Audiovisual performance by Norient
Tuesday, November 10, at 6:30 p.m.
Rolex Learning Center’s Forum
Sounds and images from the Swiss everyday life are video-edited then mixed live by a VJ (Video-Jockey)
Norient records and manipulates Swiss music, sounds, noises, voices and images to create this patchwork, that give an idea of the 21st-century acoustic and graphical identity of Switzerland.
Folkloric music, pictures of buildings, mountains, birds, noises of supermarket checkout counters, small typical Swiss phrases… what flows in front of our eyes and in our ears during our daily lives is cut, mixed and glued back together in a mosaic which encourages reflection:
- What does Switzerland sound like out of its boundaries?
- What sounds and images from our daily lives influence today’s culture?
- In what measure does Switzerland participate in a more and more globalised and digitalised world?
- What do these sounds tell us about 21st-century Switzerland?
Based in Berne, the Norient collective is composed of Thomas Burkhalter (ethno-musicologist, musical journalist and cultural producer), Michael Spahr (media artist and journalist) and Simon Grab (musician and producer in many musical styles). Together, they are in constant search of quirky marks in the musical repertoire of the 21st century. For their projects, they surround themselves with many artists from all horizons.
A first Sonic Traces performance “From the Arab World” came out in 2008 and was internationally produced in many festivals. “From Switzerland” was published in 2011 and was also performed in many places, including, last May, at the Swiss pavillon of Expo Milano 2015.