Still going through all the piles of photos from our Asia and Australia tour last month.

Got stuck staring at this photo from the Bunya Mountains rainforest for a while.

Super proud to have my photo used for dear Murat Tepeli‘s latest release on Philpot: Workinstruggling (PHP065)

listen below:

A very nice review from Sonia Miles Khan on The Ripe of our show in Melbourne with the wonderful Freeform Collective. I miss you guys. It was a really magical night.

Video and gorgeous poster below.

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The Freeform Collective presents GLITTERBUG [GER] @ Horse Bazaar 
SONIA MILES-KHAN APRIL 25, 2013

Founded in 2011, The Freeform Collective widens the artistic perspective of Melbourne audiences. They create a platform for subculture talents over audio and visual arts, developing a platter for the eyes and ears and a feast for the mind.

After intense work on the Inner Varnika festival, The Freeform Collective was finally ready to amaze us again, this time with German producer Glitterbug. The night was touted as, “a collaborative project between audio-extraordinaire Glitterbug, and Israeli visual artist Ronni Shendar. Collaborating together for over a decade on works spanning from clubs to concert halls, their combined power has resulted in a stunning audio-visual performance that is both immersive and wildly cinematic”. This was also going to be one of the duo’s first feature performances, in both spectacle and length, displaying the power and beauty of the Freeform Collective’s work. Glitterbug is a treat of non-commercial value and we as an audience were lucky to witness the event.

Glitterbug, a.k.a. Till Rohmann, is building a reputation for his ethereal sonic landscapes. His talent has been touted by select publications and so too has his collaboration with Shendar. While I couldn’t help but agree that he is one of Germany’s best-kept secrets, I wasn’t convinced that he fits the mould of minimal techno as well as some may describe.

When Glitterbug takes the stage for his live mix, he starts in a very surreal and ambient place. The only thing that draws our focus is Shendar’s visuals; an aquatic landscape is washed across the back walls of Horse Bazaar. They both take us on a slow journey through the sounds of sonar and real-life footage of urchins and rough, untouched underwater footage.

When the beat finally settles in, Glitterbug would remind some of the early work of his German compatriots, Booka Shade. His sounds even share a close semblance with Dusty Kid. This melodious synth work decisively places him into the house-hybrid of minimal techno, which I love. Those feeling twangs of judgement at the moniker I just inferred shouldn’t baulk. His sea punk fashioned sounds journey through all aspects of the colour blue, with melancholy scales and perfect accompaniment to Shendars industrial seasides.

Glitterbug’s point of difference comes through in his use of percussion. He ceases with epic stabs and lets rumbling basslines roll in. The snares begin to take up more of the mix and he has an entire channel of his mixer devoted to them at rapid-fire (which he loves to jaggedly move us with!)

By the end of these intense hours, I feel weightless against computer-tinged harmonies.

Freeform Collective Presents Glitterbug & Ronni Shendar from The Freeform Collective on Vimeo.

Freeform Collective Presents Glitterbug & Ronni Shendar at Horse Bazaar Melbourne April 19th 2013

facebook.com/pages/Glitterbug/54704144098
facebook.com/events/461323747274230/

(catching up on belated posts…)

A promo for our performance at Tel Aviv’s Block club

Glitterbug & Ronni Shendar Live – 24.1.2013 from Ronni Shendar on Vimeo.

Thursday. January 24, 2013
Doors: 23:00 Live show: 24:00

Video (filmed and edited) by Ronni Shendar
Music by Glitterbug

Info:
www.pacotek.com
www.block-club.com
www.glitterbug.com
www.ronni-shendar.com

Photo above from AORA by Reut Shemesh, for which I created the stage, light and visual design.
Watch a short video of AORA here

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ROMY WEIMANN reviews AORA in akT Magazine (die Kölner Theaterzeitung)

This is a translation of what she wrote about the stage design (thank you!!) and you can read Full article (in German) below.

“The stage is like a room from another dimension. Upon entering the large industrial hall of the DQE one finds a large white cube at its center. It seems like a luminous universe, and it degrades the surrounding hall into a dark, spare, empty room…an auratic, dazzling stage canvas.

“The audience glances into the bright glowing white. Spotlights behind the fabric walls, shrill light shines from above – the four dancers are denied any kind of protection, any emotion is unfolded. And they are astoundingly motionless, staring at the ceiling with stoic concentration, as if they were watching an imaginary miracle.”

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Seit 2010 lebt und arbeitet Israelin Reut Shemesh schon in Köln. Sie gilt als das spannendste Nachwuchstalent der letzten Jahre. Mit der Inszenierung “AORA” im DQE macht sie ihrem Ruf alle Ehre – und wurde prompt für den Kölner Tanzpreis nominiert.

Die Bühne ist ein Raum wie aus einer anderen Dimension. Kommt man in die riesige Halle des Design Quartiers Ehrenfeld, findet man an diesem Abend einen weißen Kasten in der Mitte. Er scheint wie ein strahlendes Universum, degradiert sein Umland zum dunkel kahlen Leerraum. Die israelische Choreografin Reut Shemesh kreiert mit “AORA” ein auratisch schillerndes Bühnengemälde. Im Zuschauerraum angekommen, blickt man dann ins leuchtende Weiß. Scheinwerfer hinter den Folienwänden, grelles Spotlight von oben – den vier Tänzern wird jeglicher Schutz verwehrt, jede Regung offen gelegt. Und sie sind verblüffend reglos, starren mit stoischer Konzentration an die Decke, als würden sie ein imaginäres Wunder beobachten. In den ersten unendlichen Minuten scheinen die beiden Pärchen – eines am hinteren und eines am vorderen Bühnenrand – malerisch. Ihre zeitlupenartigen Minimalbewegungen werden dabei zu Pinselstrichen, die das Gemälde vervollkommnen. Der Operngesang von Woohee Chung, für die Vorstellung eingespielt, und das wohlklingende Klavierspiel u.a. von Händel polieren die glänzende Oberfläche der unbewegten Harmonie. Doch bald kommt Hektik auf. Or Hakim in schwarzer Spitze und Youngsuk Lee in einheitlichem Schwarz robben seitwärts synchron über die Bühne, ständig nach links und rechts blickend. Laura Eva Meuris und Nicolas Robillard vollführen klassische Hebefiguren, formieren sich zu einer sakralen Engelsfigur, die im Rückwärtsschritt den gewohnten Abstand von Publikum und Bühne bedrohlich überschreitet.
Shemesh lässt Klassik und Moderne aufeinander prallen. Filigrane Bewegungen vor plastisch futuristischer Kulisse werden immer wieder konterkariert durch groteske Bilder. Etwa wenn die beiden Frauen sich krebsartig in Brückenhaltung aufeinander zu bewegen, Lee seinen Kopf durch die Beine von Hakim schiebt, um sie dann auf die Schultern zu heben. Oder wenn sich alle kampfartig ineinander verkeilen. Dann scheint die Makellosigkeit der überschönen Gesellschaft gestört. Immer wieder gerät ihre Welt wie durch ein Erdbeben ins Wanken. Sie lösen sich voneinander, geraten in ekstatisches Zucken und Schütteln. Als Individuen taumeln sie in die Haltlosigkeit, müssen sich wieder fangen, in die Gruppe finden. In einer endlos wirkenden Szene bewältigen sie dann die Nachbeben, strecken und beugen sich in hoher Geschwindigkeit, hecheln und keuchen. Das traumhafte Tanzgemälde zeigt Risse, offenbart die Brüchigkeit eines gesellschaftlichen Gefüges und stellt Schönheit unmittelbar neben ihre Zerstörung. Was bleibt, ist die Kunst. Shemesh vereint Tanz, Musik (Nico Stallmann) und Raumdesign (Ronni Shendar) zu einer symbiotischen Ästhetik. Bleibt nur zu hoffen, dass die Stadt Köln eine so außergewöhnliche Künstlerin halten kann.
ROMY WEIMANN

It was a pleasure working this month with Reut Shemesh (and the entire AORA team!) on her new piece ‘AORA’.

And, it’s a pleasure to hear that AORA was just nominated for the Kölner Theaterpreis 2012.

Here’s the video/trailer I created:

Nominated for the Kölner Theaterpreis 2012

Choreography and concept: Reut Shemesh
www.reutshemesh.com

Video by Ronni Shendar
www.ronni-shendar.com

Dance: Or Hakim, Youngsuk Lee, Laura Eva Meuris, Nicolas Robillard
Music: Nico Stallmann
Violin: Paul Diemer, Cello: Linda laukamp, Bass: Stephan Schönegg, Voice: Woohee Chung
Stage and light design: Ronni Shendar

Performed at the Design Quartier Ehrenfeld, November 2012
Filmed by Ronni Shendar

AORA was made possible through the kind support of:
Kulturamt der Stadt Köln
Michael Douglas Kollektiv
Quartier am Hafen
Design Quartier Ehrenfeld
Random Collision

Slices 03-12 DVD just came out, including a feature about Glitterbug including our joint audio-visual work (there’s a mini excerpt interview with me as well)

Slices about the feature:
“It’s challenging to put as much content into techno. I think that the club could be a much more utopian place than it is nowadays.” Glitterbug aka Till Rohmann stakes out his territory between subtle minimal beats and uplifting house or even early acid influences. In this Slices Feature he talks about his club visions while climbing into a dripstone cave.

Us summing up for the interview:
“A big part of our work is trying to create a certain vulnerability, not only for ourselves but also for the audience. It’s not just about creating an experience that is beautiful or compelling, but also opening up to a wider perspective, a certain consciousness. We are both occupied by social and political questions of our own histories and societies, and the notion of a grave irreparableness of our times leads us to explore a certain stark desolation, often through barren landscapes, unearthly or uninhabitable terrains.”

Enjoy!

This weekend is the premier of Reut Shemesh‘s new choreographic work ‘AORA’ for which I have created the stage and light design.
Here are two short videos we created to promote the piece:

(my photo was taken by Rene Jakobson, the cover photo above by Renee Altrov)

I had the honor to speak at the Opening Seminar of the KultuuriKatel / Creative Hub Development Center, an incredible abandoned power plant in the heart of Tallinn, Estonia, with 10,000 square meters undergoing renovations and will be used as a platform and facility for networks, knowledge and art. The space will include studios, black boxes, galleries, rooms with future development capabilities and public attractions and is scheduled to open next year. The opening seminar discussed different approaches to creating physical and virtual networks, community spaces and engaging audiences with a great focus on aspects of how to provide and adhere to cultural, social and artistic values through work with various types of financing bodies and institutions (from commercial, to governmental or community). The seminar was a part of the Stalker Festival which took place in the power plant itself with an array of performances and installations.

Thank you to all at KultuuriKatel, Creative Hub Development Center and the Stalker Festival for an inspiring weekend.

(my photo was taken by Rene Jakobson, the cover photo above by Renee Altrov, see more photos here)