflege diente – im Alltag, zu Hause. In Helsinki hat die Mehrzahl der Wohnungen (besonders ältere) eine eigene Sauna. Bildung, Arbeit und Sauna passen auch hervorragend zusammen, wie die lateinische Inschrift zeigt.

 

 

ESCR #7

8-9/11 Shopping and shipping

Even in a remote place like Örö it is possible to shop online and receive mail and packages.

Setting up my workplace, I found out that a specific cable was missing to connect my laptop to an extra screen. After some consideration, the best solution seemed to order the cable via internet from a local provider based in Helsinki. Shopping online was easily accomplished. The order had to be placed in Finnish; this I managed with intuition and help from my Finnish colleague Marja Salo. 

My shipping address is 

ÖRÖN RESIDENSSI
PIA PALME
ÖRÖN LINNAKE, LYHYT IKÄVÄ 21 25930 KASNÄS

‘Linnake’ is ‘fortress’ in English.

The package would be shipped to the nearest post office, to be picked up by either by myself  – or by a person with an official authorisation. The post office is located in the store in Kasnäs, in the small harbour from where the ferry leaves, and where I bought most of my supplies. Within two days, the package arrived in Kasnäs. Via analogue communication – a quad bike stopping in front of the residency house and the driver personally calling on us –  Marja and I were informed that this week’s ferry on Thursday was cancelled. Instead, there would only be a smaller boat very early in the morning doing necessary transportation. Too early for the post office… it would not be open yet.

By the way, most inland ferries are free in Finland, such as the one I took from Kasnäs to Örö. They are considered part of the road system, ensuring free transportation in the country.

To get my order to the residency, I depended on further support from maintenance people of the forestry department: one of them agreed to pick up the package during the opening hours of the postal provider, in time to take it with him on the early boat trip the next day, when he would come in to Örö for work from the mainland.

 

Finnish postal services are well organised and work efficiently; the large country is sparsely populated. The Kasnäs post office was strict about an original warrant. That is, the correct form must be downloaded from the internet, printed, filled out, and signed. At the residency, it took us quite a while to get the printer going… finally, success. Next, the correctly signed form had to be delivered to the maintenance boat, as was agreed. Much thanks to Marja, who can so much easier communicate about these intricate matters with everyone, in Finnish!

If you look closely, you can see the folded warrant behind the boat’s front-screen wipers.

The Thursday morning ship also brought two weekend visitors from Helsinki, Marja’s husband and her friend. Within this wheel cart, the mail package travelled the last leg of the journey, from the landing place to our house.

Altogether, I received the cable within four days, thanks to the interplay of digital and analogue means, directed by human interaction and cooperation. Composing a piece from sounds gathered in field recordings, I much appreciate the extra screen space. Even more so, I am grateful for people’s readiness to communicate, help, and cooperate.

ESCR #6

6-7/11 Listening #1

The island is a quiet place these days.

The weather is cloudy, slightly misty, only a gentle breeze. Sounds of nature dominate, with the roar of waves as loudest appearance. No cars. Almost no airplanes pass over the land, much different from home. Occasionally a quad bike passing the residency house, once or twice a day a tractor. Maintenance men tend to the military sites and historic places before winter comes; they empty garbage cans and even clean the patch of lawn in front of the surveillance tower from fallen leaves – I couldn’t believe my eyes, as I walked past.

 

Since the wind was quiet, I decided to do recordings on Hangover Hill, on the western beach. When I first explored the site a few days ago, a plan for a piece developed right away. On top of a metal mast, a radar rotates, emitting a constantly cycling pitched sound. A (forbidden) subterranean military site is covered by a huge metal dome, featuring a large museum gun on top. Visitors are allowed to climb up to the dome and gun. 

By attaching a contact microphone (the AKG C411, one of my favourite mics) to the hollow mast structure, I recorded the sound of the radar.

 

 

Then, I climbed the hill to work on the dome. For that I had brought two beaters and my superball. During my first visit to the site, I had found out by experimentation that the huge cavity underneath the dome acts as a resonator.
Via contact mic, working on the iron dome with beaters, I planned to record a selection of samples.

I set up my gear and attached the microphone to the dome. Putting on earphones, I was surprised to hear male voices arguing inside. Men tapped on the metal structure from within, before I could act with my beaters. Happily, I recorded their conversation, and after a while began to use my superball on the structure. The noise is unexpectedly sonorous… the small silicone egg mounted on a nail file exciting the huge military dome to sound… 

Of course, men came running out right away, curious about the sound source. As it turned out, they were workers from the maintenance inspecting the building. Some sound interaction happened after they reutned to their work, they tapping from the inside, I from the outside.

 

 

Further on, I went to the waterline to record small waves gurgling on their path through boulders of different sizes, and my own shoes crunching sand, stones, and black shells. When I do field recordings, my interest is in mapping sonorous qualities of an object’s inside. The volume and inner space is what I want to hear. What is the sound of the volume of the dome? What is the sound of the rotating radar as it resonates within the metal mast? What is the sound of differently sized stones interacting with the water, and with each other?

 

ESCR #5

5/11 Part of larger worlds

This battered tea kettle once stood on the stove of the Reading Room of the Finnish military colony at Örö. A cosy wooden library house was provided as an intellectual stimulant for the soldiers stationed at Örö, in the beginning of the 20th century. Newspapers could be read here, too. The ethnographer Michael H. Agar writes in his book that “communities don’t have edges; they are part of larger worlds”. The small community of people currently present at Örö consists of maintenance personnel (they stay for a couple days a week, then leave for he mainland over the weekend), a changing number of soldiers (last week there were more than usual because of Nato projects), occasional tourists (visiting per private boat), a couple who lives in a house on the eastern cost, and us, the two resident explorers.

 

Today, internet and mobile phone work as excellent and reliable means of connection to the outside from here. But also, plastic residue can be found on all the shores, bringing to mind that this island is not a remote paradise, but currently very much part of larger worlds. On my walks I take a bag with me; I have decided to pick up at least some of the garbage, as a personal contribution to this place.

In 2015, the Finnish artist in residence Elina Juopperi collected shards of plastic fibres all over the island and assembled them into a huge ball. Mostly, they come from fishing gear. Three years later, her nearly indestructible scuplture is still  visible from afar, like an alien entity landed on the shore. It will last for decades, if not centuries.

Interestingly, the ball has moved 20 meters from its original position in three years. As contribution to her project website pykeijanpallo.blogspot.fi I form yet another small plastic ball of my own and make a photo.

The outside world has an impact on my artistic work here on site, as well. My plan was to write a composition for ensemble during the residency, to be performed next spring in Vienna. I had applied for three grants to finance this project. Yesterday, I received notification that two of those applications were not successful. Disheartened, I took a long exploratory hike and lost myself in wind, magnificent sunlight, and the intense blueness of the ocean. At noon, the sun is already low in the sky, and my shadow self on the sand appears as a giant.

I have to make new plans and find other ways to realise my work. On the other hand, I now have more freedom.

In the evening, Marja and I enjoy the sauna! We can use the personnel sauna in a small house a couple minutes on foot, direction east. As we walk ‘home’ the nightly sky is brilliant, full of stars.

ESCR #4


3-4/11 Examination and surveillance

 

Everybody seems to watch everyone in this place. We watch soldiers, they observe us. A number of buildings on Örö is dedicated to guarantee safety through surveillance. A fortress, an island, a nation must be guarded, it seems. In the woods, I come across this sign.

Even insects are being monitored throughout the island, multiple insect traps are brightly lit at night. As I stroll between trees, a black woodpecker curiously looks at me from behind a tree, while I try to observe him, in turn.

There is not much going on here, and one begins to record small things and details. For entertainment? For safety? For art?

In my experience, I like to detect outstanding elements, singular events. Phenomena that come to the foreground catch my attention. Human perception is geared to provide safety from the unexpected. There is a connection to patterning and also to composing. However, a solid background must be provided to sustain the appearance of the singular. If too many singularities occur in succession, they form a new background. They lose their specialness.

Walking across the western beach, I notice Marja’s footprints in the sand. There are not many women on the island, they are unmistakably from her hiking boots. Reminds me of Robinson Crusoe, who comes across his own footprints one day. I detect other marks, left by diverse animals (mink, in this case).

Looking at my own footprints in the sand, I notice the lines on the rock nearby. These traces were  left by a glacier a long time ago. They will stay on, while my traces will be washed away by the sea rather soon.

Hiking to the northern tip of Örö, I take the paved main road. As soon as the sun breaks through the clouds, the light is brilliant.

I record small plants, flowers, and mushrooms. Steadily, wind blows from the West. The island’s western side is battered by waves, the roar is audible throughout the land. Yet, small flowers and mushrooms endure right on the shore. The east and south coast are calm and more protected from wind and water, trees, reeds, and grass grow right up to the waterline.

 

On my walks through the woods, I begin to orient myself along the ever-present roar of the waves. Noise is west, quiet is east.

 

ESCR #3


2/11 Exploratory walking

On foot, I begin to explore the island, taking extended walks. I enter an enchanted place. At this stage, Örö seems bigger than expected. The landscape constantly changes, surprising views open up. Lichen-covered undergrowth, trees, some of them remarkable individuals, boulders, moss carpets in various shades of green, meadows, reed, and water. Small paths and paved roads. Beaches. Old wooden structures, houses, military buildings, observation bunkers.

I stop for every mushroom – there are some edible specimens around, it’s the end of the season, and most of them are too old and soft for culinary purposes – and gather blueberries. Already, I have cooked and eaten both, and found them somewhat disappointing.

 

Probably the reason is that it is rather late in the year, there is not much sunlight anymore, and too much moisture. Amazing that they are still around, with the first period of frost, they will be gone.

The military: Örö is a training ground for the Finnish military. Drinking my morning coffee in our living room, I have the first encounter with soldiers. Directly in front of the house, I notice a group of men in grey disguise, no helmets, only black hoods, machine guns in firing position, sneaking through the shrubs and the trees. Slowly, they move around the building, stopping, signalling to each other, moving on.

As they do their training routine, I fetch a pair of binoculars and observe them. I feel safe in my living room, knowing that this is Örö and Finnish military in training. If this happened somewhere in Austria, in the countryside, I would be more concerned. In the afternoon, they do them same routine again, moving towards the northern tip of the island this time.

 

 

Later, hiking along the main road towards the Southern harbour, I meet more soldiers. Some of them greet me. All of them are without helmets, otherwise fully armoured. It seems that there are more people on this island than I expected. I pass a black watchtower, still in use. In the archipelago, a tower on top of a rocky hill is a strategic point, offering a wide view.

As I move around the island, my progress is slow at this stage. With the intense observation, every distance is prolonged. Space extends during the discovery stage. I take in as much as I can. Michael H. Agar’s book ‘The Professional Stranger. An Informal Introduction to Ethnography’ (San Diego, California: Academic Press, 1996) comes to my mind. The book is good to read; Agar writes in a lively style about what it means to be an ethnographer . Along the idea of fieldwork in unknown terrains, I am interested in exploring my own professional artistic process. As composer, I want to cultivate a curious and open attitude towards my environment and towards my own work. I want to cultivate a healthy form of criticism.

 

Marja Salo told me about a website, where one can find official information about when and where the Finnish Defence Forces conduct training sessions, including noisy events involving shootings and explosions. It seems we will have some noise in Örö in the middle of November:
https://puolustusvoimat.fi/en/current-issues/firings-and-noise/notice/?annId=f1a47efc-ede7-2012-d079-6e1a2515d679

Since many people in Finland have houses in the countryside, this is useful information.

 

ESCR #2

1/11 Landing at Örö

 

I have never stayed and worked in a place as remote as Örö island. Travelling from Helsinki by bus, we passed though Salo to Taalintehdas. Human settlements thinned out and gave way to fields and cultivated landscapes, later woods, water, moss and boulders came to the foreground. A taxi brought us to the tiny harbour Kasnäs. From here the weekly ferry runs, direction Örö and back again. Us: that is Marja Salo from Helsinki, scientist in residence, and myself, all our luggage and food supplies, my instrument. From the well equipped local store I picked up further supplies, already packed in boxes – including a share of fish from a salmon farm next to the landing place.

In excellent weather, the ride through the archipelago to Örö took about 35 minutes. The ferry navigated through island of all sizes. Gently rounded patches of stone, some a mere rock looking like the curved back of a whale; some islands stately sized and covered by dense wood, even bigger ones hosting small red houses with a landing place. Occasionally, a modern holiday home came into view. The view: endless variations of shallow rounded rock, trees bent from the wind, moss, and water. After a while, the scene roughened, with a colder wind coming up. The scattered islands appeared more flat and barren, tress gave way to shrubs. More and more barren rock dominated the scene. No living being in sight, except for a few birds and, occasionally, a pair of white swans swimming in formation. Then, Örö. The last appearance of land before the expanse of the Gulf of Finland stretches out to meet the Baltic sea.

 

Remote. 

That could mean: far from civilisation. Far from shops and amenities of urban culture. Far from friends, partners, family. Far from home, from Vienna. From the mainland. From Wien Modern. I miss the audience’s company. I long for the sparkling entrance hall of Konzerthaus Wien, for the concert atmosphere, for spirited smalltalk and and a glass of wine, or else. Then catching the last U4 towards home.

 

During the landing manoeuvre, the engine of the ferry emitted an eery machine noise. To me, it sounded like a heart torn by longing. The remoteness inevitably brings forth s sense of longing. The sense of longing is strong and connects the world to me. Through longing, the entire world is mine, to share.

 

A quad-bike transports us to a red house in the woods. In a former school building, we set up our rooms, kitchen, workspaces. A lot of moving furniture around and some cleaning as well. A classroom turned into a kitchen transforms into a decent living room. The residency space had been moved this year, necessitated by renovation work in progress. A good living situation is essential, much time will be spent inside, as darkness falls early now. 

We walk to the West beach before sunset. At Örö it is not as cold as I expected it to be. The warmth of the summer is still stored in the ocean. This year was exceptionally warm in Finland, too. 

ERSC #1

30-31/10
Helsinki umarmt mich kräftig und kalt.

Ich entdecke einen Ort namens Thinkcorner. Moderne Holzarchitektur, einladend, über drei Stockwerke hinweg. Eine Art Wohnzimmer, sagt man mir, für Denkende, für die StudentInnen und jedermann zugänglich, als Teil der Universität Helsinki, konsumzwangfrei, komfortabel. Wegweisend. Tische, Arbeitsplätze, Sofas, Sitzkissen, zahlreiche Steckdosen. Warm. Alles da, was zum Arbeiten nötig ist.

 

Da bis Monatsende eine Publikation als Beitrag für ein Buch fertigstellt sein soll, kommt mir dieser Zufluchtsort gerade recht. Mit dem Titel “Performing Gender as Polyphony”. Das Thema ist auch hier wieder Hinein-hören und Re-komponieren; beschäftigt mich schon länger.

Ich kann hier sofort gut arbeiten. Bin jeden Tag ein paar Stunden da. Apropos Gender: die hier üblichen Multigender-inklusiv Toiletten könnten wir in Österreich auch übernehmen. Apropos Denkraum:

 

Come as you are, and cooperate

Das könnte das Motto für das öffentliche Schwimm- und Saunabad sein, das ich heute am Damentag besuchte. Herren und Damentage wechseln ab. Schuhe draussen abstellen und hinein in die ehrwürdigen Hallen. Man bringt ein Handtuch mit oder mietet eins, mehr braucht Frau nicht. Die Hausordnung erlaubt Schwimmen: in herkömmlicher Badekleidung, im Burkini oder nackt. Vormittags frequentieren scheinbar vor allem Studentinnen und Pensionistinnen das Haus, zahlreiches Kommen und gehen. Die Mehrzahl zieht nackt ihre Runden, in drei Bahnen, wohl geordnet immer auf der linken Seite hin, rechts zurück. Der einzig bekleidete Mensch und Mann (in Rot) ist der Bademeister. Mit stoischer Miene betrachtet er aus seiner Glaskabine das Geschehen, macht hie und da Rundgänge durch die Duschen. Die zwei Saunen sind spartanisch gefliest, erfüllen bestens ihren Zweck. Die Stimmen der Frauen und ihre fremde Sprache umgeben mich. Das Wasser plätschert.

Der Musikpavillion steht im Winter leer, denn in Zeiten wie diesen ziehen sich selbst Hunde warm an. Morgen früh gehe ich zu Fuß mit 48 kg Gepäck zum Busbahnhof. Instrument, Koffer, Rucksack mit einem Teil der Lebensmittel. Um 6:50 Abfahrt Richtung Örö.

 

28–29/10 Im Transit

 

Zeitgleich mit dem Eröffnungskonzert von Wien Modern besteige ich den Flieger.

Die letzten Tage in Wien war ich mit Vorbereitungen für die Reise beschäftigt. Die Frage “Was nehme ich auf eine Insel mit?” bekommt beim bevorstehenden Projekt eine eigene Bedeutung. Örö ist eine nur schwer erreichbare Insel im finnischen Archipelago, im Spätherbst/Frühwinter. Kleidung? Schuhe? Arbeitsmaterial? Was brauche ich zum Leben, vier Wochen lang? Vor allem: Proviant, alles will gut geplant sein.

Ich wache mitten in der Nacht auf und meine Gedanken rasen: wie transportiere ich mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln 40kg Gepäck (inklusive Instrument und etwas Elektronik) und zusätzlich Lebensmittel für zwei bis vier Wochen? Noch einen Rucksack, wie schwer kann ich tragen? Batterien, Powerbank? Adapter? Was mache ich, wenn ich krank werde? Die Kälte, die Entfernung…welche Medikamente sollte ich dabeihaben? In meinem normalen Alltag machen mir diese Dinge kein Kopfzerbrechen; in der Stadt ist doch alles gut erreichbar, alles ist zu haben. Jetzt entdecke ich das Gefühl der Unsicherheit, wie ein Nebel zieht es herauf.

Der Transport von größeren Instrumenten erfordert zusätzliche Logistik. Kraftaufwand sowieso, und Verhandlungsgeschick. Damit habe ich Erfahrung. Für gewöhnlich nehme ich wegen meines Instrumentenkoffers Diskussionen mit dem Bordpersonal in Kauf, Nach mehr oder weniger intensiven Verhandlungen darf ich das Instrument als Cabin baggage im Gepäckfach verstauen. Das geht sich gut aus. Wichtig: verwende in Diskussionen mit Fluglinien im Zusammenhang mit Gepäck niemals das Wort “Kontrabass”. Das klingt nach riesig groß und die Antwort ist “geht nicht”. “Blockflötenkoffer” kommt besser an. Allerdings wurden die Airlines zuletzt restriktiver. Diesmal wollte ich nichts riskieren und habe einen Sitz extra für mein Instrument gebucht. Sicherheitshalber. Ich werde allein als erste an Bord gebeten, noch vor der Priority Class. 4’33” erlebe ich sozusagen in der leeren Kabine. Später nimmt schräg gegenüber ein finnischer Dirigent Platz. Er studiert den Flug hindurch völlig konzentriert Partituren neuer Musik. Eine nach der anderen entfaltet er im Großformat, bis in den Mittelgang hinein. Ich fühle mich wohl unter Menschen, die mitten im Fluglärm für (neue) Musik arbeiten.

In einer Stadt, die ich nicht kenne, mache ich am Liebsten ausgedehnte Spaziergänge. Ich lasse mich dabei treiben und wandere ziellos herum. Mit Sicherheit entdecke ich dann interessante Dinge. Orte, Objekte, Gebäude, Menschen, Tiere. Die Stadt entfaltet sich im absichtslosen Gehen wie von selbst.

Diesen Abend ist in Helsinki die Luft frisch, gesund und kalt. Bemerkenswerte Architektur zieht mich in ihren Bann. Stumm und ruhig halten die Riesen am Eingangstor zum Bahnhof ihre Lichter über den Platz. Sie wirken ebenso konzentriert wie der finnische Dirigent bei der Arbeit. Ich fühle mich beschützt und bewacht, von so viel steingewichtiger Freundlichkeit.

Licht hat im Norden eine besondere Bedeutung. Man gibt das Licht in die Obhut von Riesen, damit es gut bewahrt bleibt, in dunklen Zeiten.

 

From Örö Island to Wien Modern
November 1st to 30th
with sounds, texts, video & (live)performance

in cooperation with Wien Modern 31
and the Örö Residency Programme

Mit Sound, Text (Deutsch, Englisch),
Video und (Live) Performance

Dank an Örö Residency Programme,
SKE Fonds für die Förderung der Arbeit.

«Einen Monat lang lebe und arbeite ich auf der Festungsinsel Örö, einer geschichtsträchtigen Hochsicherheitszone und einem einsamen Naturpark im finnischen Archipel. Ich erkunde die Umgebung samt der militärischen Relikte, performe mit oder ohne Instrument, baue Installationen, filme und horche, forsche, schreibe und komponiere im Blockhaus. Auf meinem Blog kann man mich täglich begleiten, mitkommen bei Streifzügen durch die frostige, dunkle Landschaft – Tang riechen, Metall fühlen – das kalte Meer rauschen hören und dabei gemütlich daheim im warmen Zimmer sitzen.

Wie geht es mir als Komponistin in der Einsamkeit, angesichts der Relikte einer kämpferischen Gesellschaft? Fühle ich mich sicher? Was bewirken Kampf und Krieg in meinem Arbeitsvorgang? Was macht die Gefahr mit meiner Musik? Ist da ein Kontrast von männlich-weiblich mit im Spiel? Und was hat das alles mit Wien Modern zu tun? Mit Sicherheit gibt es die Sauna, zum Glück und zum Aufwärmen.»

 

Vortrag Muster des Zorns 2015

MUSTER DES ZORNS.
Hintergründe und Entstehungsprozesse
meiner Kompositionen für Stimme.

Diesen Vortrag habe ich am 21.11.2015 auf Einladung des wienmodern-Symposiums an der mdw Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien gehalten.

This is a lecture I presented at the Wienmodern Symposium at the MDW-University Vienna.

Vortrag als pdf (deutsche Fassung) >>>

mica Portrait 2015

mica Austria

hat ein feines,
aktuelles PORTRAIT PIA PALME
veröffentlicht.
Verfasst und sorgfältig recherchiert wurde es von Ruth Ranacher und Michael Franz Woels.
Nachlesen  >>> 

morgenjournal 27.11. und sepperer Fotos

Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11

12244689_10153619801436832_8607106932339962767_o

General rehearsal on 26th November, photo @ Markus Sepperer.

Interview auf Radio Ö1 im Morgenjournal mit Electric Indigo, Jorge Sanchez-Chiong und mir nach dem Konzert, eine Woche zum Nachhören >>> 

Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11

Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11 Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11 Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11 Screenshot Morgenjournal 27:11

Under elephantine – rehearsal

Premiere of a new piece commissioned by wienmodern:

Under elephantine skin
(to be sung against a continuum of ignorance)

Performers:

Jakob Huppmann, countertenor
David Bergmüller, theorbo
Molly McDolan, baroque oboe,
Pia Palme, recorders,
Christina Bauer, live-electronics
Visuals by TE-r (Thomas Wagensommerer and Luise Linsenbolz)

More about the composition and performance, texts and background information see under   >>> 

 

wm #1 2015

26. 11. 2015 – 19:30
Berio Saal Wiener Konzerthaus
Festival wienmodern

Nr. 1 : A Phenomenology of Pop

Pia Palme
UNDER ELEPHANTINE SKIN (to be sung against a continuum of ignorance)
für Countertenor, Theorie, Barockoboe, Blockflöten, Elektronik

Electric Indigo
Barry Duffman für Computer und Elektronik

Jorge Sánchez-Chiong
N°1 – Compilation 1: Disco Hurt Me in a Lot of Ways für Schlagzeug, Turntables und Elektronik

 

Photographer Stefan Fuhrer presents his work during wienmodern. I really appreciate his way of generating the setting of a photography, after taking time to talk to an artist.

wm4

Konferenz wm

21. 11. 2015 – 15:00
Festival wienmodern & mdw Wien: Symposion WIEN MODERN
‘Vergiß das populare nicht’. Das Universum Stimme in der Neuen Musik

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institut für Musikalische Stilforschung sowie dem
Institut Antonio Salieri der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien.

Lecture:
Muster des Zorns.
Hintergründe und Entstehungsprozesse
meiner Kompositionen für Stimme.

Alter Konzertsaal am Rennweg, 1030, Rennweg 8 (2. Hof)

prattica Graz

Friday 13. 11. 2015, 20:00 Uhr
ImCubus Minoriten
Graz, Mariahilferplatz

Festival IGNM @ prattica E

GIB SIE WIEDER
a warning commentary on resonance I (2014)
for harp and electronics 

Mona Smale: harp, David Pirrò: electronics and sound

 

Links zum tollen Programm für Freitag und Samstag in Graz:
http://www.prattica-e.at/konzerte-in-kooperation/
http://www.ignm.at/?Aktuelles___Steiermark

GIB SIE WIEDER # III 2015

11. 11. 2015 – 19:30 Essl Museum
An der Donau-Au 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg

Im Rahmen der Reihe kuratiert von Dr. Irene Suchy
Vom Entdecken der Hände
Musik aktuell 
Niederösterreich 

GIB SIE WIEDER
a warning commentary on resonance III (2015)

Pia Palme & Hans W. Koch

 

The experimentalists and composers Palme and Koch construct an installation, which they use as an instrument to perform with: an arrangement of three kettle drums, transducers, microphones, speakers, objects, bass-recorders and computers to mix electronic and analogue sounds into a spatial composition.

Zwei ExperimentalistInnen bauen eine Installation aus Pauken, Objekten, Lautsprechern und Transducern, und bespielen diese mit Kontrabassblockflöte, Objekten und Elektronik.

Kooperation von Essl Museum mit Musik aktuell – Neue Musik in Niederösterreich
http://www.musikfabrik.at
http://www.essl.museum

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

conversation 2015

Here, I share some thoughts with wonderful Laurence Crane,
about the upcoming project with EXAUDI.

EXAUDI London 2015

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17th October 2015, 7:30 pm
The Warehouse, London

EXAUDI EXPOSURE 2015
Ensemble EXAUDI, James Weeks, director and Mira Benjamin, violin perform new works by Luke Nickel, Pia Palme, Michael Perrett, Charlie Usher. Including the premiere of my piece

MORDACIOUS LIPS, TO DUST

A work and text for four singers (soprano, countertenor, tenor, bass)
This piece was composed as part of the Sound and Music Portfolio Programme 2015, which I’m happy to be part of.
I produced a handmade edition for the score.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

at VLNA 2015

7th October 2015, 8 p.m.
Bratislava, Festival VLNA

in cooperation with ACF Austrian Cultural Forum

http://www.vlna.sk/vlna-nazivo-2015/
www.rakuskekulturneforum.sk

 

meinpic
Video still, Pia Palme

 

PHTONGOLIST

Punctuated sound, patterned on silence.

 

A performance with my new ensemble.

Pia Palme, contrabass recorder & electronics
Claudia Cervenka, voice
Anja Kreysing, accordion
plus: Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka, double bass

Sound, texts, objects & video.

The four artists merge imaginative sound performance and experimental music with a playful outlook on texts, folklore and space.

Award ceremony 2015

2nd October 2015, 6 p.m.
At the BKA Federal Chancellery of Austria, the official awards ceremony for the

Outstanding Artist Award for Music 2015

takes place.

echoraum 2015

24th September 2015, 8 p.m.
echoraum Wien
15., Sechshauserstrasse 66

Punctuated sound, patterned on silence

Pia Palme / Claudia Cervenka / Margarethe Maierhofer-Lischka

Performing with contrabass recorder, voice,
double bass, electronics, texts, objects & video.

http://www.echoraum.at/eh15d.htm

Reconsil at Gols 2015

My new work

VOM RAUSCH IM SCHWARM

for ensemble and a wind-machine,
with a text of mine,
will be premiered:

12th September 2015, 6 p.m.
Gols Weingut Nittnaus, Burgenland, Austria

Ensemble Reconsil in cooperation with Ambitus

New works by Fritz Keil, Rudolf Hinterdorfer, Gutner Waldek, Alexander Wagendristel, Pia Palme, David Kosviner and Elisabeth Harnik.

http://www.ensemblereconsil.com/#!what_we_do/cihc

Rehearsals have already started. I will personally operate the wind-machine, a thoroughly analogue baroque-style theatre-gadget, to re-produce the sound of wind. A number of composers have employed a wind-machine in their pieces, I’d like to mention Schönberg, Milhaud and Cerha here. 

Schrattenberg 2015

Friday, 14th August 2015, 8:30 p.m.

GIB SIE WIEDER III

is a project by Pia Palme and Hans W. Koch
working with a kettle-drum, objects, contrabass recorder, electronics via transducers,
presented at hotel pupik

We have been artists in residence
in der Schwarzenberg’schen Meierei
Schrattenberg / Scheifling


Freitag 14. 08.
 19:00
ab 20:00 konzerte
susanna gartmayer
palme / koch
LSZ (hannes löschel, paul skrepek, martin zrost)
Samstag 15. 08.

slobodan kajkut
flunger / vicard / berghammer
PENDLER (sabine marte, markus marte, oliver stotz)
schrattenberg open, MC hans bilger

Sonntag 16. 08
11:00 matinée in der kapuzinerkirche murau
in zusammenarbeit mit vonbank orgelbau
rost & zrost, orgel, saxofone

Relatively Scary @ ECAS 2015

From 29.5.-18.10.2015
Musikprotokoll & Höhenrausch Linz
at OÖ kulturquartier
http://www.hoehenrausch.at/

Relatively Scary

Pia Palme & Electric Indigo (2014)

The ECAS carousel will be stationed in Linz during that time, at the top platform of the OÖ kulturquartier building, very high up. During the entire time, our compositions will be will be played!

For a taste of the ride (at groundlevel) and the sound go to https://vimeo.com/108734922

award 2015

I acknowledge the receipt of the

Outstanding Artist Award 2015 für Musik

of the Federal Chancellery of Austria (Division of Arts and Culture) in pursuing my compositional work.

lecture performance

Saturday 6 June 2015 Goldsmith University, London http://www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id=8696


Patterns to punctuate speech, with darkness.

is my lecture-performance mixing live-performance with the instrument, talking, sound and video, which I presented at the

RMA Music and/as Process Study Group 3rd Annual Festival/Conference

This year the Music and/as Process study group extends their focus on practice-led research by hosting a day of practice-led presentations, including compositions and performances, as a mini-festival.

To watch and for more, see under   >>>

radio mai 2015

Friday, May 22nd and Saturday, 23. May 2015
from 23:05 to 6:00 a.m. during the

‘Lange Nacht der Neuen österreichischen Musik’
Neue Konstellationen und neue Projekte beim V:NM Festival. Gestaltung: Franz Josef Kerstinger

Among others, Radio Ö1 presents a live-broadcast
of the trio performance at V:NM Forum Stadtpark

Pia Palme, contrabass recorder /
Elisabeth Harnik, piano /
Noid, cello

spring 2015.1

Thursday, 21 May 2015, 7 p.m
V:NM Festival Graz, Austria
http://vnm.mur.at

esc medien kunst labor http://esc.mur.at

Premiere of the vocal piece

BIRDSONG CRANNIES

text & score for voice & movement
for 1 male & 4 female voices

Performers:

Lori van Gremberghe
Veronika Grießlehner
Svitlana Varava
Johanna Seitinger
Paik Sehyun

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Composed for the V:NM festival Graz 2015,
produced with Annette Giesriegl’s class at the Jazz department of Kunstuniversität KUG Graz.

German text & text compilation 
contemplating a passage from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare by Pia Palme, 
with English excerpts from ‘The Waves’ by Virginia Woolf.

More about the piece under >>>

Publication 2015_Drawing

My recent publication

Drawing on Paper, from Mind to Voice

is published by the Cerenem Institute of the University of Huddersfield, in the Cerenem Journal issue #5 May 2015.

Punctuation #2

Patterns to punctuate song, with darkness #2

With this video, I extend my work on aspects of punctuation. I use my punchcard roll for projections. The electronic track is an excerpt of the track for the first piece on punctuation, as below. Some sound material was created with the Kueng contrabass recorder in C with an inside mic; samples recorded while I work with the punch tool are included.

Punctuation

My new piece will be premiered,
commissioned by the festival Salzburg Biennale for Ute Wassermann

Patterns to Punctuate Song, with Darkness

Saturday, March 7th 2015, 21:30,
Salzburg, Kavernen 1595

VoiceXtensions at Salzburg Biennale
Ute Wassermann, voice
Michael Vorfeld, lightning design

More about the piece can be found here >>>

Punctuation 1

Patterns to Punctuate Song, with Darkness.

The piece for Ute Wassermann is finished. Commissioned by the prestigious festival Salzburg Biennale for Ute’s solo presentation, it will be premiered on March 7th 2015.

This is the title for the new piece, which will be: a vocal solo, plus electronics, extended by a ‘score’ made from a plastic punchcard-role for a knitting machine.

 

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I found these two quotations, which have inspired the creative process:

“Punctuation is part of the mechanics of writing” 

Gerard Salton, former Computation Laboratory, Harvard University, in:
‘The Use of Punctuation Patterns in Machine Translation’ 1958.

“You punctuate your speech with nails, with glass, with mirrors, with chrome. With sharpness and always some danger of a stab or a jagged edge. You punctuate your speech with darkness.”

Anne Waldman, in:
‘The Iovis Trilogy. Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment.’ 2011.

Or, my own thoughts in German:

Eine meterlange Partitur auf Lochkartenrollen von Strickmaschinen dient zur Notation und als Objekt; im Stück von Pia Palme sind Punktuation und Musterbildung zentrale Themen. Das Regelwerk der Punktuation strukturiert die Sprache, verhindert Mehrdeutigkeit, und mittels gestanzter Lochkarten lassen sich Maschinen aller Art auf analoge Weise ansteuern. Die Mechanismen der Gewohnheit sind allerdings brüchig, findet die Komponistin, und beschäftigt sich lieber mit Rissen und Löchern, die interessante Blickpunkte freigeben und die Ungewissheit einladen.

FSK show 1/2015

FSK Freies Radio Hamburg bringt:

9.1.2015  Doctore Xyramat: 23:00 – 01:00

Xyramat/Stadtfisch, Damm it Janet, Natasha Barrett, Sonae, Nika Son, Spunk & Joelle Leandre, Tujiko Noriko, Cio D’Or, Furchick, Neybuu, Pia Palme, Shroombab feat. Kitsune, Poetrie Armenita, Paula Temple

unter   >>> http://www.fsk-hh.org 

MOMENT MAGNETIQUE

December 31st, 8:30 pm

I cooperated for the first time with renowned visual artist Doris Schmid in:

MOMENT MAGNETIQUE
Doris Schmid: video/Pia Palme: sound

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I worked with a combination of an electronic track and live performance. The theme for the music was membranes and transitional fields. My idea was to compose the music – including live performance – with a strong performative identity, as a juxtaposition to the visual level. I wanted to add yet another layer/dimension to the video present, in space, rather than merely creating a sound-track for a film. As materials, I used field recordings, processed analogue synthesizers, voice/s and my contrabass recorder.

In the first part, I read from texts which I wrote for the performance, while pacing up and down on the left side of the screen on stage. I used a throat microphone and radio transmission to spatialise my voice into the sound system. My compositional aim was to develop a specific dramaturgy of fragmented closeness and width respectively, by structuring differently shaped auditory fields. I merged sounds and musics from the past and the present during performance.

(photo taken by Doris Schmid at DUNKLE ZEITEN)

A recording will soon be available.

DUNKLE ZEITEN 2014

141214_flyer_PRINT copy

 

30. + 31. Dezember 2014, 20:30 Uhr
off-Theater 1070 Wien, Kirchengasse 41

 

Festival
DUNKLE ZEITEN 2014 ZWISCHENKÖRPER

 

präsentiert zum Jahreswechsel an zwei Tagen heutige und elektronische Musik, Installation und Performance und ruft zu einer interdisziplinären Auseinandersetzung über Zwischenkörper auf.

Macht Membranen und Grenzbereiche
sichtbar und hörbar!

 

30.12.
Tamara Wilhelm, Barbara Kaiser: Sound/Video/Installation
Ingrid Schmoliner, Caroline Profanter, Vinzenz Schwab: Präpariertes Klavier/Elektroakustik und Spatialisation
Electric Indigo: Processing

31.12.
Brigitta Bödenauer, Susanna Gartmayer: Elektronik/Kontrabassklarinette Pia Palme, Doris Schmid: Sound/Video
Elisabeth Schimana, Noid: Elektronik/Cello/Transducer

Konzept: Pia Palme
Klangregie: Christina Bauer
Organisation: Verein LAUT + Verena Schäffer

www.off-theater.at

KARTENRESERVIERUNGEN UNTER: mail-an-musikzimmer@gmx.at 30.12. Bei Bestellung per Email 11€ Restkarten an der Abendkassa zu 15€ 31.12. Bei Bestellung per Email 13€ Restkarten an der Abendkassa zu 20€

Dank an MA7 und BKA für die Unterstützung.

SoniKab

Wednesday, December 10th, 6:30 pm
Coffee Kabin, Huddersfield

13 Minutes Closer To…
Pia Palme, contrabass recorder & video

performing live at:
SoniKabimage

EXAUDI #1

Happy to announce:

I’m chosen as one of four composers to intensively work with the ensemble EXAUDI during 2014/2015, to develop an innovative piece for four voices.

This portfolio opportunity is offered by Sound and Music (soundandmusic.org) with EXAUDI’s director James Weeks and mentor Laurence Crane, to:

Luke Nickel (Bristol)
Pia Palme (Vienna)
Michael Perrett (Manchester)
Charlie Usher (Paris)

A first substantial sketch is finished. I look forward to an intensive rehearsal session with EXAUDI on December 6th in London. 

hcmf

Performing at hcmf 2014:
Saturday 29 November, The Loft @ Bates Mill, 10:30PM

AVALANCHE II

David Toop electronics / alto flute / objects
Camille Norment glass harmonica
Orphy Robinson vibraphone / bass marimba
Emi Watanabe Japanese transverse flutes
Pia Palme contrabass recorder
Jennifer Allum violin
Ryoko Akama electronics / objects

David Toop, Camille Norment, Orphy Robinson, Emi Watanabe, Pia Palme, Jennifer Allum and Ryoko Akama bring Carlos Casas’ installation Avalanche to a close, performing live alongside the projection.

Klassiktreffunkt Ö1

Videos available from Relatively Scary and SETZUNG 1.1,
see under  >>>works.

 

11. Oktober 2014, 10:05 radio Ö1
bin ich live Studiogast bei der Radioshow:

Ö1 Klassik-TreffpunktLive von der Murinsel in Graz.
Präsentation: Renate Burtscher

SCARY 2014

musikprotokoll 2014 presents:
Let´s merry-go-round!

9. – 12. Oktober 2014, 12:00 – 20:00 Uhr
Graz, Karmeliterplatz, free entrance
with, among others:

Relatively Scary

by Pia Palme & Electric Indigo (2014)

Pia Palme reflects the dynamic instability the passenger senses with her specific techniques of playing the contrabass recorder. Acceleration overcoming gravity is present in her sounds. Electric Indigo contrasts them with industrial noises to accentuate the rotation. Her uncanny pulse increasingly disintegrates as an incisive reminder of the finite nature of experience.

for complete programm see:
http://musikprotokoll.orf.at/

Probe Setzung

Pictures from the rehearsal of my new piece SETZUNG 1.1,
Michaela Schausberger performing.   OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA   OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Drawing

Some reflections about my recent work, in the context of drawing on paper, the historical figure of Sor Juana and intermediate objects, such as a membrane score.
Will be published soon, in an extended version.

>>> Drawing on Paper, from Mind to Voice. 

SETZUNG 1.1 (2014)

Mittwoch, 24. September 2014, 19:30 Uhr Wien,
Off-Theater, 1070 Kirchengasse 41
cercle – konzertreihe für neue musik presents:

Compositions by
Klaus Lang, Lukas Haselböck, Pia Palme,
Gernot Schedlberger

Performed by: Johann Leutgeb, Bariton; Lukas Haselböck, Bass; Michaela Schausberger, Schauspielerin.

 

SETZUNG 1.1

Composition, text and setting by Pia Palme 2014
will be premiered by actress Michaela Schausberger

 

The picture shows a first print of the huge score.
Thanks to gap-repro Vienna, for the fine final print on transparent paper.
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The text for the composition can be found here >>>

Wakefield

Sunday, August 31st, 12 – 4:30 pm
Barbara Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield, UK

Sculpture 4 in Kaprow’s Yard
DAVID TOOP & RIE NAKAJIMA
With: Elaine Mitchener, Dam Van Huynh and Pia Palme

Along with students from University of the Arts, London, to continue their ongoing exploration of the idea of event as sculpture.

Excerpt SPANNWEITE

An excerpt of SPANNWEITE is now available,
featuring 13:27 minutes of a total of 45 at the performance at Frauenmuseum Hittisau, Austria.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 23:05 on Austrian radio program Ö1, Zeitton: http://oe1.orf.at/programm/378568
Irene Suchy presents the collaborative piece.

handarbeiten
kreuzstich
fleckerlteppich
häkelvorlage
wohin komponistin

OCCAM in Köln

Mittwoch 18. Juni 2014, 20:00, reiheM 
Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Jabachstr. 1, Köln

Éliane Radigue

OCCAM IV
Julia Eckhardt (Brüssel), Viola

Zwei Stücke aus „Feedback Works“:
Omnht, Feedback auf Tonband
Usral, Bearbeitetes Feedback
Lionel Marchetti (Lyon), Klangregie

OCCAM XVIII
Pia Palme (Wien), Kontrabassblockflöte

http://www.reihe-m.de/ shows a beautiful picture of Éliane Radigue, too.

GIB SIE WIEDER voice box

Dienstag, 3. Juni 2014, 20:00 Uhr
e c h o r a u m
Sechshauser Straße 66, 1150 Wien
www.echoraum.at

GLISSER

Claudia Cervenca – Stimme
Pia Palme – Konstrukte, Kontrabassblockflöte, Elektronik
Korhan Erel – Elektronik
Katharina Weinhuber – Tanz, Performance

Here I continue the work about resonance, joining with other artists. Constructing resonant bodies from cardboard, boxes, and tubes, I use different types of vibration speakers and analog constructions. The human body and voice will be veiled and exposed at the same time.
box2

Vortrag univie

Montag 2. Juni 2014, 12:30-14:00
Universität Wien, Institut für Musikwissenschaft
Universitätscampus AAKH, 1090 Wien, Spitalgasse 2-4, Hof

Vortrag von Pia Palme,
als Gast in der Vortragsreihe von Prof. Dr. Gerlinde Haas:

Die Politik der Resonanz

Als Komponistin spreche ich über meine Werkserie GIB SIE WIEDER, diskutiere die Begriffe Politik und Resonanz im Zusammenhang mit dieser Arbeit, bringe Hörbeispiele und lade zu Experimenten ein.

sound at hittisau

During the next days, I will examine resonance,
creating sounds and recording, with my contrabass recorder, and electronics at
Frauenmuseum Hittisau – Platz 501, 6952 Hittisau, Vorarlberg.

Wednesday, 30. April 2014, 14:00 – 18:00
On invitation by Barbara Anna Husar I will join with artist Aiko Kazuko Kurosaki for a performance; my sound installation/composition

SPANNWEITE

condenses recordings of sounds the young artists found with their objects, with a performance using the contrabass recorder and a bass drum.

Performance zur Präsentation einer sozialen Plastik von Barbara Anna Husar gemeinsam erarbeitet mit zwei Schulklassen im Rahmen des Projekts p[Art] bezugnehmend zu der aktuellen Ausstellung ‘Ich bin daheim. Die Künstlerin A.M. Jehle (1937 – 2000)’.

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ruprecht 2014

Sonntag, 13. April 2014, 20:00
Neue Musik St. Ruprecht
http://www.neue-musik.at

Pia Palme: Kontrabassblockflöte / Rhodri Davies: Harfe

Werke von
Eliane Radigue:
OCCAM XVIII (2014), OCCAM I (2011) und OCCAM River V (2014)

 

und Pia Palme:
GIB SIE WIEDER (2014)   >>> mehr über das neue Werk

Rhodri Davies handling and whisking feathers for GIB SIE WIEDER

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GIB SIE WIEDER _ harp 2014

Three premieres

 

Friday, March 21st, 20:00 Phipps Hall
University of Huddersfield

At the opening concert of the
Beyond Pythagoras Conference
my new work will be performed:

GIB SIE WIEDER a warning commentary on resonance II

for harp & electronics (transduced onto harp)
outside harp on stage: Rhodri Davies

inside harp (recorded): Gabriela Mossyrsch, harp/Vienna
voice, Claudia Cervenka/Vienna
feedback sounds & noises/Pia Palme
text by Pia Palme.

Along with two premieres by Eliane Radigue

OCCAM I (2011)
OCCAM XVIII (2014)
OCCAM River V for harp and contrabass recorder (2014)

Rhodri Davies/harp
Pia Palme/contrabass recorder

What an honour to perform this music!

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Rhodri Davies and Eliane Radigue, picture taken by Pia Palme during a coffeebreak at rehearsals, Paris 2014

GIB SIE WIEDER_viola d’amore 2014

Thursday, March 14th 2014, 19:30
St. Paul’s Hall, Huddersfield

Garth Knox, viola and viola d’amore
performs works by György Ligeti, Ben Mungovin, Salvatore Sciarrino, Garth Knox, Pia Palme a.o.

The concert setup for my piece involves an installation.

GIB SIE WIEDER a warning commentary on resonance I
in four parts,
for viola d’amore, contrabass recorder
and live electronics transduced into a sounding object

More about the piece   >>>

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The amplified resonant strings of the viola d’amore and the voice of Viennese vocalist Claudia Cervenka sounded out of this beautifully crafted old wooden box I brought from Austria, and sculptured paper…

And once more, goose feathers – also used by the performer.

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das fantastische 3.

I love this kind of performance: three hours,
including food and drink…and this…
thanks for sharing such a nourishing artistic environment!

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All fotos and paper object @ Pia Palme.

Di 18. Februar 2014 // 19:00
Im_flieger@Schokoladenfabrik, Gaudenzdorfergürtel 43-45, 1120 Wien
Eintritt frei!

Das fantastische Dritte/Die Partitur von und mit Sabina Holzer, Brigitte Wilfing, Jack Hauser, Jorge Sánchez-Chiong + Gästen

2. Interpretation:
Sabina Holzer (AT): Performance
Pia Palme (AT): Kontrabassflöte und Elektronik
Roland Schueler (AT): Cello
Brigitte Wilfing (AT): Performance

DAS FANTASTISCHE DRITTE widmet sich in einer Reihe von Salons unkonventionellen Partituren als Niederschrift, Dokumentation, Erinnerung und Arbeitstool und untersucht sie auf Übersetzungen in zeitgenössischen Tanz / Performance und angrenzende Kunstfelder.
Die Salons folgen einer musikalischen Mehrstimmigkeit, in der sich Unterschiede miteinander verweben, wie in einem vielseitigen Gespräch. Fragen sind „Was wäre eine zeitgenössische Partitur? Was soll durch deine Partitur wirksam werden? Welche Welt willst Du mit einer Partitur erzeugen?“
Prozess und Produkt wollen sich hier als mögliche „soziale Partituren” überlappen.

www.imflieger.net

Art’s Birthday 2014

Friday, January 17th 2014
IMA Institut für Medienarchäologie, Hainburg
the 1,000,051st Anniversary of Art
ima.or.at

On site and on line from 18:00 open end,
on air 21:40 to 22:00 (20:40 – 21:00 GMT).

Ether_Death_Rattle

To celebrate Max Brand who left behind a wonderful machine, the Max Brand Synthesizer.

artsbirthday_21_sw
Pia Palme using KOMA Pedals and feathers, foto by Reinhard Mayr

With Norbert Math, Pia Palme, Elisabeth Schimana, Michael Zacherl
Special guests: MOOZAK
(Benedikt Guschlbauer, Clemens Hausch, Gerald Krist, Uli Kühn)

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Michael Zacherl, Norbert Math and Max Brand by Pia Palme

On air: 11pm-2am on Radio Ö1, oe1.orf.at
kunstradio.atartsbirthday.netarsacustica.wordpress.com

BUT STILL

A great start for 2014…

Lore Lixenberg by Markus Gradwohl
Lore Lixenberg by Markus Gradwohl

…awesome performance of Lore Lixenberg in Vienna.

BUT STILL ATTACHED TO LIFE AT ALL FOUR CORNERS

>>> more about the piece

In this piece for voice and ensemble (mezzosoprano, percussion, live electronics and a ‘baroque’ ensemble performing with flauto traverso, cembalo and bass viol at a=415hz) I wrap a composition in two layered modules around a fragmented baroque Prelude for cembalo by Elisabeth Jacquet da La Guerre.

Premiere on December 29th & 31st, 2013 at off-Theater Vienna,
with Lore Lixenberg, Berndt Thurner, Sonja Leipold, Sylvie Lacroix, Eva Neunhäuserer and myself.

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DUNKLE ZEITEN WIEN

My upcoming premiere as part of an interdisciplinary production:
29. und 31. Dezember 2013, 20:00 Uhr
off-Theater, 1070 Kirchengasse 41

DUNKLE ZEITEN WIEN

Komponistinnen zwischen den Zeiten – barocke Kompositionen und fünf Uraufführungen heutiger Musik in einer Inszenierung zum Jahreswechsel

Reservierungen unter: 0699 1705 1443 und office@e-may.org
Preise: 29.12. Kategorie II zu 11 €, Kategorie I zu 21€ bei telefonischer Bestellung oder per Email. AK: 23 €.
31.12. Kategorie II zu 13 €, Kategorie I zu 23 € bei telefonischer Bestellung oder per Email. AK: 25 €.

Uraufführungen von
Veronika Mayer, JUUN, Pia Palme, Rosi Rehformen, Caroline Profanter, Tamara Wilhelm.

Barocke Kompositionen von
Maria Anna Martinez, Marianne Auenbrugger, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Anna Boleyn, Anna Amalie Prinzessin von Preußen, Anna Bon, Francesca Caccini.

131206_flyer2

Dank an Wien Kultur MA7, bmukk und SKE für die Unterstützung dieser Arbeit.
Eine Produktion von Labor L.A.U.T. und e_may.

Texte: Hans Belting, Judith Butler
Rauminstallation: Matthias Buch & Anna Mitterer
Klangregie: Christina Bauer
Konzept/Inszenierung/Kuratierung neue Musik: Pia Palme
Recherche/Kuratierung Barockmusik: Sonja Leipold

2 contrabass recorders

Saturday, Dec. 7th 2013, 7:30 pm
Taktlos, Wien 17, Dornbacherstr. 107

Pia Palme & Bernadette Zeilinger performing with
2 kueng contrabass recorders
(unplugged)

at Bernadette’s flute-festival Go.ETe 7.-8.12.2013

Klangmanifeste

Am Freitag 6.12. bin ich Teil einer interessanten Podiumsdiskussion
beim engagiertem Festival:

KLANGMANIFESTE 2013
Zwischen Schwingung und Materie 4.12. – 13.12.2013
www.klangmanifeste.at

Tag II | DAY II 6.12.
18:00 – u5undvierzig:
Roman Gerold

20.00 – Echoraum:
Billy Roisz
Kollektiv/Rauschen

Podiumsdiskussion: Klang.Macht.Affekt
Eskapismus in der Musik oder: Leben wir im neuen Biedermeier?
(Mit Pia Palme, David Schweighart und Anderen.
Impulsvortrag: Bernd Bösel, Moderation: Alexandra Cornelia Vogt)

Occam Paris

Montparnasse, 29. October 2013

Currently I am in Paris, studying with composer Eliane Radigue.
We work on a new solo-version of her piece OCCAM for the Kueng contrabass recorder. It appears that the instrument perfectly embraces the piece. I feel very grateful for the process, for the exchange

and the richness of sound.

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VLP on Fuji

 

Japanese FUJI-TV’s prime-time show ‘Unbelievable’
featured the video of my trio VLP terrain!
Thanks to Bela Borsodi for the awesome fotos and concept,
and of course Electric Indigo for making the video from the fotos,
and to the great trio JSX/Pia Palme/Electric Indigo for the music (label: Idyllic Noise).

Here the original version:

Current work 8/2013

Composing the noise of mind

This is the theme of my current compositional and performative work and research, and the title of my thesis in composition.

My article with this title about the compositional structure and creative process of my piece LIP OF THE REAL II will be published in the ‘CeReNem journal’ at the end of November.

zukunft der oper

Die Zukunft der Oper / the future of the opera

October 25th-27th 2103, Deutsche Oper Berlin

I will be part of the panel discussing the aspect of “Kunst” at the symposion:
14.30 – 16.30 Uhr, Parkettfoyer Deutsche Oper Berlin

Thema: Die Kunst

Mit: Klaus Lang (Komponist), Nicos Ligouris (Filmregisseur), Jonathan Meese (Bildender Künstler und Regisseur),
Pia Palme (Komponistin und Performance-Künstlerin),
Meg Stuart (Choreografin)
Moderation: Erika Fischer-Lichte

http://deutscheoperberlin.de/de_DE/calendar/symposion-the-future-of-opera

radiat_jsx

23. October 2013, 19:00, Alte Schmiede Wien
Reihe STROMSCHIENE:

RADIAT extension

Pia Palme: aerophones & electronics
Ryoko Akama: electronics & objects
JSX: turntables

I invite noise for a collaboration: how will it make ‘music in noise’ with me? (Ryoko Akama)

Mit RADIAT extension setzen Pia Palme und Ryoko Akama ihr in Huddersfield, GB begonnenes gemeinsames Projekt RADIAT fort. Sie bearbeiten dabei das Thema ‘Noise’ von verschiedenen Seiten, musikalisch und politisch motiviert. Dazu landen sie als kongenialen Partner den Komponisten und Turntablisten JSX aka Jorge Sanchez-Chiong ein.

See also: www.ryokoakama.com

blue room hud

Saturday, October 5th, 21:30
Byram’s Arcade, Huddersfield
@ thesilenthowl.com

Ryoko Akama/Daniel del Río/Pia Palme

as part of the Prickly Cactus Tour…

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RADIAT MN

 

Saturday, Oct. 5th, 3 – 7 p.m.Huddersfield,
Atrium of Arts Building,

as part of the conference Noise in and as Music

@ CeReNeM,
Centre for Research in New Music, (University of Huddersfield, UK)

RADIAT  MN & GC

installation & continuous installative performance – 4,5 hours of live performance,
a collaboration of Ryokoa Akama and Pia Palme

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sheffield

Thursday, October 3th, 21:30
@ Over the Top, Sheffield, GB

Ryoko Akama/Pia Palme

Tou3

freispiel

Donnerstag, 26.9. 20:00, Studio klangart,
Huglgasse 24, 1150 Wien
FREISPIEL Nr. 6

Richard Graf, Gitarre / Simon Frick, Violine /
Pia Palme, Kontrabassblockflöte

Eintritt frei.

Workshop Grenzzustand

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The wonderfully cool space of moe Vienna during workshop with Aiko and Pia.

 

< Grenzzustand – Limit State >

Intensiv – Improvisationsworkshop
mit Aiko Kazuko Kurosaki und Pia Palme
mit anschließender Performance

Performance  – Sonntag,  4. 8. ´13 um 20.00

Ort: moe http://mmooee.org/
Thelemangasse 4/1, 1170 Vienna
für MusikerInnen, Stimmen, TänzerInnen und PerformerInnen
Level – Fortgeschritten

Workshop – Samstag, 3. 8. ´13 von 14.00  bis 19.00
Sonntag, 4. 8.  ´13 von 14.00  bis 19.00

Aiko Kazuko Kurosaki: http://www.labfactory.at/1410821.0/

http://www.aikaku.net

ORTUNG (2006) at Hilltown

Sat. 20.- Sun. 21.7.2013
My electronic feedback/aerofone piece

ortung (2006)

from the solo-album ORHCIDEE (yes, spelling is correct that way)
is played at the Hilltown Festival, Ireland.

Hud 6/2013

Wednesday, June 19th, 7.30pm
Phipps Hall, Huddersfield (GB)

Concert

presenting new works by Rodrigo Constanzo, Ryoko Akama, Rose Dodd/Monty Adkins, Mark Bokowiec, Stephen Harvey and Pia Palme:

TURQUOISE PASSAGE (Palme 2013)
for contrabass recorder, voice, electronics, with texts by Palme.

>>> more about the piece

Presentation 6/2013

Monday, June 17th, 12:30
Universität Wien,
Institut für Musikwissenschaft als Gast von Prof. Dr. Gerlinde Haas

Vortrag Pia Palme:
Barocke Strukturen des Zeitgenössischen

Ich präsentiere und kommentiere meine Arbeiten, mit Musikbeispielen und Materialien. (Der Titel ist ein Zitat der Tanz- und Musikwissenschafterin Anja Arend.)

Universitätscampus AAKH, Hof IX
Spitalgasse 2-4, 1090 Wien, Österreich
Eingang: Garnisongasse 13

LIklein

The Geometry of Water

Im Nachhinein darf es öffentlich gemacht werden/
This long night of experimental and contemporary music in Tehran was not allowed to be announced in public; but afterwards the program can be published:

Friday, May 24th 2013, 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.
Austrian Residence Gardens, Darband, Djafari Street Nr. 57

THE GEOMETRY OF WATER

An Austro-Iranian Concert Presenting New Positions of Music

Concept: Pia Palme, Austrian artist-in-residence Tehran
Sounddesign: Farshad Shokuhfar

Dank and die Österreichische Botschaft in Teheran und an das Österreichische Kulturforum Teheran.

For details see my blog >>>

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Teheran 2013

In May 2103 my working place is in Tehran. I am delighted to be Austrian Artist in Residence at the teahouse-pavillon of the Austrian ambassador’s residence. The “teahouse” is like an isolated retreat cell, providing the luxury of space for art, creativity and research.

In a country with a climate like Iran, a garden is truly a paradise. It is protected by high walls, to keep out wind, dust and heat. In a bustling, noisy, dusty city of 14 millions, trees become true friends: without hesitation they share their gift of coolness and relaxation. I am surrounded by friendly, sentient beings full of generosity. I am grateful.

Tagebuch / blog and more about >>>

 

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ABSTRIAL post

scoreand
Sore and audioscore for ABSTRIAL

Do 25.4. bis Sa 27.4. / 20:30 im KosmosTheater Wien

ABSTRIAL

a radical contemporary opera

Concept: Pia Palme, Electric Indigo, Paola Bianchi, Ivan Fantini
Direction & choreography: Paola Bianchi
Texts: Anne Waldman, Ivan Fantini, Pia Palme
Installation: Ivan Fantini
Composition for baritone solo, 3 female voices, contrabassrecorder: Pia Palme
Composition for computer and 10 speakers: Electric Indigo
Singers: Bartolo Musil, Eva-Maria Kumpfmüller, Johanna von der Deken, Anna Clare Hauf
Performance: Paola Bianchi, Pia Palme, Electric Indigo
Lightning design: Paolo Pollo Rodighiero
Sound design: Christina Bauer

Foto by: Markus Gradwohl
Foto by: Markus Gradwohl

 

Tageskarten: € 17,– | erm. 13,– & 10,– | KosmosEuro 1,– | Sparpaket 72,–
Reservierung: Tel. 01/523 12 26, karten@kosmostheater.at

Dank an unsere Förderer: Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien, BMUKK, Erste Bank, KosmosTheater, Remaprint.

ABSTRIAL ist radikale, zeitgenössische Oper in größtmöglicher Transparenz, eine flüchtige Darbietung steter und unaufhaltsamer Prozesse. Ivan Fantinis Installation aus aufgehendem Brotteig und Gläsern bildet die Achse, um die sich die Performance von Paola Bianchi, der beiden live musizierenden Komponistinnen und der SängerInnen bewegt. Motiv ist der Zerfall alltäglicher Werte, Bedeutungen, Strukturen und die daraus entstehenden von den KünstlerInnen neu zusammengesetzten Gefüge. Texte der US-amerikanischen Dichterin Anne Waldman geben zusammen mit fallenden Gläsern die Rhythmik der allgemeinen Dekomposition und Restrukturierung vor. ABSTRIAL setzt diese materielle Ebene in direkten Zusammenhang mit zeitgenössischer Komposition, elektronischer Musik und Performance. Der Titel ist eine Zusammensetzung aus den Worten Abstraktion und Material.

Storyboard for ABSTRIAL: created by Bianchi&Palme

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Foto by: Markus Gradwohl

ABSTRIAL is an opera of maximum transparency, a presentation of imperturbably continuing processes. Ivan Fantini’s installation made of bread dough and glasses constitutes the ideational axis for the performances of Paola Bianchi, the two composers who play live, and the vocalists.

Guiding themes are the disintegration of quotidian values, meanings and fabrics, and consequently arising structures re-composed by the artists. The gradually changing installation resulting in falling glasses join with Anne Waldman’s text to create structure and rhythm ruling decomposition and reorganization.

ABSTRIAL connects the material level directly to contemporary composition, electronic music and text. The made-up word ABSTRIAL is a composite of “abstraction” and “material”.

Composer Pia Palme uses four voices in a radical way: a baritone sings the solo part – partially transmitted via headphones as an audio-score. Three female voices form a choir that reads from conventional scores. Electric Indigo’s composition is based on language and voice too. Yet, using granular and spectral analysis of spoken words, she creates entirely abstract sounds and textures.

The body is Paola Bianchi’s specific language, her instrument, but also her study subject. Both in performance and in choreography, position and shape of bodies in space are of equal importance as the “inner” choreography of muscles, tendons, skin, and the reactions within the body.

The American writer Anne Waldman provided a customized text for the play, tailored to its concept and themes. Italian text fragments by Ivan Fantini and German parts by Pia Palme complement the literary fundament.

“Time doesn’t fly, it is a timeless present that we don’t comprehend. Is there any ‘here’? Is there any ‘now’? Time doesn’t fly, it is an approximation of our perception. The sky is above and below, you can only lose yourself.”(Ivan Fantini)

Music Distillery

Proud to be participating here:

Saturday, 6. April 2013, 19:00
Museum für Völkerkunde Wien, Säulenhalle

The Music Distillery
– ein musikalisches blind & speed Dating Projekt

Einlass 18 Uhr
Beginn 19 Uhr (pünktlich)

Eintritt frei
Eine Veranstaltung von Basis.Kultur.Wien in Kooperation mit dem
Museum für Völkerkunde und dem
verein08, by Dominik Nostitz.

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Women’s Day 2013

Friday, March 8th 2013 and 7 days online at webradio:

I will be live at the studio, presenting music and talking about festival and network e_may, together with Gina Mattiello and Sylvia Wendrock, on invitation by Irene Suchy:

Radio OE1 11:03 pm – 2:00 am: ZEITTON extended

http://oe1.orf.at/programm/330659

 

Supporting and spreading:

Press statement – 8 March 2013 – International Women’s Day:
An urgent call for female representation in electronic music and digital arts

http://www.femalepressure.net/pressrelease.html

Following on from recent public debate on sexism in the German media female:pressure is calling for a collective revision of female representation in electronic music and digital arts. We would therefore like to contribute with an analysis of our current working climate.

BOUNDARY LAYER LISTENING

BOUNDARY LAYER LISTENING
a contribution to a soundwalk/installation on Wednesday 20th
in Huddersfield University, Creative Arts Building

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