Between is a series curated by Gloria Hasnay, departing from music-based practices and taking place in the Kunstverein München’s galleries between two exhibitions for the duration of 24 hours. The series’ second iteration is dedicated to the late U.S.-American composer Robert Ashley and brings together contributions by Kyle Gann, Will Holder, Brian McCorkle, Paul Pinto, and Scott Rogers.
Ashley’s compositional process is characterized by innovative forms of notation as well as a collaborative practice. The event is dedicated to one of his signature works, Perfect Lives. Originally produced for television in the early 1980s, the seven-part opera forms a vocal-aesthetic exploration of the culture of the American Midwest. The operatic work will be recited and performed, respectively, in its entirety over the duration of the event by Paul Pinto and Brian McCorkle, both members of the Varispeed Collective and former collaborators of Ashley. Additionally, the two will collaborate on an audiovisul installation of Ashley’s She Was A Visitor. Composer and Ashley biographer Kyle Gann introduces his practice through selected and reconfigured interview recordings. Artist Scott Rogers has conceived new audio pieces composed of bird calls that are played at hourly intervals and in temporal relation to the dawn in Munich. Typographer Will Holder will recite A Last Futile Stab At Fun, originally presented by Ashley as a lecture with the title The Meanings of Modernism at the Walker Art Center on October 29, 1979.
Between II: on Robert Ashley took place from November 26, 2021, 6pm until November 27, 2021, 6pm. In collaboration with the Filmwerkstatt Düsseldorf.
More info: www.kunstverein-muenchen.de/de/programm/veranstaltungen/2021/between-ii-robert-ashley
Photo: Rosanna Graf