On 27 December 1831, the HMS Beagle took to sea under the command of
Captain FitzRoy. The goal of the expedition was to complete the
surveying of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego begun during its first
voyage and to carry out a range of chronometric measurements in various
places throughout the world. On board was the young Charles Darwin, who
recorded his impressions of this five-year odyssey in his daily log,
The Voyage of the Beagle. The descriptions and observations in it would
germinate into his theory of evolution, as formulated over 20 years
later, after a period of extremely intensive research and meticulous
reflections, in his main work, On the Origin of Species.
The
expedition would, however, not only result in a revolutionary idea, it
would also profoundly change the life of Darwin, who boarded the Beagle
as a young theology student and disembarked as a naturalist. The
spatial transition from one port of landing to another went along with
a personal transformation. It was not a case of a previously developed
theory leading to the journey and thus change, but rather the change
itself making possible the theory. Far from any kind of goal-oriented
thinking at the outset, it was a question of interest being awakened by
a heretofore unexplored world.
This is the starting point of the
work “Transition Part 2” by Florian Kmet and Stefan Németh (alias
lokai), follow-up project to their latest album release “Transition”
(thrill jockey, 2009). Passages from The Voyage of the Beagle show
Darwin as an attentive, by no means humourless and extremely curious
observer and budding biologist. His talents as a writer in depicting
the various landscapes and experiences of Nature come through as well.
Sound collages and concrete music excerpts pick up on these text
images, contrasting with and building on them. The focus of the work is
not so much on the original venues but rather on the process of change
and movement, the transition between musical or geographical elements.
The branching out of sound levels leads listeners to an
audio
landscape that stands on its own and gradually distances itself from
the text. This leaves each listener free to formulate his or her own
interpretation of many passages in this amalgamation of narrative and
sound material, thus creating a multi-layered tale out of an apparently
linear report. The common
thread throughout is the transition itself.
Lokai are Florian Kmet and Stefan Németh.
Voice: Anat Stainberg
Supported by SKE austromechana.
STEFAN NÉMETH
Born in 1973 in Baden bei Wien. Studies in biology.
Since 1995, active on the cutting edge between electronically and acoustically
generated music.
Permanent member of the Radian (with Martin Brandlmayr and John Norman) a
Lokai Groups (with Florian Kmet). Cofounder of the experimental recording labe
Mosz.
Music for films, videos and installations.
http://www.radian.at
http://www.lokai.at
FLORIAN
KMET
Born in 1973 in Innsbruck.
Studies in classical guitar (concert and voice teaching diplomas) at the Vienna M
Academy.
Since 1991, active as a musician, singer and composer. Member of lokai, Trio
Exklusiv, Fatima Spar & ff, Superlooper and participant in the solo project KMET
Music for theatre, performance and radio.
http://kmet.klingt.org
http://www.lokai.at
ANAT STAINBERG
Performance
artist, writer and video maker, with traditional theater and film
background – originally an actress from Tel Aviv and since 2004 based
in Europe. Her works were shown at Galleries (Stedelijk Museum Bureau
Amsterdam), Performance-Centers (Tanzquartier, Vienna) and Music and
film festivals (Wien Modern, UNIMOVIE Italy).
LINK:
http://oe1.orf.at/artikel/242963
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