Half A Name (act III)
Composition performed inside of Berl-Berl
Artist and composer Pan Daijing is invited by artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen to present the performance of her recent composition Half A Name (act III) inside of Berl-Berl at Halle am Berghain.
On the occasion of the closing weekend of the LAS-commissioned exhibition Berl-Berl by Jakob Kudsk Steensen, the acclaimed composer and artist Pan Daijing will restage an excerpt of her work Half A Name (Act III) inside of Steensen’s world. Daijing’s performance-based practice explores modes of storytelling across sound, movement, architectural environment and moving images. Investigating the spheres of opera and psychoacoustics, she uses both recording techniques and live performance to expand the listening experience and challenge the understanding of music as an art form.
Directed by Daijing, the performance features costumes conceived by the artist and the voice of soprano Anna Davidson, a long-standing member of Daijing’s ensemble of opera singers, will merge with the exhibition's original soundscape, the virtual environment, and the reflective floor part of the installation, embedding the performer within Steensen's wetland environment.
The performance of the composition Half A Name (act III) directed by Daijing, in dialogue with Steensen’s installation, will build on the existing sound set-up of the artwork, that uses the building as an instrument, further activating the cathedral-like space of Halle am Berghain. What unites Daijing and Steensen’s practices is a shared understanding of singing as a form of navigating landscape as well as their interest in weaving mythologies into their work, blurring the lines between fictitious and lived realities. The collaboration marks the beginning of a new direction for Steensen’s practice that focuses on performative approaches and collaborative projects.
Berl-Berl by Jakob Kudsk Steensen is a virtual swamp, a stage and a site for collaboration. It is based on folklore and songs for wetlands from the swampy regions surrounding Berlin. It generates songs and words for wetlands with previous participants including Arca, Johannes Heldén and Precious Okoyomon. This performance is the first live event inside of the world of the artwork.
Pan Daijing
Pan Daijing (b. Guiyang China, 1991) is a Berlin-based artist and composer. Her performance based practice explores modes of storytelling across sound, movement, the architectural environment and moving image. Drawing on the capacity of music to exceed the limits of language, her work communicates sonic, physical and psychological depths, seeking a means of connection beyond the human condition. Her compositional method is based on extensive improvisation with analogue synthesizers and the human voice as well as deconstruction of instruments and field recordings. Exploring the sphere of psychoacoustics and opera, she uses both recording techniques and live performance to expand the listening experience and challenge the understanding of music as an art form. Her work is often developed in conversation with architectural space, pressurizing the boundaries between forms to create enveloping, sensory experiences for audiences to enter and inhabit.
Daijing has exhibited internationally, such as Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2021); The 13th Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai (2021); Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2020); Tate Modern, London (2019); Biennale of Moving Image Geneva (2018). She has also performed at Barbican Centre, London; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin among many others. She’s released two full length albums Jade (2021) and Lack (2017.
Credits
Pan Daijing, Half a Name (act III) © Pan Daijing
Performance within the LAS commission Berl-Berl by Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Image featuring soprano Anna Davidson
Halle am Berghain, Berlin, 27 September 2021
Videography / Photography by Dzhovani
© 2021 Jakob Kudsk Steensen and Pan Daijing