William Engelen

Falten for percussion

 

27/08—05/11/23

 

The installation by William Engelen shows enigmatic-looking scores and differently folded papers on music stands, which are distributed on a pedestal pointing in different directions. The folds are sculptural condensations of musical events. Accordingly, alternating phases of silence and sound arise. The papers are transcripts of a composition for percussionists – or rather their material expression. They are intended for instruments such as triangles and drums, but also for washboards and oil cans. The artist first noted a timeline on the sheets, which was partially obscured by the subsequent folding. He drew musical lines on the areas that were still visible; they mark the periods in which sound should be heard. The scores, which are difficult to understand for a musical layperson, are made to sound by musicians. They also react to the space and to changing elements such as light and shadows. The interplay of rules, notation and chance creates an impressive composition.

 

Part of the installation is a 28-minute recording of the notations. It was recorded in New York in 2013 with the Ensemble Tulajon (David Cossin, Ian Antonio, Tom Kolor, Michael Lipsey).

 

The exhibition is a collaboration with the Lausitz Festival and the Hoffmann Collection donation, Dresden State Art Collections and is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.