Co je Encyklopedie Profesora Glaçona ?

Encyklopedie profesora Glaçona nabízí alternativní svět k tomu, který obvykle považujeme za svět reálný. Je založený na představivosti, na znovuobjevení zapomenutých, opuštěných nebo nedokončených objektů, myšlenek, projektů, děl a zvířat. Encyklopedie nabízí různé formy ztvárnění: (automatické) texty, koláže, (animované) filmy, hudba (přibližně), výstavy v naučných objektech (galerie, veřejné zahrady), knihy (zatím 4 díly). 

Glaçon & La Guitare Automatique in Prague

On january 18th, in Prague, Art in Box gallery, was the ending event of an exhibition dedicated to DREAMS.

Here are some collages from the Encyclopaedia, in the beautiful cellar space of the gallery.

Philipp Schenker was the great officer of the Glaçon message.

The very important subjects were : one-second songs, the bankers, the calendar and the Jambon brothers.

Warm welcome from the friendly prague audience.

about Home Work, an interview with C. Clarino

How does the narrative relate to the musical aspects of the work?

Firstly, when i composed this work, all aspects of this work had to be as closely related to each other as possible. The different components (gestures, sound, text, length) must be connected.
At least, that was my goal.
The main point of Homework II: In The Garage is to show someone reading a generic instruction manual. This action is superimposed with a ritualistic attitude which transforms the reading and action of assembling the device into a trance.
The text alternates between the introspection of the performer and the text of the instruction manual. As the piece progresses, these two concepts merge.
The music does allude to the ritualist aspects and gives all the dramatical direction.  It also shows the destruction of the individual via the paroxysm of physical activity.
I must say, however, that the narrative is quite allusive and doesn't establish a clear plot. My difficult task was to be both precise and allusive…
The idea of body percussion and its short, percussive sounds is linked to the idea of building a mechanical / electronic device, both through the type of sounds and the "DIY" concept (the person in his garage building something produces all the sounds himself). This opposition between the mechanics and the absence of instrument (not so frequent into contemporary music) is the central point of the piece, because it questions the existence and the nature of the thing, of the tool, the object.

  What got you interested in incorporating physical gestures into musical works?

That is a complex question. I believe that music must escape any convention, whether they come from the contemporary music world or any other.  It may be a personal convention… In my case (I have a classical music background - I was a cellist and musicologist as well), my goal is to bring music outside the concert hall and outside of the traditional perception of "concert music."  I'm not giving up on music, but I try to push it against its external boundaries.
In that regard, I integrate various extra-musical elements: texts, gestures, images and found objects.  I feel that contemporary music is suffocating from being too much of "art for art's sake", or as Reinhardt puts it "art as art".  And to make sense of music activity, the use of non-musical materials is critical.
In the case of Home Work II: In The Garage, the gestures are connected to the idea of building an object.  But gesture is also something taken from daily life, which entices the viewer.
Gestures are strictly controlled in the training of the musician. The more virtuous a performer is, the more controlled his or her gestures are.  A lot of these gestures are parasites, and those are the ones I'm interested in, because they are not noble (it's very important to work with the "leftovers" of art). I'm not interested in gestures in general, I'm interested in non-musical gestures, in order to make them part of the work by their proximity with musical gestures.  The gestural material enhances the musical effect, and that's a very complex subject. It's possibly my most important question (of which I'm a beginner), as important as how text or language merges with music, or how music merges with visuals, because it carries more weight than simply a sonic experience, visual experience, understanding, and so forth. The potential is enormous.
Besides the fascist attitude of the entertainment industry, which convinces its audience of only ONE possible sound for ONE image, ONE possible music for ONE emotion, this domain of synesthesia is still open to experiments, especially in the field of smell and touch.

  What role does (or can) the theatrical component of your works have on the aural outcome of your music?

I think I've partially answered this in the previous question. The visual aspect of the piece is critical to such an extent that the sonic elements of the piece alone are not relevant.

Any other background info on In The Garage?

I would just mention that this work is part of a longer cycle which explores manic gestures in daily life, called Home Work, with three characters (the garage one is among them).

POP UP, cd, is released (at last)

This CD should be available in (good) stores, amazon (if it has ever been good).

At the moment, if you are interested, you can listen to samples of it on 

ictus.be

and on

Musica's blog

To order it, you can send me an email:
fsarhan / at / fsarhan. com

Soon (who knows when?), it should available on itunes.

all these photos are from L'Nfer performance in Strasbourg,
festival Musica 2007

What is this CD about ?

The excerpts of the two works presented on this record, l'Nfer and Orloff have in common to start with a testimony, and to be rooted in a non musical material, on which music projects its colours and give new meanings.

 l'Nfer is an autobiographical narration improvised in front of the camera, later notated as carefully as possible, including pitches, rhythms and gestures. 

I believe that in raw material, in its apparent mediocrity, lies an emotional treasury, full of energy, mystery and potential. 

Therefore i used this spoken narration as respectfully as possible, without trying to improve its mistakes and, and i built an instrumental coffin, used to double, accompany, ponctuates the speech, and moreover gives evidence to this spoken material.

In parallel with my documentary voice, i needed an obvious musical style, so that the contrast between written and unforeseen would be as clear as possible.

But it is a cradle as well as a grave because this notation and reproduction kills its freshness and fragility.

My voice (identically repeated on stage as well as in this recording) is wrapped into concentric layers: instruments, others musicians' voices, which pop in to comment, to judge or to double my voice. I also introduced interludes which make a background, a counterpoint to the travel's narration, sort of resting areas on the highway, so to speak. 

With Orloff, the project is quite similar, since music develops itself from possible dialogs of an invented scary movie. There is a strong link running from the daily experiences in an improvised speech in l'Nfer to the clichés of cinema (or what's left of it) with Orloff: the external voice, the found object, the daily, dirty, non artistic orality, captured in music writing. 

In both cases i used a pop and jazz rock instrumentation. It has nothing to do either with nostalgy or fashion, but to manipulate pre mashed up material, a cooked language. Its musical evidence is strong enough to fight with the non musicality of the spoken voice.

To build a drama with these rich and confused ideas carries the enthousiasm of "finding mystery inside the light" (Arthur Cravan)

However the music is completely written: its hull is riveted strongly enough to follow the text with an extreme precision, to draw plans and developements  with free interludes, when on the deck musicians can walk freely: i must mention here the numerous solos by Reinhold Braig, on fender Rhodes, by Mathieu Metzger, on saxophone, Jean-Luc Plouvier in Hell, online, and percussion riffs by Gerrit Nulens all through l'Nfer. 

At last, this flexible music would have kept drab without Jarek Frankowski's  wonderful ear, who enlightened all Orloff 's details by mixing it, and JL Plouvier's one who did the same for l'Nfer.

PAREDES

concert, installation, video

Paredes, 14th of september 2012, with DRUMMING, grupo da percussao

Une installation visuelle sur la place centrale de Paredes (Portugal)