Composer
Saturday, November 17, 2018
St. Petersburg Conservatory
ul. Glinki, 2
11:00-17:00
The VII St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum
Treatise by Cornelius Cardew: practical experience of the interpretation. Lecture by Yuri Akbalkan in the frame of the IX International Conference “Prospects of Professional Education in Music”.
1. Set up the portrait of Yellow Cat* in front of your eyes at the optimum distance away from it
2. Avoid looking at the portrait in the first place
3. Start listening to J. S. Bach’s Pastorale in F Major, BWV 590
4. Very slowly (really s l o w l y) look up at the portrait while listening to the music
5. Behold Yellow Cat
6. Then: ad libitum
interdisciplinary project: light, dance, sound,
finding/created objects and documents
2016/17
45’→
The title ПУСТ* has several connotations: on the one hand, it signifies a “wild, uninhabited, dense, pathless forest” (Belavezha Forest) that would otherwise consist primarily of emptiness and desolation. At the same time, the word means “let it be”, signifying a kind of acceptance of inhabiting the political wilderness. This is a criticism of society and ourselves.
The artists’ collective behind the project ПУСТ* consists of four representatives from different artistic genres: the composer Yuri Akbalkan, the video and media artist Snezhana Vinogradova, the choreographer Alexandra Portyannikova and the visual artist Sergey Shabohin. Although the artists work with different types of media, there are similarities in their approach to art and the themes they deal with.
All four collective participants have left the academic concept of art behind them, stepping outside the limits of traditional formats in their artistic practice. Additionally, all four artists work within the framework of art in public space and incorporate elements of physicality into their work. Common themes in the artists’ respective works are archives and maps and the inclusion of political as well as historical elements.
The project ПУСТ* refers to events that took place on December 7-8, 1991, during which the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belavezha Accords, officially dissolving the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
This extremely important political event occurred in a hunting cabin in the woods of the Belavezha Forest (Belarus), the last primeval lowland forest in Europe. These events, which took place under a veil of secrecy, are still mythologized to this day. Various sources report a variety of controversial events. Some assert that the premises where the treaty was signed had been surrounded by secret services that did not intervene. Other sources state that the treaties were signed in a drunken state. There is a prevalent rumor that, once signed, the documents temporarily disappeared and were then found in the trash bin the following day. Others conjecture that the signatories feared being accused of treason and had made preparations to flee across the border to Poland by walking through the forest.
The authors of the ПУСТ* project are representative of a generation that witnessed the disintegration of the Soviet Union and thereby helped shape the historical trauma of the era.
Using artistic methods, the collective attempts to imagine the events in the Belavezha Forest from the perspective of its participants, drawing parallels between fear of the “wild forest” and fear of wild politics, between being completely adrift but also spontaneously decisive, between the enormous impact of this political decision and a series of unpredictable and absurd factors that influenced it.
12.09–09.10.2016
Schwarzwald und ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe, Germany
Team: Yuri Akbalkan, Alexandra Portyannikova,
Sergey Shabohin, Snezhana Vinogradova
9.10.2016 / 20:00
Kubus, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
Autors Team: Yuri Akbalkan, Alexandra Portyannikova, Sergey Shabohin, Snezhana Vinogradova
Team ZKM: Luise Wiesenmüller (Produktionsleitung), Hans Gass (Licht, Veranstaltungstechnik), Sebastian Schottke (Tonmeister), Matthias Müller (Tontechnik), Bernhard Sturm (Betriebstechnik), David Luchow (Assistenz Betriebstechnik), Götz Dipper (Musikinformatik), Yannick Hofmann (Künstlerbetreuung), Caro Mössner (Sekretariat), Christina Zartmann, Anna Titova (Video-Dokumentation), Anton Kossjanenko (Aufnahme)
05–18.07.2017
Minsk und Białowieża-Urwald, Weißrussland
Projekt presentation in the frame of the festival „Work Hard! Play Hard! Transmission“ in Minsk
Team: Yuri Akbalkan, Daria Plokhova,
Alexandra Portyannikova, Sergey Shabohin,
Snezhana Vinogradova
Camera: Alexey Kubasov
23.11.2017 / 20:00
Installation: 23–26.11.2017
Berthold-Zentrum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Team: Yuri Akbalkan, Isadorino Gore Dance co-op (Daria Plokhova, Alexandra Portyannikova), Sergey Shabohin, VOLNA (Nikita Golyshev, Snezhana Vinogradova), Sergey Kostyrko
Idee, Design, Objekte
Sergey Shabohin
Choreografie
Konzept, Performance: Isadorino Gore Dance co-op (Daria Plokhova, Alexandra Portyannikova)
Kostüme: VOLNA
Lichtinstallation
Konzept, Produktion: VOLNA (Nikita Golyshev, Snezhana Vinogradova)
Elektronische Montageunterstützung: Nikita Savinyh
Konstruktion: VOLNA (Dmitry Gavkalyuk, Katerina Morza)
Klang
Komposition und Soundkonzept: Yuri Akbalkan
Digitaler Synthesizer Entwicklung und Programmierung: Sergey Kostyrko
Videoinstallation
Konzept, Redaktion, Produktion: VOLNA
Kamera: Alexey Kubasov, Sergey Shabohin
Projektdokumentation
Kamera: Polina Korotaeva, VOLNA
Foto: Valery Smirnov
Goethe-Institut St. Petersburg
Institutsleiter: Dr. Günther Hasenkamp
Initiatorin des Projekts, Institutsleiterin des Goethe-Institut
St. Petersburg, 2014-2017: Dr. Angelika Eder
Projektkoordinatorinnen: Jana Soboleva, Snezhana Vinogradova
ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe
Leitung der Institut für Musik und Akustik: Ludger Brümmer
Licht, Veranstaltungstechnik: Hans Gass
Tonmeister: Sebastian Schottke
Tontechnik: Matthias Müller
Musikinformatik/Systemadministration: Götz Dipper
Aufnahme: Anton Kossjanenko
Betriebstechnik: Bernhard Sturm
Assistenz Betriebstechnik: David Luchov
Softwareentwicklun: Chikashi Miyama
Projekte/Veranstaltungen: Yannick Hofmann, Luise Wiesenmüller
Video-Dokumentation: Anna Titova, Christina Zartmann, Sofia Kessel
Mediaartbase.de: Daniel Höpfer
Sekretariat: Caro Mössner
Besonderer Dank
Alexey Bratochkin, William Cohen, Ksenia Diodorova, Vera Dzedok, Viktor Fiht, Justina Fink, Zhanna Gladko, Tatjana Kirianova, Beate Körner, Evgeny Korniag, Roman Krasilnikov, Klim Losovsky, Alexey Lunev, Simon Matikashvili, Pavel Preobrazhensky, Tatjana Pronina, Nemanja Sarbajic, Agata Semenova, Viktor Smolensky, Nikola Spesivtsev, Dzina Zhuk, Tatjana Zhukova
Foto:
Valeriy Smirnov (0, 9, 10, 11)
Ў Gallery (1)
Sergey Shabohin (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Alexey Kubasov (12)
VideodokumentationKamera: Polina Korotaeva
Bearbeitung: VOLNA
A detailed description of the project is available in Russian >>
for three performers
2013
22′
0.1. for three performers (ver. 2016)
Christian Müller (clarinet)
Cristián Alvear (guitar)
Stefan Thut (pure tone, table lamp)
06.06.2016 Biel, Switzerland, La Voirie à Biel
0.1. [двоичный код] — идея ритма, сведённая к абсолютному минимуму, мельчайшей неделимой частице, формулирующей единую прозрачную структуру: вопрос/ответ.
Date of premiere: 18.11.2013
Location: New Stage of Alexandrisky Theatre
City, Country: St. Petersburg, Russia
Performers: Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (MCME)
Ivan Bushuev (piccolo)
Oleg Tantsov (clarinet)
Yuri Akbalkan (pd, table lamp, timepiece)
for solo recorder 2009 1’40”
Yuri Akbalkan (recorder), Tatyana Shorokhova, Dmitri Zaytsev (audio engineers); The Rimski-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory
To Pterodactyl, who lived on the banks of the Volga, Undory surroundings, 120 million years ago.
Date of premiere: 23.12.2009 Location: Rimski-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory City, Country: St. Petersburg, Russia Performer: Yuri Akbalkan
for seven sine waves (and video)
23’10” / 40′ / 70′
Alexandra Korableva, Elizaveta Akbalkan, Maxim Chistyakov, Oleg Gudachev, Yuri Akbalkan (tone generators), Tatyana Shorokhova (audio engineer); The Rimski-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory, May 14, 2014
5.1.1. — signal type structure — five analog sine tone generators (mono) and one digital sine tone generator (stereo)
The work “5.1.1.” was originally composed for
the Pythian Games Composers’ Competition
Performed for the first time by eNsemble Pro Arte
on the New Stage of Alexandrinsky Theatre
St. Petersburg, Russia, April 25, 2014
There are also 23-, 40- and 70-minutes versions with or without video.
for two performers
2012
∞
Based on [place] by Antoine Beuger
Play any sounds at different locations of the space
Date of premiere: 05.05.2012
Location: Rimski-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory
City, Country: St. Petersburg, Russia
Performers: Yuri Akbalkan, Kirill Shirokov
for five voices
2010
ca. 3’30”
Stanislav Oporkov, Maxim Chistyakov, Elizaveta Morozova, Marina Poleukhina, Yuri Akbalkan (voices), Tatyana Shorokhova (audio engineer); The Rimski-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory
RU
Данная композиция представляет собой опыт погружения в мир одной звуковой фонемы [s] и отсылает к жанровой модели итальянского мадригала XVI века — в то время он являлся основным жанром для различных творческих экспериментов, особенно в области сочетания поэзии и музыки (в том числе, звукописи, так называемых мадригализмов), театрализации, местом испытания новых приёмов композиционной техники, категорий гармонии (особенно хроматики и микрохроматики), ритма и формы.
Date of premiere: 11.11.2010
Location: Rimski-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory
City, Country: St. Petersburg, Russia
Performers: Stanislav Oporkov, Elizaveta Morozova, Maxim Chistyakov, Marina Poleukhina, Yuri Akbalkan