2LP – Shelter Press

A powerful selection by David Simple and Vincent Romagny, this double LP is a compilation of tracks by artists (Félicia Atkinson, bruant&spangaro), sound from films by artists (David Lamelas), sound poetry and performances (John Giorno, Karl Holmqvist, Lisa Holzer & David Jourdan), works by cult composers (Benjamin Britten, Jean-François Pauvros, Gérard Pesson, Jean-Claude Vannier), legendary groups (Deux Filles), unclassifiables (Potima Zen Neumann, Joiejoiejoie) and a number of special recordings (Aidons Antoine, Melissa Saint-Pierre, Anne Steffens and Don Niño). The collection was put together during a series of three exhibitions on the topic of “double” at the Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporaines Strasbourg, France. Over the centuries – of course – there have been many works from different artistic fields (literary, pictorial, musical, film) that have played with the ideas of evil twins, “bilocation” and generally the notion of a duplicate of a real living person. At different latitudes and across many cultural traditions, the concept of the doppelganger almost always assumes – however – a disturbing character, foreshadowing a reconfiguration of identity or the harbinger of something persecutory. What the curators have tried to avoid here is the thematic and formal constraints of the various modulations of the concept, preferring to be underpinned by numerous literary texts and narratives, which are able to interact with each other or not, as the case may be. It’s from this viewpoint – then – that we interpret the many quotes on the record’s sleeve, a kind of mental map of an interesting subject, controversial and full of references and implications.

 

A2. bruant&spangaro ‘OU-A-O-OUM’