This tank – the German word is Panzer – was built by Berlin-based sound artist Nik Nowak, has a power of 40,000 watt and 13 built-in speakers. But don’t expect techno – Nowak wants to be more violent than that and succeeds to make you feel some strong physical reactions with very low frequencies.

Just after Ryoji Ikeda’s exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof ended, he is back in Berlin with an even larger installation at the former power station Muma (erm, didn’t it use to be Trafo?) called data.anatomy (civic) – the name sort of speaks for itself, since the video and sound installation basically comprises thousands of design and CAD data files that went into the production of Honda’s latest model of the Civic car, which Ikeda was given access to after meeting Honda designer Mitsuru Kariya, which seems quite an extraordinary step for a car manufacturer to take. The result is, of course, vintage Ikeda, meaning you should go, and go now.

Ryoji Ikead: data.anatomy (civic)
April 19 – May 1 2012

Muma
Köpenicker Strasse 59 -73
10179 Berlin

We’ve mentioned David Letellier – also known as Kangding Ray – a few times, but this one was a little unexpected: we’re used to seeing him on stage, not in the gallery. But hopefully there will be more to come. But before you read on, you should really watch the video first. ––– There. Done? Not sure what you’ve been looking at? This is what it is all about, in David’s own words:

‘Versus is a sound installation consisting of two kinetic sculptures placed face to face. Each sculpture is made out of 12 triangular panels, hinged and powered by six linear actuators, controlled by a specific program. At the center of each corolla, a loudspeaker and a microphone allow to play and record sounds. At regular intervals, each sculpture produces a sound, simultaneously recorded and analyzed by the opposite sculpture, which then moves according to the frequencies of this sound. Like a feedback loop, it then plays back the recorded sound, with the errors and disturbances caused by the reverberating space and the visitors. By intervening in this conversation, the viewer becomes an actor, as he degrades the communication by his presence and the noises he produces. As the panels move back and forth at a pace determined by the environmental sound, they create a non-immediate interaction, where the imperfections of reproduction are becoming creative elements. The original sound is continuously transformed, and becomes something entirely new and unpredictable. The memory of past events is hold for a moment, until it’s reproduced, degraded, and then forgotten, replaced by the present.’

Currently available digitally only.

Would you like to hear the voices of  Man Ray, Tristan Tzara or Andre Breton? Rumpsti Pumsti is a record shop working as a small gallery also. The last three events at the shop/gallery were a Wolf  Vostell exhibition, a performance related to sound by Toine Horvers and film screenings about Raoul Hausmann and more.

Rumpsti Pumsti
Weserstrasse 165
12045 Berlin

A little teaser by our friend Kangding Ray, who will be performing material from his excellent album Or at Berghain tomorrow evening, as part of Club Transmediale’s Raster-Noton night, which are always a treat, featuring new lecker material from the likes of Byetone and more. Don’t say we didn’t tell you.

We’ve mentioned it before, but since it’s all grey and rainy outside, more time for the inside, and what better moment to have a little peek into Shabazz Palaces latest and rather brilliant album Black Up – a certain someone’s favourite album of the year, and that’s saying something.

ASLSP is a music piece for organ, which John Cage, always up for a little joke, noted should be played ‘as slow as possible’ – shrewdly leaving the comment open to interpretation. Performances range from 21 minutes to, erm, 639 years.

The city of Halberstadt, in the meantime, boasts the first organ with a 12-note claviature, which was completed in 1361 and laid the ground stone for organs to come. There are many myths and anecdotes as to why they decided to initiate the longest musical performance in history, but with some swift mathematics (2000-1361=639) a new and rather eccentric interpretation of ‘as slow as possible’ was determined, and the concert began on what would have been Cage’s 88th birthday, on September 05, 2000.

Note changes occur every few months, attracting a large crowd of music fanatics to experience, well, a change of chords. In the meantime, we’re here – 11 years in, 628 to go. People come up with curious things sometimes, but I’m sure John Cage would have loved the idea.