Month: January 2018

Two Way Mirror (2017)

Installation consisting of 3 books, 2 cassettes, custom glasses with mirrors on both sides.

The release of a vinyl record titled Furnace.

Twerg Studium, Copenhagen, October 2017

As part of the exhibition series Former Commodity, curated by Alexander Holm.

Interview in Blacklisted

Photos by Alexander Holm

TWO WAY MIRROR

A small exhibition, a still life consisting of books and tapes, that investigates the relationship between a few historically contextual objects; instruments of insight, possibilities and control on the one hand and on the other a mystery that conceals itself.

I imagine there’s shining sheet of golden metal between these kinds of knowledge. A space where we can share and create maps of knowledge, and one that is different. The part that is not shared and is not visible. Has no interest. Face towards the sun. The night is also a sun.

The surfaces of objects. And the shiny surface that is visible and touchable and promises sensibilities into a world that is not here right now but always a millisecond away in the far distance

Some things have a reflecting surface, some don’t. We make instruments of control and insight. We make habits and systems. Different economies made for different insights.

Does the knowledge and experience, obtained by these instruments, pass through this shining barrier.

Itsukushima (2017)

7 channel electronic drone

as part of Hiroshi Sambuichis architectural installation in the 16 mio liter underground water reservoir, Cisternerne, Copenhagen.

Presented by CPH ART WEEK august 27. – 28.

Curated by Aukje Lepoutre Ravn

Supported by Statens Kunstfond

Listen

(opens soundcloud in a new tab)

Dracula Never Ends (2017)

Electronic drone for 7 speakers at David Risley Gallery.

Dracula Never Ends.

Tobias R Kirstein live drone performance celebrating the cassette release of Tony Conrad / Tobias R. Kirstein ‘Live at Mayhem March 1. 2012’ on Insula Music


5 years ago and so many things have happened.
5 years ago I played a duo concert with Tony Conrad at Mayhem. We spent the afternoon together, talking and trying out stuff.
Mostly just talking. He had a sore shoulder which meant we should take it slow from the beginning.

          The recording of the concert was on the shelf for some years until Johs Lund made a mix and convinced me to release it. The tape was ready for a while. Andreas Korsgaard made a great cover. Insula Records was happy to put it out. Thank you!

Life and death happened.
Red and golden colors.
Such a little box of plastic and magnetic tape means so much.
All things considered, I think it is appropriate to celebrate the release instead of hanging around and getting all sentimental.

No talking.

A big celebratory drone in an art space suits the participants and the sound well.

David Risley Gallery, the best gallery in town, was kind enough to open their doors.
So here we are.

These Are Your Horizons (2016) curation and concept with Jacob Lillemose and Claus Haxholm

Open Mic for the Dead (2016)

Curatorium is a curatorial non-event celebrated on an annual basis, initated by Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard.

K.R.E.V. Royal National Football Team (2016)

Presenting the jersey of the Royal National Football Team of Konungariket Elgaland – Vargaland at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2016.

Playing the national anthem with Andreas Führer, Sune Nielsen and Jacob Kirkegaard.

http://elgaland-vargaland.org/

Tulpa (2016)

Tulpa – a fictive topography
4 jun – 14 aug 2016
 Sound recordings of rocks, a mobile with speakers attached, photographic prints made in collaboration with Ursula Nistrup and Miriam Nielsen

Tulpa is a total installation consisting of manipulated photos, collages, sound, sculpture and a logbook creating the possibility of an unknown landscape.

Fotografisk Center, Staldgade 16, 1699 København V

Review (in danish): http://seismograf.org/hvad-kan-stenen-fortaelle

IMPERIA (2011/2012/2015/2016)

I M P E R I A

a collaborative work by Jacob Kirkegaard and Tobias R. Kirstein.

Recorded at Barsebäck Nuclear Power Plant, Sweden 2004.
Vinyl release on Posh Isolation in 2012. Private release on CDR in 2011.

Posh Isolation wrote: This limited edition (of 300) LP is an art work based on recordings from the now defunct Nuclear Power Plant Barsebäck located in southern Sweden, and is a recording unlike most. The incredible strength of the source sound dances delicate through the clear drones and balances the piece in a strange and alluring place, never too demanding yet never relaxed

IMPERIA borrows its title from a poem written in 1912 by the Danish poet Sophus Claussen that deals with the relationship between destruction and the untamed forces of creation

The CD version of Imperia was released on march 10, 2011. I made an exhibition that investigated what happened on the following days, where the nuclear power plant Fukushima in Japan was heavily affected by an earthquake, resulting in a terrible nuclear catastrophe.

Photo Mikkel MOrris

Fra Passive/Aggressive:

Af Tobias Kirstein

“Imperia” (la. for kraft/ordre) er et lydværk, som Jacob Kirkegaard og jeg optog på Barsebäck Kernekraftværk i 2004.

Det har siden fundet mange former og udtryk og bliver på en eller anden forunderlig måde ved med at funkle og kaste nye betydninger af sig. “Imperia” er som gløder som engang imellem blusser op, men aldrig slukker helt. Et langt gloende liv.

Vi var hver især skræmte over at skulle besøge Barsebäck, at gå ind i løvens hule – Dødsstjernen hvorfra al ondskab strømmede, da vi var børn i 1970’erne. Dengang hvor absolutterne stod i kø og ondskab fik en nærmest metafysisk karakter. Men vi ville tage kraften fra stedet og undersøge den, sende den videre.

At få en aftale i hus med Barsebäck var en temmelig tidskrævende proces. Jeg skrev temmelig mange mails, havde lange telefonsamtaler med deres kommunikationsansvarlige og skulle sikkerhedsgodkendes, før de rent faktisk troede på, at vi bare ville optage lyden af værket. Vi blev til gengæld godt modtaget derovre af veteranen Robert Wahlström som viste os rundt og på syngende skånsk fortalte os om herkomsten af alle de lyde vi hørte. Han vidste alt om enhver susen og sang fra hvert af de hundreder af rør som slanger sig i gigantiske rum. Lyden her var overvældende og knusende.

Året efter da Barsebäck stod for lukning, komponerede vi med nogle af optagelserne et ‘Requiem til Barsebäck’. Værket blev opført på DRs P2 – sådan noget kunne lade sig gøre dengang. Barsebäck er i øvrigt stadig ved at lukke ned. Såvidt jeg husker, kan brændselsstavene først komme op i 2020 og vil jo stråle hundreder af år frem i tiden, gemt væk dybt nede under klipperne på en hemmelig lokation. På den måde resonerer “Imperia” også med Barsebäck.

Jeg fandt Sophus Claussens digt ‘Imperia’, som blev centralt for vores måde at komponere og udvikle det voldsomme stof vi havde mellem hænderne.

‘Jeg er Imperia, Jordmassens Dronning, /urstærk som Kulden, der blunder i Bjergenes Skød,/ mørk og ubøjelig — ofte jeg drømmer mig død.’

‘Hver, som er ustemt og ikke faar Tone/ efter en Sang, som man synger i Klynger og Kor/ — hver, som er ustemt, er Jord af min Jord.’

En verden hvor mennesker og alt det vi forestiller os ingen betydning har. Der er kræfter som er større end os. Det gav et perspektiv som vi fulgte op med en tekst som fulgte med CD’en: “The force of the radioactivity is present in the sounds on this CD and might tilt the balance of the atoms that you consist of. The sweet singing frequenzies of Imperia might change the world. […] Everything we humans consider to be secure and stable is in a constant state of flux and the atoms which happen to form a house or a chair, might as well agree, by the laws of nature, on forming a human, a rock or a reptile. Så den skrøbelige tilstand af virkelighed kunne destrueres og finde nye former.”

I coveret står der desuden ‘Anyone holding a frying pan owns death’. Det er et citat af W. S. Burroughs som køligt peger på at magten og kraften ikke hører til i institutionerne, men i hænderne på hvem som helst. Den gode gamle tilstand af panik.

I 2006 stod lyden i Marmorkirkens 11 sekunders efterklang strålende mørkt. Jacob opførte sit værk “Aion” fra Tjernobyl inviteret af LAB, så det gav god mening også opføre “Imperia”, som det nu hed. I 2011 fandt lyden og tanken en form som en helt sort CD lavet i samarbejde med Nis Sigurdsson fra Escho. Den udkom dagen før Fukushima-katastrofen, dokumenteret på min udstilling i BKS garage, hvor timerapporter fra det internationale atomagentur blev hængt op. Vi var opmærksomme på, hvad mon det var “Imperia” havde sat i bevægelse og fulgte det nøje.

CD’en cirkulerede blandt de interesserede, indtil Loke Rahbek fra pladeselskabet Posh Isolation tilbød at udgive det på vinyl. Lyden på CD’en varer godt 50 minutter og skulle nu kortes ned til 2 x 20 minutter for at passe til et andet medie. Det føltes meget voldsomt og som en form for helligbrøde at klippe lyden over i to. Men det blev en smuk plade med lyst cover og at lyden nu var fordelt over to vinylsider kom der helt nye interessante sider frem. Fordi PI er et så seriøst foretagende, ramte lyden samtidig også et nyt publikum rundt omkring i verden og blev hurtigt udsolgt. Hvis man er interesseret har både Jacob og jeg et par ekstraeksemplarer stående.

Vi besluttede, at “Imperia” også skulle være med på Jacobs udstilling Earside Out på Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde i 2015. Så vi mødtes i Berlin med rolig grøn te og whisky, indtil vi fandt noget helt nyt materiale frem fra arkiverne. En lysere lyd som stadig var gloende varm – rolig og destruktiv. Denne version fik sit eget smukke rum på udstillingen.

Nu har “Imperia” fundet en ny form. Kurator og skribent Jacob Lillemose har gennem årene brugt Imperia-lyden som indledning til sine foredrag om teknologiens urolige energi. Lillemose skrev efterfølgende en fascinerende tekst til Jacob Kirkegaards bog Earside Out (udgivet af Museet for Samtidskunst), der tog udgangspunkt i “Imperia” som en form for lydlig besættelse. Den vinkel har pustet nyt liv i gløderne. Og nye farver.

I regi af udstillingsstedet X AND BEYOND, som har det til sin undersøgende og stærkt interessante praksis omkring katastrofen i alle dens grusomme og fantastiske facetter, kan “Imperia” høres i galleriet i Griffenfeldsgade og nye tekster kan læses.

Imens gløder de endnu ikke udforskede lyde i Imperia-arkivet. Måske finder de en dag en ny sammenhæng at stråle i.

Info: “Imperia” geninstalleres på X AND BEYOND torsdag den 25. februar kl. 18.00-21.00 i forbindelse med udstillingsrækken “The Atomic Age Revisisted”

Imperia XAB-version (2016)

With Jacob Kirkegaard.

Sound installation at Gallery X and Beyond, Copenhagen based in recordings from the nuclear powerplant Barsebäck, Sweden made by Kirstein and Kirkegaard.

Curated and with new texts by Jacob Lillemose.

 

A Users Manual (2015)

Based on the assumption that ghost stories are the perfect score for a specific topos.

Mixed media, 3 posters, sound installation outside of the gallery, a scorecard, exhibited at Gallery Disjecta, Portland USA.

Curated by Chiara Giovando

We wanted to create a work that couldn’t be sold, that left no visible trace and that anybody could do (i.e. low production value).

We created this idea that listening can be an aggressive act. That it can change the surroundings. Instead of being an impassive listener you are active.

We created a score card that you could have in your pocket.:

Sværmen/The Swarm (2014)

Sound, text and video installation including a display case with live house flies, a brass vase, white sugar.

Exhibited at the Sort/Hvid theatre, Copenhagen, as part of the Golden Days remembrance of WW1.

Curated and produced by Jacob Lillemose

“Den 20. august, 1918 havde engelske Judith Boyle fra Millwall en oplevelse, som hun mente var en vision om det samfund der ville følge efter den snarlige afslutning på Første Verdenskrig. Boyle var så vidt vides en ganske almindelig borger, men den dag var hun i følge hende selv vidne til noget ganske ualmindeligt. Hvad hun helt præcist så kan man kun gisne om, men hun efterlod et ark med noter, som indikerer at det var voldsomt. Dagens efter skrev Boyle til redaktøren på The Post og bad ham om at trykke noterne, så læsere kunne gøre brug af informationen. Samfundets fremtidige skæbne afhang af det, skrev hun. Noterne blev dog ikke trykt og deres eksistens har ikke været kendt af andre end det fåtal af de folk, som gennem tiden har haft dem mellem hænderne. Den danske kunstner Tobias R. Kirstein har imidlertid fået lov til at fotografere både brev og noter af den private samler, der siden 1997 har haft dem i sin samling af Først Verdenskrigs-genstande. I følge samleren fandt han noter og brev i en antikvarisk bog. Kirstein har påtaget sig rollen som “læser” og har gjort brug af noter og brev til at skabe en installation, der på spekulativ vis levendegør Boyles vision.”

‘180 Slag Mod Krigsaberne’ by Henning Christiansen (1988/2014)

Performed at Sejerøfestivalen, Denmark.

Thank you to the Christiansen family and Thomas Buhl Wiggers/ Emil KS.

Buy the monography on Henning Christiansen at Antipyrine.

 

 

AUDIO:VISUALS Jomi Massage, TR Kirstein, Anna Maria Helgadottir (2014)

From the press release of CPH:DOX: “Using the concept of ‘parallel’ as their starting point, the musicians and artists Jomi Massage and Tobias Kirstein and the video artist Anna Maria Helgadottir have founded a joint project between performance, film and sound art. Parallels are the opposite of opposites, and the three otherwise so different artists have also teamed up to a project that Jomi Massage (aka Signe Høirup Wille-Jørgensen) calls a journey through inertia and physical states. A visual and sound-saturated journey in tones and noise, fissures and images of what is otherwise such a quiet inner place’. A live experiment from the three veterans of Copenhagen’s underground scene.”

Reacts / Jomi Massage: Primitives (2014)

Reactions on Jomi Massage´s album Primitives from:

Nils Gröndahl
Mads Emil Nielsen
SØS Gunver Ryberg
TR Kirstein/C Haxholm
i am now
Maria Laurette Friis
Birgitte Alsted
Heidi Mortenson

The Being Music 2014

http://cargocollective.com/thebeingmusic

Arbejde er det der adskiller os fra dyrene/ Work is what separates us from the animals (2014)

with Claus Haxholm.

4 tons of chalk, sound.

Two day performance installation as part of ACTS 2014, Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde, Denmark.

ACTS 2014 – Festival for lyd og performance. Museet for samtidskunst, Roskilde. Foto: Kristoffer Juel Poulsen

 

ACTS 2014 – Festival for lyd og performance. Museet for samtidskunst, Roskilde. Foto: Kristoffer Juel Poulsen

“Arbejde er det, der adskiller os fra dyrene
Haxholm & Kirsteins performanceinstallation er et nøje planlagt forløb over to dage, som involverer røg, kalk, diverse beholdere, lyd, bevægelse og fysisk arbejde – ude som inde på museets arealer. Værket afsøger forbindelser mellem det ophøjede og det banale, mellem dagens arbejde og materialets langstrakte tid. Mellem disse poler foregår energiudvekslinger og feedbackprocesser, som transformeres og opløser sig selv.

Duoens værker behandler et felt mellem performativ lydkunst og manuelt arbejde som forskellige måder at organisere energi på. I tidligere fysiske værker er et galleri blevet fyldt med flere tons jord og derefter tømt igen – eller lyd er blevet begravet i store huller i en baghave.”

http://samtidskunst.dk/udstillinger/acts-14

Dirt (2014)

Photo series of piles of dirt

as part of the group show This is our Art This is our Music, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen.

Grundspor / Ground Tracks (2013)

With Claus Haxholm.

Theorems:

(I) ”In a non-euclidean space, parallel lines are those that intersect only in the limit of infinity”

(II) ”Lines are vectors of energy”

(III) ”Freedom is around the corner”

As part of The Hammer Without a Master: Henning Christiansen’s archive

22.6 – 25.8. 2013

Kunsthal 44 Møn. Henning Cristiansen var med til at starte Kunsthallen 44 Møn. Initiativet blev taget af en række fluxsuskunstnere på Møn med kurator Rene Block i spidsen. Efter Henning Christiansens død i 2008 opkøbte René Block rettighederne til hans arkiv.

Udstillingen er blevet til i et samarbejde mellem kurator Chiara Giovando og de inviterede kunstnere.

Medvirkende kunstnere og komponister:

Society for the Disorderly Speakers (DK), Jakob Kirkegaard, (DK) Tori Wrånes (NO), Leif Elggren (SE), Gordon Monahan (CA) Marja-leena Sillanpää (SE) Tobias Kirstein og Claus Haxholm (DK) -Andreas Führer (DK), Johannes Lund (DK) og Vagn E. Olsson (DK).

 

Rot (2013)

Low frequency sine wave in the basement of the defunct B&W ship yard in Elsinore, as part of the Click Festival, 2013.

Vitt Brus / White Noise (2012)

Performance at The Nordic Embassies, Transmediale, Berlin, with swedish poet Pär Thörn.

Curated by Jacob Lillemose.

White Noise (2012) by Miriam Nielsen

Into the Landscape 2012– a series of short landscape films by Miriam Nielsen and a selection of Danish contemporary artists.

One place, one day and one meeting sets the framework for these films. The films combine landscape photography and artistic reportage. She has invited 4 artists to show her a particular landscape, which is significant to them. Within this framework – one place, one day and one meeting – different scenarios unfold, each film attempting to portray the uniqueness of a particular landscape as well as the artist’s unique relationship with the location through images and sound design.

In WHITE NOISE. Tobias Kirstein walks through a dense forest with his eyes closed using the white noise reflected by the trees to navigate.

Blood Mystery (2012) with Johs Lund

2 bass amps, metal sheet, microphones, pigs blood, liquid dispenser, Mayhem, 2012.

83 ofre for den forrige hukommelse / 83 victims of the former memory (2012)

With Rasmus Graff and Johs Lund performance at Lyd + Litteraturfestival, Århus 2012.

Chalk, knives, text, mortar, microphones.

 

Sleepless Dream – an ensemble of imagined forces within its society that is poised to tear it apart (2012)

Collaborative exhibition of sound and sculpture with Charlotte Walentin at FASAD, Malmø.

“Den svenske billedkunster Charlotte Walentin og den danske lydkunstner TR Kirstein står bag en-dags udstillingen “…an ensemble of imagined forces within its society that is poised to tear it apart””. Poltergeists fanget i metal, indre stemmer mod plexiglas, en foruroligende drømmetilstand spændt op mellem ekstrem ro og uro, stasis og vibration. Baseret i et minimum af samtaler og forestillinger om drømte forhørsteknikker bringes det umælende i fokus gennem et 4 timer langt forløb med minimale forandringer i vente.”

http://www.charlottewalentin.se/

Digging Dirt (2011) with Claus Haxholm and Andreas Führer

Concerts for Dreamachines (2011) with Runar Magnusson

Suspended pause (2011)

The election campaign of Dror Feiler (2010)

In the 2010 Swedish general election, artist and composer Dror Feiler was a candidate for the Left Party (Swedish: Vänsterpartiet) in Stockholm.

To help him spread his message, I decided to include his election campaign in the exhibition I created with Maiken Vibe Bauer as part of the Images-festival in Copenhagen.

Dror Feiler obtained 1,784 personal preference votes in Stockholm Municipality (4.51% of the Left Party votes, the second most voted candidate on the list after party chairman Lars Ohly) and 629 personal preference votes in Stockholm County (1.99% of the Left Party votes).

http://www.drorfeiler.se/

Watch a short portrait of Dror Feiler made by Blixa Bargeld here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksw5eXrADc0

Releases / Publications

Records, CD’s and Cassette Tapes

BÅNDMAGASINET – 1. udgave, November 2017 Bidrag fra: Sandra Boss, Tobias Kirstein, Claus Haxholm, Lars Bech Pilgaard, Johannes Björkman, Jan Høgh Stricker, Asger Kudahl, William Kudahl. http://www.resonansrecordings.com/bandmagasinet/

Kirstein – Furnace (LP) Sensorisk Verden

Tony Conrad/Kirstein – Live at Mayhem (cass) Insula

Kirstein/ Nielsen I AM SO HAPPY I COULD SPIT / I WILL NOT SEE (LP) Infinite Waves

Kirstein / Joachim Nordwall – 15 Minutes Of Mayhem In Mayhem (Cass, S/Sided, Ltd)

Kirstein/ Kirkegaard – IMPERIA (LP) Posh Isolation

Lights People with Leif Elggren/Goodiepal (LP) Firework Edition Records

Lights People & CM Von Hausswolff (CD) Firework Edition Records

Lund, A. Hartvig, M. Bertel, A. Führer & TR Kirstein – Plays Spiral & Metatron’s Cube (LP) 2014

Johns Lunds & TR Kirstein – Lithobolia (10″) yoyooyoy

Pär Thörn & TR Kirstein – Slug Bait (Cass, Ltd, C30)

Thörn /Kirstein (Cass, Ltd, C30)

To\To Pois Demonit Pois (LP) Cejero 2014

To\To\Tu with Robert Turman – To\To\Tu (LP, S/Sided) Halloween Creativity 2015

Find more on Discogs

Texts and Books

Force Majeure, tekster af Zven Balslev, Jonas Okholm Jensen, T.R. Kirstein, Illustreret af Zven Balslev, 40 sider, begrænset oplag, ude på CULT PUMP.

Der Findes ikke Løsninger, Kun Beslutninger OVO #32 60 sider, garnhæftet. Køb her

Den yttersta dagen Tidningen har limmad rygg och är 56 sidor tjock. Upplagan är begränsad till 133 exemplar. Forlaget Storno. UDSOLGT.

Gallus indeholder opskrifter på galblæk, en oversættelse H.P. Lovecrafts langdigt Svampe fra Yuggoth, fotos m.m. Katalog udgivet i forbindelse med udstillingen Gallus af Rasmus Rosengaard og Tobias R. Kirstein på Galleri D7 v./kurator Melou Vangaard. Tekst og billeder af Tobias R. Kirstein. Layout Jeppe Pendrup Jørgensen. Print KLD Repro med et oplag på 100.

Tulpa is an artists’ (log)book published in conjunction with the exhibition “Tulpa – a fictive topography” at Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen, 2016. The book consists of travel notes from a fictional place in words and images. Photographs, drawings and an onomatopoeic sound walk describe an undefined landscape. With text contributions by Deepa Bhasthi, Jesper Elving and Sharada Srinivasan. Edition of 300. Published June 2016. Graphic Design: Martin Ransby. www.ransbyeditions.com

83 ofre for den forrige hukommelse, Rasmus Graff, Johannes Lund, Tobias Kirstein, 32 pages written for and performed during Lyd+Litteraturfestivalen/Festival for Sound and Literature, Godsbanen, Århus, 27. april 2012.

William S. Burroughs De Vilde Drenge, Translation and foreword with Kasper Opstrup.  Antipyrine 2017.

William S. Burroughs Akademi 23 translated and edited with Kasper Opstrup, Antipyrine 2014.

Det Arkipelagiske Legeme /The Archipelagic Body folder text for the exhibition Vestindiske Forestillinger by Jacob Kirkegaard and Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard, Overgaden udstillingssted for Samtidskunst, 2017. Read (in english) Læs (på dansk)

Liner notes for Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard – Sound X Sound 7 x 7″ vinyl, Edition·S – music¬sound¬art

Baby says hello/goodbye tekst Slagtryk, Tidsskrift for Digte og Kortprosa Februar 2017 Udgivet af Kronstork.

Manuscript for Det Omvända Sjutalet in Pär Thörn, Ordningen Upprätthålls Alltid, Apart, 2013

I’ll come out when I’m good and ready, kronik, Geiger nr.20, maj 2011

 

 

Lights People

Lights People with Mikka Vainio, Click Festival.

Lights People was founded in 2003 by Sune TB Nielsen and TR Kirstein. Toke Tietze Mortensen joined later.

Lights People have long worked with the power of the general electricity network which runs through everybody’s everyday. They use completely analog electricity creating large explosive bassheavy drone-like random force fields and they often invite a fourth artist to guide and create the sound field through the mixer.

More here: http://www.lightspeople.net/

To\To

Drum duo with Toke Tietze Mortensen. Out on Cejero and Halloween Creativity.