Four artists are inspired by the same geographical area surrounding the Koster Islands and Strömstad, and each allows the spatial presentation to speak its own musical language.

In preparation for the exhibition Common Ground, Klangbotten further expanded its network of collaborators and, partly thanks to the pandemic, additional partners were able to become involved in the project. The above-mentioned artists were given ample time to familiarize themselves with the space, and they also had the opportunity to take part in the artist residency on the Koster Islands developed by Kultur i Väst. The chance to draw inspiration from the extraordinary natural environment there influenced their artistic choices, and it can be said that the works that emerged became “site-specific,” both in relation to the Koster Islands and to the remarkable space offered by the Lokstallet art hall.

The artists included in the exhibition work individually, but also relate to the encounter between the works in the exhibition space. The work of Rosali Grankull and Hanna Norrna is furthermore an example of how artists from different artistic disciplines have chosen to collaborate.

Rosali Grankull – composer
Hanna Norrna – textile artist
Alessandro Perini – composer
Helena Persson – composer

HELENA PERSSON is a sound composer and experimental musician whose work is based on field recordings from the surrounding world and is often presented as spatial, multichannel, and sculptural installations. Sound functions as a way of deepening our understanding of and documenting the world, where detail, shifts, and subtle, fragile sounds are given space or come into collision with the industrial.

Within details, changes reside, and out of silence something meaningful emerges. Sanen Song explores human conceptions of what the environment is like, as well as our capacity to reconsider these through making room for other and new impressions.

ALESSANDRO PERINI (b. 1983) studied composition, electronic music, and the Science of Musical Communication in Italy and Sweden. His work ranges from instrumental and electronic music to audiovisual and light-based works, net art, land art, and vibration-based works. He is currently focusing on specially designed sound objects and machines.

MANUAL FOR RECONNECTION

With this project, I aim to reflect on the human tendency (particularly in Western societies) to use technology to reconnect with “the other” — meaning everything, both living and material, that we call “nature.” But what kind of nature are we experiencing, if not an arbitrary scenario arranged to suit our needs and our well-being?

ROSALI GRANKULL is a composer and musician working with acoustic instruments, literature, people, microphones, places, and loudspeakers. In her practice, she seeks a thin line of instability, in the hope that questions may arise precisely there. In her music, she strives for a non-hierarchical structure and starts from the assumption that all living things have a breath.

HANNA NORRNA is a textile artist based in Gothenburg. In her work, she explores affinities between weaving and mysticism, searching for a language that expresses how craft, passion, vulnerability, the body, and the sacred are interconnected and take place. At the loom, she breaks down concepts into their constituent parts and reassembles them, with the intention of highlighting women’s work and tacit knowledge.

FUGA IN D MINOR – THE SOLV CHOIR
(Rosali Grankull & Hanna Norrna)

Fuga in D minor is a sound art installation made of silk threads, heddle weights, honey, metals, and sand. Deep sound waves pulse through the materials and set them in motion. Variations in tempo, density, and vibration create events that penetrate, release, or linger.

The composers Lisa Streich, Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, and Johan Svensson have each created a work for violinist Karin Hellqvist and pianist Heloisa Amaral. With artistic playfulness, they have mechanically expanded the instruments within these works. Through the use of motorized objects, the musical expression emerges in a dialogue between the musician/instrument and the machine, which appears to live its own mechanical life. The diverse characters of the delicate sounds, as well as the shifting distribution of roles between the instrumentalist and the object, generate great intensity and magic.

Opening / Concert, 25 October 2018
Works performed:

• Marionette – Johan Svensson, Karin Hellqvist, violin
• Solo for Motor and Strings – Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Karin Hellqvist, violin
• SAFRAN – Lisa Streich, Karin Hellqvist, violin, Heloisa Amaral, motorized piano

Johan Svensson and Johannes Bergmark are both musicians and composers who experiment with inventing and building new instruments. In preparation for the concert installation at the Art Museum, they met with young people in Skövde and, together with them, built instruments and created a sound art installation.

During Lysekil Culture Week, we met with the introductory language class at Gullmarsgymnasiet and built imaginary instruments together. Performance artist and composer Johannes Bergmark, Jon Halvor Bjørnset from Drivhuset in Oslo, and Elsbeth Bergh unpacked their fantastic collection of materials — consisting of cables, contact microphones, screws, tools, and flea market finds — and together with the students they created instruments that were assembled into a sound sculpture, which was exhibited in the Art Hall over the weekend.

Within the framework of the proposed project, four regional actors were contcted: Borås and Skövde Art Museums, the artist collective Not Quite, and the Gerlesborg School of Fine Art. In th initial discussions, we jointly decided to invite the artists Hanna Hartman and Lene Grenager. Hanna Hartman primarily works objects and close-recorded sounds, while Lene Grenager mainly works with acoustic music and composition using graphic notation.

With support from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Swedish Arts Council (collaboration with composers), and the Cultural Committee of the Västra Götaland Region, Klangbotten was able to carry out an extensive collaborative project with the region’s art galleries.

“The two composers/musicians are asked to relate to the space in such a way that they create a work that inhabits the room over an extended period of time, or that can linger in the space after a live concert has been performed. In this way, we aim to position the project at the intersection between the concert music situation and the exhibition format of contemporary art galleries.”