Luope - Insecta

Address

Slemdalsveien 11,
0363 Oslo

Luope - Insecta

Description

The ensemble Loupe, under the direction of the award-winning Danish pianist and composer Simon Toldam, performs the audiovisual work “Insecta”, inspired by the English photographer Levon Biss's super-magnified insect photography. What does it sound like when a world - invisible to the naked eye and ear - reveals itself in sound and image? That is the question Simon Toldam answers as, together with the ensemble Loupe, he invites you to a performance of the audiovisual work “Insecta”. The critically acclaimed and award-winning Danish pianist and composer has composed the work, which is inspired by the English photographer Levon Biss's beautiful photographs of colourful and glistening insects, taken in extreme close-up. Here enchanting hidden colours, shapes and textures emerge on antennae, tiny hairs, wings and shields. “When I work with sound, it happens with an investigative approach. It is about focusing and listening for the small nuances that change depending on how one approaches the unfolding of the note or chord with the body. I immediately saw a kinship in the interest in the significance of details, and felt a great desire to create a work that combined the images with music,” says Simon Toldam. Simon Toldam transfers Levon Biss's technique of zooming in on seemingly invisible details to his new work in an original way. “Insecta” is performed acoustically and played at a whispering volume, but through an auditory super-magnifying lens. Where the quiet tones are turned fully up, new expressions and suggestive, magical sound worlds emerge - like a musical magnifying glass. Loupe itself calls its musical microscopy “Magnified Micro Music”. “We were surprised at how demanding it is to play almost completely quietly. We play no louder than the strength of a whisper, and it takes enormous energy to keep the small sounds alive and relevant,” says Simon Toldam. In “Insecta” the two artistic universes merge. Here Levon Biss's magical images accompany Loupe's subtle interplay, which with sensitivity and finesse invites the audience into consciousness-expanding, contemplative soundscapes. Asked what the audience can expect from the concert, Simon Toldam answers: “Expect a grand and magical audiovisual experience with images and sounds you have seldom seen and heard. The sounds are magnified, so that the sound of an eyebrow brush on a cement slab surrounds your ears. The films are blown up and shown on a screen - so imagine looking at the wing of a mantis fly, magnified several thousand times!” Performers Simon Toldam (prepared piano and composition) Torben Snekkestad (saxophones, reed trumpet, objects) Peter Bruun (micro percussion, objects) CC: Free Photo: Vertigo