CD + insert card + book – Room40

Produced by Room40, Objects Of Interest is an interesting collaboration between Magda Mayas, a German experimental piano player and Tina Douglas, an Australian multidisciplinary artist. Douglas creates visual scores as a way to challenge the linearity of conventional notation and in her words to introduce “a whole world of elements of expression or sensibility”. Mayas is known for her complex instrumental techniques which use the piano as a way to break free from traditional classical music and the instrument itself. The two artists got to know each other in 2012 and began to collaborate almost immediately. Initially, Douglas contributed to the artwork of Fluoresce, an album by Spill, a duo featuring Mayas with percussionist-drummer Tony Buck. Douglas prepared a series of visual scores in February 2020 just before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. It then took Mayas almost a year to translate these scores into the correct sounds for Objects Of Interest. Specific techniques involving a classical piano, a Fender Rhodes and a broken clavinet were employed to conform to the ideas and images the scores evoked. Other objects were also manipulated to obtain particular resonances. On the first track, “No Thing” objects are dropped directly onto the strings inside the piano. In “Point 1”, the music is both ambient and exotic, while “Point 2” is closer to a form of jazz improvisation. Unusual melodies and voices are also used on the album, whose overall flow is alluring and emotionally engaging. From the improvisational and intuitive processes an inner fragility emerges, but this fragility is a strength, rather than a weakness. Together the two artists have created dynamic compositions that are refined and conceptual, but also sculptural and tactile. “Objects, materials and relationships cross over”, Douglas says, imperfection is inherent in this cross over and the work benefits from it. The CD comes with a limited edition book featuring documentation, photographs and a conversation between Mayas and Douglas.

 

Magda Mayas & Tina Douglas – Objects Of Interest