A Bleak Stage: Anselm Kiefer's Next Year In Jerusalem

Entering Anselm Kiefer's Next Year In Jerusalem at the Gagosian Gallery is akin stepping onto a bleak stage set.  Massive gray paintings, many depicting barren, imposing landscapes loom along the walls of the L-shaped space.  Some paintings rest inside terrarium-like cases with thickets of branches resting between the glass exterior and painting surface.  Confinement isn't reserved for the paintings.  The floor space is filled with sculptures that eerily hover or sit in glass tanks.  The base of each encasement looks like a scorched desert floor.  The sculptures, comprised of identifiable objects - clothing, a tree stump, the fuselage of a war plane - have a petrified appearance, as though they've been left out in the elements for decades.  In short, the gallery is a wasteland.

The clear allusions to death, decay and warfare gain an unmistakable context when one comes upon the centerpiece, Occupations.  A menacing, industrial-looking steel shed is packed with seventy-six lead-mounted photos hanging floor to ceiling.  Open doors on the sides of the shed reveal the contents and allow the viewer to see inside.  The sheer number and tight alignment of the photographs impede one's ability to fully examine what's inside. Many of the pictures are completely invisible.  However, when looking into the shed from either of the short sides, you see a figure (Kiefer himself) photographed making the Hitlergruß or Nazi salute. 

The photos used in Occupations were first created by the artist in 1969.  Kiefer posed in formerly occupied locations and sometimes wore his father's German military uniform. The content of these photographs place the steel shed in a new light, bringing to mind a train car or gas chamber.  The other sculptures and paintings in the show take on similar associations.   The disintegrating, ghostly rags of one sculpture (see photo at right) could be the clothing of Holocaust victims.  Reels of film spilling out of a plane fuselage (the film features images of other Kiefer works) bring to mind Nazi propaganda movies. 

It is striking how unnerving Occupations seems, both when experiencing the show and after.  All of the qualities mentioned in reference to the other works in the show - the rusted, carcass-like state of objects, the confinement and tight proximity of the sculptures to each other and to the viewer, the brutal, mountainous landscapes depicted in the paintings - all of these qualities are intensified by the presence of Occupations.

The importance of remembering the horrors of World War II is clear.  Kiefer's photographs of himself seem to further allude to issues of association undoubtedly encountered by many Germans born at or just after the end of the war.  But beyond the important political elements and an abundance of additional Biblical and other references, Kiefer's manipulation of space both within and between works plays into the stage set atmosphere mentioned earlier.  It makes for an unusual experience that is often disconcerting and even a bit uncomfortable.  Regardless, it is an experience I highly recommend.

Next Year In Jerusalem is on display at the Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street, New York, NY and runs through December 18th.

Ensemble Dal Niente Brings Professor Bad Trip to Chicago

The impulse to merge the worlds of popular and art music proves alluring to many composers. However, there are numerous issues that arise including whether or not one can achieve aesthetic cohesion.

The music of Fausto Romitelli (1963 - 2004) navigates this problem in a compelling way. This is due in part to the intense physicality of his music. His use of electric guitars and effects pedals do not come off as a cheap nod to popular genres, but instead complement the aggressive and chaotic textures to which these instruments are applied.

The Ricordi web site provides the following quote from the composer:

"At the centre of my composing lies the idea of considering sound as a material into which one plunges in order to forge its physical and perceptive characteristics: grain, thickness, porosity, luminosity, density and elasticity. Hence it is sculpture of sound, instrumental synthesis, anamorphosis, transformation of the spectral morphology, and a constant drift towards unsustainable densities, distortions and interferences, thanks also to the assistance of electro-acoustic technologies. And increasing importance is given to the sonorities of non-academic derivation and to the sullied, violent sound of a prevalently metallic origin of certain rock and techno music."

For those in and around the Chicago area this week, you have the rare opportunity to experience a live performance of Romitelli's music. Ensemble Dal Niente will take on Professor Bad Trip (1998 - 2000) at 7:30 this Thursday at Mayne Stage in Rogers Park (pre-concert talk will take place at 6:30). Scored for a  mixed ensemble of winds, strings and percussion (including electric guitar and bass), Professor Bad Trip is a piece that is uncompromising in its technical demands. Speaking to the difficulty of the violin part in particular, Austin Wulliman, Dal Niente violinist, remarked, "As far as the individual challenges are concerned, Lesson One (the first movement) is basically a violinistic tour-de-force. It's highly virtuosic writing, but very cleverly laid out in almost all cases. He clearly laid out the chords on the fingerboard very carefully, although he seems to have very little regard or care about making string players navigate high positions constantly."

Technical difficulties, however, did not seem to overwhelm Wulliman's initial impression of the piece: "The number one reason Dal Niente programmed Professor Bad Trip is that each individual ensemble member that heard it was immediately carried away by and totally blown away by its sonic impact. We knew we had to play it as soon as possible."

I suspect that many people, regardless of musical tastes and allegiances, will likely be impressed by the visceral intensity and expressive force of Professor Bad Trip. For a preview, check out this clip of Ensemble intercontemporain performing Lesson II (electric cello cadenza at 3:35).

A Sampling of New Music YouTube Channels

YouTube, Vimeo and other video sharing sites provide a critical tool for the dissemination of contemporary music. Many pieces that are not available via commercial recording can be found on these sites. Additionally, ensembles are using this resource to educate and expand their audience base. Below are three ensemble channels that I find particularly compelling. Of course there are many more out there, and I encourage you to share your favorites in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

ELISION Ensemble

I've chosen to begin with ELISION Ensemble because their YouTube Channel presents an impressive array of videos that are of the highest quality visually and aurally. Every video expertly deploys multiple cameras in a manner that provides an intimate look at the physical realization of the score. This is clearly exhibited in the video below, an excerpt from Liza Lim's solo cello work Invisibility (2009) performed by Séverine Ballon (note the use of a serrated or "guiro" bow - see Tim Rutherford-Johnson's blog for more).

MusikFABRIK

In addition to posting performances, MusikFABRIK's channel offers instructional videos that deal with extended techniques. In the example below, flutist Helen Bledsoe demonstrates and discusses the production of air and percussive sounds. The video includes notation examples with verbal descriptions in French, German and English. These videos are a wonderful resource for composers and performers alike.

Third Coast Percussion Ensemble

Video is an especially effective medium for percussion as illustrated by this Chicago-based ensemble's channel. In the example below, Third Coast performs the third movement (Sextour de sixxens) of Phillippe Manoury's Le Livre des Claviers (1987-88). The sixxen, an instrument first developed for Xenakis' Pléiades, has an incredibly rich, resonant sound that defies description. See and hear for yourself: