Ethernet Orchestra has been commissioned to perform a homage to Wassily Kandinski for the 100th Anniversary of the Bauhaus School at the  University of Applied Sciences in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

The performance is Friday 17th May and features:

Holger Deuter (DE) (keyboards and synths) from Campus Kammgarn, Kaiserslautern.

Roger Mills (AU) (processed trumpets and electronics),  Sydney, Australia and guitarist

Chris Vine (BR) (guitars, Sas, and electronics), Londrina, Brazil

We will be interpreting four of Kandinski’s ‘Improvisation’ series paintings as graphic scores to guide the online ensemble’s online tele-improvisation.

Kandinski argued that improvisation reflected the “inner thoughts and feelings” of an artist and this idea is something that resonates very strongly in the paintings, and, I hope, our musical and sonic interpretations of them. They were painted before, and between, the first and second world wars, and very much reflect the anxiety of this period in European history. As someone who was entranced by the Bauhaus at an early age, albeit well after the school closed, this project has been a really interesting and delightful one to work on for me!

Rehearsals have been going well and it is interesting how the paintings pull the improvisation together in distinct timbral and harmonic structures. Most noticeable to me is how the abstract lines and colours of the paintings begin to merge and become definable shapes and entities as we focus on them.

My set up in Sydney below. I’m processing my horn through Ableton and we are using the SoundJack network interface (centre) for connecting online. I have each painting on an additional monitor (left).

Chris Vine in Londrina Brazil, performing on his Saz

Holger Deuter in his studio in Speyer, Germany

The performance in Kaiserslautern is part of the closing ceremony of the visit of the touring Bauhaus bus exhibit, which is touring the world finishing in Hong Kong.