We are extremely proud to have this pioneer of new-york minimalism among us, and thankful that he found time between rehearsals and a 6-hour long concert in London to come perform a much shorter piece than his usually exhausting, timeless performances. Shorter but no less hyptotic and extravagant: the cuddly toys will be there, watching over the old alchemist.
At an early age as a bell ringer in a NYC church, Charlemagne discovered the physical perception of sound, and this revelation turned into an obsession, a quest for the neverending, sustained, multicoloured, and alchemist’s 'gold sound'. For this purpose he started using generators, oscillators, filters and acoustic instruments of vast dimensions such as the organ or a set of coupled 1830 Bösendorfer pianos which he played simultaneously. One of the stylemarks he developped with these experimentations is called 'strumming', a technique imported from guitar playing where several strings are hit at the same time. This contributed to setting a him as a major influence on such artists as Alan Licht, Rhys Chatham, or Glenn Branca. The frantic and visceral throbbing often characteristic of his music relates to the works of academic figures like Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass, but it is also in close connection with other major figures of sound experimentation like the Velvet Underground, La Monte Young, or more recently, Pan Sonic. Tony Conrad is one of the many artists who, sharing the same passion for painting, writing, experimental cinema and machine set-ups, have worked with him in different fields of artistic creation (An Aural Symbiotic Mystery). The icing on tonight's succulent cake will be the screening one of Charlemagne's VideoWideopeluchoExtraviganza short films.
Other events on Charlemagne
Art centers, CIRCUIT and 1m3, organise from 4th october to 22th november (thu-fri-sat from 2pm to 6pm, and on demand) L'exposition continue, a Mathieu Copeland's exhibition presenting pieces of Charlemagne, but also of David Cunningham, On Kawara and Claude Rutault.
To listen: RADIO PALESTINE from 4th october to 22 november on the following websites: www.circuit.li, www.galerie1m3.com. Also on Fréquence Banane (94.55 on the cable from 8pm to 9.30 pm all days of the LUFF) and in different places during the festival.
