ATAK018 Memories of Origin Hiroshi Sugimoto Concert Version
It was 7:00 pm on the evening of May 12. Outside in the museum garden, the notes of a grand piano drifted upward towards a pitch-black sky, mingling with the wind as the tree leaves rustled and the crows flew. In the distance could be heard the sound of passing trains and a bustling city. Sitting on the grass, surrounding the piano, the audience huddled, seeking warmth under coats and blankets in the 13-degree air. Above them the North Star twinkled.
Held at the Hara Museum at the same time as the exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto: From naked to clothed, the concert drew mainly from Keiichiro Shibuya´s new album ATAK018 Soundtrack for Memories of Origin Hiroshi Sugimoto, the soundtrack for the documentary Memories of Origins Hiroshi Sugimoto, then being shown at Theater Image Forum. All the tracks for this album, which explores new possibilities for the piano, were composed, performed and recorded by Shibuya.
Shibuya said the following about ATAK018:
″My favorite work by Hiroshi Sugimoto is his Architecture series. It´s really up to the photographer how sharp he captures the subject. For this series, Sugimoto went in the opposite direction of sharpness. That is, by making the image fuzzy on purpose, he draws out the essence of subject. When I was first approached to do the project, I thought I would like to attempt the same thing on the piano. ″
″By continuously pressing a key on the piano, the note eventually becomes harmonized, no matter how dissonant it may be. By inputting an increasing number of fuzzily tuned notes into the computer, I was able to create a work consisting solely of sounds that are the essence of the piano, cutting out the parts that evoke actual key strokes.″(Excerpted from BRUTUS, No. 728, p 263)
What seemed to be a contiguous series of notes consisted in fact of notes played at different times and later edited together. Superimposed in real time over solo pieces that Shibuya played on the piano were data from the ATAK018 CD. Shibuya would either synchronize with or delay the timing of his piano playing in response to the sounds he heard or the waveform that he saw on a MacBook. In addition to this was noise produced randomly by a program and output from the six speakers. All of these elements, mixed together with the ambient sounds of the environment, produced the totality that was Shibuya´s performance.
According to the artist, who turned 39 on the day of the concert: ″Whenever I play the piano within a hall, I am very conscious of the intervals (ma) and silences between notes. I listen to the notes that reflect off the walls and ceiling as I am playing. This time, in the garden, the high notes were absorbed completely into the sky above. I was listening to them disappearing as I was playing. It was the first time for me to experience this and it has given me inspiration for future works.″
In addition to Lightning Fields2/W.H.F Talbot Appropriate Proportion Life from Memories of Origins Hiroshi Sugimoto, the evening´s program included Shibuya’s latest tracks written for other movies such as Sacrifice from Seiji ″Fish on Land,″ the main theme from TBS drama SPEC, and Bach and Handel´s Largo from Confessions. According to some members of the audience, the tracks brought to mind images from the various films.
We would like to thank Yuko Nakagawa (director of Memories of Origin Hiroshi Sugimoto), who made it possible to hold this concert, and to Mr. zAk for his great help with the sound. But most of all, our thanks go out to everyone who braved the winter-like cold to gather and experience the evening together.
Photos by Kokoro Suzuki
「ATAK018 Soundtrack for Memories of Origin Hiroshi Sugimoto」