A random piano composition by four cd players. One piano stroke per track, about 60 tracks (and some silences!) per cd. The four cd players are set to play random and repeat.

The video shown above was shot at Uncollectibles, an exhibition in Kunstenlab Deventer (more info overhere). Although the video can give you some idea of what this installation sounds like, it’s still only a relatively short fragment and the sound quality is poor. You should probably realize that this installation never produces the exact same composition in a live situation for a very, very, very long time… Some pieces may sound like a child playing the piano, some pieces are silent and some pieces might even sound like they are actually composed.

I personally find listening to Quatre Mains Aléatoire (live!) can be quite addictive… just like looking at How Random – Is Random by the way. Maybe it’s a random thing…

How Random – Is Random is an installation for two digital photoframes. It’s an adaptation of a previous version. A large number of eastern proverbs, split in half, are continuously recombined at random to form new proverbs.

The video shown above was shot at Uncollectibles, an exhibition in Kunstenlab Deventer (more info overhere), to give you some idea of what this installation does. The video plays at twice the actual speed. Since there are over 300 text fragments in each digital photoframe, the number of possible combinations is pretty high and repetitions are rare. Even when looking for days (or months if you adjust the speed on the photoframes).

Price: 300 euro.

February 7th – March 22nd: exhibition in Kunstenlab Deventer. Other participating artists are: Hellen Abma, Sebiha Demir, Aukje Grouwstra, Michael Klinkenberg, Patrick Mangnus + Theo Harmelink. The opening is Friday the 13th, 20:00 hrs. and features a live performance by Jeroen Diepenmaat and Rik Marsman.

I’m showing an adaptation of How Random – Is Random on two digital photoframes (check the video overhere). I’m also showing a simple sound installation with four random channels, continuously generating random compositions from looped audio samples.

Update 1: The audio loops I had originally selected for my new sound installation in Kunstenlab didn’t quite perform like I had hoped they would perform… they were probably still too recognizable as individual beats, melodies and structures. So I decided to chop two pre-recorded piano pieces in seperate notes and chords. This way the outcome is truly a new, continuously executed random composition. I’m replacing the audio tomorrow and have high expectations. After all, Kunstenlab translates as Art Laboratory, so researching and improving my work during the exhibition should be fine… right?

Update 2: The replaced sounds work very nice! As expected, or maybe even better. I also came up with a good title for this sound installation now: Quatre Mains Aléatoire, a random piano composition by four cd players (check the video overhere).

Update 3: Last Friday a lot of people showed up at the opening. The live performance by Jeroen Diepenmaat and Rik Marsman was amazing! Check some photo’s on Flickr and video on Vimeo.

Presentation/promo video for Toekomstmuziek Deventer 2030.

This video and many more presentations feature in the Deventer 2030 event on the 29th of November at De Brink in Deventer. And Midas Klare (8) performs live with Nintendo DS from 15:25-15:30!

At first, I was a bit scared about me personally playing such a large part in this video (or any video for that matter), but I think it turned out okay… Many thanks to Bart Folmer for thinking up this video and producing it!

I’m participating in the Focus 7 exhibition in KCO, Zwolle. Focus is a series of exhibitions with a focus on art & design from Overijssel. The exhibition starts April 1st and ends May 16th.

I’m making two brand new (and improved) variations on Multitupper right now. I’m also showing Rockin’ Chair and Restore I (Thonet) and probably Klapraspkruk, which I still regard as the best of my older work.

Bart Folmer is preparing a percussive performance on Rockin’ Chair for the opening of this exhibition. I’ve listened to some of it already and if all goes well it will be quite amazing and totally different (again) from the other performances on Rockin’ Chair so far (by Alan Purves and Jan Wolfkamp). Expect more use of electronics and technoid loop-based rhythms this time.

The opening is on the 4th of April, 17:00. Don’t miss it!!

The other participants in this edition of Focus are: Fetsje Anema, Marko de Kok, Angeline de Jong, Philipp Wiynck, Els Mondt and Sanne van der Spek.

For more information check the KCO website, or download these two pdf documents (here and here), with the complete and very extensive Focus poster/brochure, including short interviews with the participants (in Dutch).

Update: Photo’s of Bart Folmer playing Rockin’ Chair at the opening of Focus 7 on the 4th of April:

Bart is using some additional electronics to create loops and extra modulations of Rockin’ Chair’s output signal. He also utilizes his ringtone to record additional audio layers through Rockin’ Chair.

There are some more photo’s on Flickr and a video registration below. Sorry for the poor sound quality of this footage, it obviously sounded much better in real life.