Visualisierte Linzer Klangwolke 2009
Press Conference
Thursday, 4.June 2009
The Flood is this year's theme. In accordance with the flood narratives recorded in the scriptures of the world’s three great monotheistic religions as well as the myths of other faiths and cultures, the central role will be played by animals.
Volunteers from Linz and vicinity are creating several hundred animal figures representing 40 different species and will be manning them during the festivities.
The mastermind behind these imaginative figures is Roger Titley, one of the world’s foremost puppet makers and animation experts. The South African artist’s activities have included a great deal of work in the film and television industries.
The creatures are made of polyethylene, an extremely light-weight material manufactured in Upper Austria by Eurofoam. The modules of the various figures will be assembled by crews working according to plans, drawings and video instructions prepared by Roger Titley. Ten students at Linz Art University will be assisting in the implementation of the visual concept. Public outreach efforts including info sessions and calls for volunteers in the media elicited a response by about 350 persons who are pitching in to create the figures. Construction began in late April in the Linz Art University’s workshops located on the Main Square (Hauptplatz). Each figure is easy to manipulate and can be maneuvered by either a single individual or a small group.
Recreational clubs and sports associations, music groups, schools, businesses and private individuals including people in wheelchairs, scuba divers and Segway-riders will be breathing life into these polyethylene creatures.
At 3 PM on the day of the Klangwolke, the creatures will already be assembling on Hauptplatz. From there, they’ll be fanning out all over town—streets, parks and squares will be deluged by animal figures and prophetic characters, warnings and calls to action will flood the city as fiction and reality enter into a sort of provisional equilibrium.
The figures’ processions, strolls, breakaways and re-assemblies will be accompanied by musicians, singers and bands as well as so-called prophets propagating their serious or absurd visions of the future or predictions of the world’s immanent demise.
By nightfall, the entire cast and crew will convene near the Danube, where they’ll be integrated into the evening’s grand finale taking place on the Klangwolke stage.
This highly evocative paraphrase of the Biblical narrative of Noah’s ark unfolds as a playful conglomerate of global myths interwoven with contemporary issues and the Flood as metaphor. The river and its banks morph into a stage, and the night sky becomes a canvas brought to life by colorful eruptions of fireworks.
Dramatics, vocalizing and projections join together with the actions of the animals to speak of impending catastrophe, of hope and possible rescue.
The material for the visuals will be generated live—a real-time video mix of anima-tion, manipulation and live camera images modified with artistic special effects.
Dick van der Harst, a Dutch musician, arranger and composer who lives and works in Belgium, was commissioned to compose the music. He blends jazz, classical and folk music from different cultures and epochs into his own very lively and personal musical style.
A special feature: the music for the 2009 Klangwolke will be performed live. The or-chestra consists of a jazz band with an international lineup, a brass band, and a per-cussion section from the Anton Bruckner Private University. This ensemble, together with a chorus and soprano soloist, will perform the world premiere of Dick van der Harst’s score under the direction of Martin Fuchsberger.
The city as stage and its inhabitants as actors offer an up-close-and-personal expe-rience of a transmuted Linz, one that is open to narratives that originate from all over this world and that condense over the course of this production into an intense Klangwolke extravaganza.
Saturday, 5. September 2009
