2LP – Holidays

Can you play a constantly updated digital archive? This is what Alessandro Bosetti does, collecting audio from dozens of individual encounters and recording sessions. Once collected, these contributions are anonymized and then reinterpreted into new forms. With each successive interaction and performance, Bosetti literally plays the archive, searching for hidden details and other minutiae, exploring the spaces in what has been created. The most coherent reference points in this work are ancient forms of vocal polyphony, and a more experimental modern or indeed, postmodern approach. Each new contribution to the archive lasts about 15-20 minutes, takes place individually and involves the recording of short vocal sounds. No preparation, intonation or vocal or musical proficiency is required to contribute to the archive. It is particularly interesting for Bosetti to highlight the peculiarities of each type of voice: all the sounds collected become part of the Plane/Talea archive and will be used in subsequent musical performances by the artist. Above all, it is the microtonal details that emerge from the incessant juxtaposition of the vocal contributions that make the difference – slight variations in intonation or a changing timbre create new forms of expression. The musical tension is infused by the inflection and energy of each fragment and a range of instrumentation including a harpsichord, various types of analogue synths, a crystal organ, a grand piano and a Hammond organ. The four compositions on Plane/Talea 31-34 were created between 2017 and 2018, the first two (31-32) in a country house in Vicobarone in the Piacenza hills, the remaining ones (33-34) during a week-long residency at the Studio Venezia, an environment created by artist Xavier Veilhan in the French pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

 

Alessandro Bosetti – Plane Talea #31 #34, Excerpt 1

 

Alessandro Bosetti – Plane Talea #31 #34, Excerpt 2