OSKUR
Oskur is video art, created through a piano improvisation, whereby the pianist controls and interacts with electronics and visuals. The performance is a reinterpretation of Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro and tenebrism focusing on a local architectural site portrayed during different times of day, highlighting the interplay of light and dark. Designated piano notes trigger a chain of events, enabling control of the electronics and the visual aspect, hereby represented as a sequence of mini clips split in time. The audio information, generated by a modular synthesizer, is translated into a sequence instruction, which in turn also controls the imagery. Maltese heritage is also represented sonically through the impulse responses and convolution reverb imprints of local spaces.
Artistic Collaborators
Gabi Sultana
Koen Tryssesoone
Mark Dingli
8 November 2021
Online
8:30pm
Free
GABI SULTANA
Described as “a demon of energy; yet one of impeccable articulation”, Maltese pianist Gabi Sultana is an internationally acclaimed soloist and chamber musician. Her love for contemporary repertoire, experimental sounds and electronic music has led her to specialise in works composed circa 1950 to the present day. Her passion and ability to bring contemporary compositions to the public have earned her rave reviews from around the globe. As an active chamber musician, Gabi currently works with Belgian contemporary music ensemble SPECTRA. Since 2017, Gabi has formed part of a piano duo with Mirek Coutigny; and also collaborates with soprano Lieselot De Wilde. Together with film-maker Mark Dingli, she forms Amalgama – an innovative piano and audio-reactive visual performance. In October 2018 Gabi joined forces with electronic musician Peter Van Hoesen for Sourdoreille's series Variations in Paris, in an ode to John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes. Gabi teaches at the Mikiel Anton Vassalli College – School of Music and the Gozo Visual and Performing Arts School.
KOEN TRYSSESOONE
Koen Tryssesoone is a Belgian electronic artist currently based in Malta. His vast knowledge in niche genres of music has led him to organise many experimental electronic and electroacoustic festivals and events in established concert rooms in his hometown Ghent. He has given a stage to international and national artists such as Carsten Nikolai, Yves de Mey, David Letellier, Tobias Freund, Max Loderbauer and SND (Mark Fell and Matt Steel). As a musician, he focuses mostly on electronic music. His studio is set up in a modular fashion, which makes it very flexible and usable in various performances with the possibility of high levels of experimentation. In 2018 he was a guest performer for Amalgama – a piano and audio-reactive performance with film maker Mark Dingli and pianist Gabi Sultana.
MARK DINGLI
Mark Dingli studied film making at SAE technology college in 2002 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. During his five-year stay, he worked on documentaries, short films, music videos and theatre productions. He also worked for SAE Institute as a supervisor for the Digital Film Department in Rotterdam. Mark works on various film productions in the camera department both abroad and in Malta. He is involved in electronic music production and visual experimentation and photography.
Highlights of his career include producing the feature length visual piece A Stillness Made From Speed as an accompaniment to a composition by Matthew Wright for Vamos ensemble premiered in 2004. In 2010 he participated at the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin and was invited to be part of the jury of the Kinemastik Short Film festival. In 2018 Mark and pianist Gabi Sultana premiered Amalgama, an audio-visual piano performance as part of the Valletta European City of Culture programme.