HERE/HEAR/WAVE
Collaboration with Fernando Obieta
Ongoing since 2017

Exploring the overlap between concert, performance, and sound installation. What constitutes as music? What constitutes as a concert? What is the role of a performer? What is the role of an attendee?
Since 2017 Fernando Obieta and Gregor Vogel have been working together on a series of performances concerning the preceding questions. Each time they have made use of a setup featuring a patch that was built using the programming language Pure Data. A computer is given the ability to compose randomly synthesized tracks consisting of a randomly generated number of acts. Within a few boundaries given by the architects of the patch – the two artists – the computer is able to define parameters like pitch, tempo, and length of the individual tones and acts.
These sounds are distributed to a variable number of speakers placed in the room. The two collaborating artists influence the sounds through effect pedals, commonly used by musicians, placed in between the computer and the individual speakers. The effects are distortion, modulation effects, delays, reverbs, and more. The performing artists and the computer play together in a session, during which neither of the two parties has full power over the other.
Not only is not every outlet of the patch active at any given moment, but also does the sound that is played have an influence on how the pedals function. On the other hand, are the performers able to delay or diminish certain activities of the sounds and can thus take influence on the narrative structure. The balance of forces between the program and the artists is over when they decide to end the performance.

WAVE, 2018

HEAR, 2018

HERE, 2017