next time, die consciously (بیگانگی) | 2018
Performed at Kraftwerk Berlin in August, 2018.
LABOUR’s debut work for Berlin Atonal 2018 operates simultaneously on multiple temporalities — from microsounds and stochastic synthesis to rhythmic cycles to acknowledging that which propels beyond — and takes a critical stance towards notions of regulated time by embracing rhythmic instability and sound as sculptural material.
Born from several years of research and contemplation on the construction-of-self, this work considers the extent to which external forces create us — heteronomy is the condition of all things — the extent to which we are constructable and therefore deconstructable beings, thus providing the potential for great transformation.
Selected Press:
"But one brand new collaboration proves a weekend highlight, and it comes at the very end. It’s still not clear who comprises LABOUR – all I can offer is one of them looked a bit like William Basinski – but their performance closes the main stage on the last night. Together they blend harsh electronics with mournful, droning sax. On a few occasions, the performance is interrupted by a brief but thunderous blast of live drums, and the music changes direction. Its an erratic and stirring performance. As the musicians leave the stage, the sound of unamplified drums fills the length of the huge main hall – hidden above the crowd in the darkened stairwells and rafters, some 10 to 15 performers play call and response with each other, a chorus of blows that reverberates through Kraftwerk. Stood in the dark, it’s the stuff of nightmares, and the perfect finish to what remains one of the city’s most important festivals: one that would never dare to insult the intelligence of its attendees."
-- CRACK Magazine (Sept 2018)
"Cette année, une autre facette de cet élargissement sensoriel et artistique possible a néanmoins été développé à bon escient dans le domaine tout aussi pertinent de la spatialisation sonore et de l’occupation de l’espace. Projet collaboratif intégrant une réflexion sociale et participative très berlinoise, la performance Next Time, Die Consciously du collectif LABOUR associe prestations scéniques mêlant tournures free-jazz (saxophone et duo de batteries) et brouillages électroniques éruptifs, avec une occupation directe des différents espaces de la nef sur tous les niveaux, où essaiment une cohorte de percussionnistes actionnant leur caisse claire à intervalles réguliers tandis que des rangées de lumières flickers montées sur tige et dispersées au milieu du public viennent éclairer le concert de leurs clignotements chaotiques. Une performance aux contours bruts (les qualités musicales des performeurs entrent au final peu en ligne de compte) mais dont la portée renvoie incontestablement à l’esprit originel, expérimental et irrédentiste du Atonal des années 80".
-- Trax Mag France 2018
Credits:
by: LABOUR (Farahnaz Hatam & Colin Hacklander)
2nd drumset: Masaya Hijikata
bass clarinet & percussion: Yoni Silver
video art direction: Evelyn Bencicova
additional video team: Jakub Kubica and Jakub Gavelier
light: MFO (Marcel Weber)
stochastic lights: Fredrik Olofsson
stochastic drum ensemble: 30 performers, names omitted
special thanks to: Callie’s, Gewärtler Stiftung, Berlin Atonal, and NU Unruh for the loan of metal percussion pieces