Gymnastics of non/sense

The new work Gymnastics of Non/Sense III is a continuation of the series in which the composer Matej Bonin extensively explores musical theatre and the ways of creating musical composition on stage.   Gymnastics of Non/Sense III focuses wholly on percussionists and the intensity of their movement, thus interweaving motion and the flow of music. The various bodily movements required to play an instrument and the dynamic use of the entire stage transform the traditional concept of concert performance, bringing it closer to a theatrical event.   

In the words of the composer:

The basic concept of the new work is the construction of the Tower of Babylon, a theme developed in Genesis that centres on civilisation, a community and its functions, as well as interpersonal relationships and the ways in which they are formed and broken off. The idea I contemplated on when framing the concept is the unforeseen nascence of beauty, as a random by-product of the forming and breaking off of relationships. If the Tower of Babylon represents unity, its disintegration and the displacement of peoples all over the world not only represent decay, but also open up the possibility for the emergence of beauty, the diversity of languages, cultures and civilisations.

Gymnastics of non/sense II_photo: sploh

Gymnastics of non/sense II

idea and music: Matej Bonin
text: Karlo Hmeljak
dramaturgy: Matej Bonin, Karlo Hmeljak, Marko Čeh

co-authors and perfromers:
Irena Z. Tomažin (voice), Špela Mastnak, Lola Mlačnik, Jože Bogolin, Jan Čibej, Simon Klavžar, Luka Poljanec (percussion)

voyeuristic eyes / ears: sploh
space and lights: Marko Čeh, Marko Turkuš
technicians: Andrej Petrovič, Duško Pušica, Igor Remeta, Tomaž Grom

organized by: Brigita Gračner
producer: Špela Trošt
production: Sploh Institute, 2021
in cooperation with Bunker Institute
and Stara Mestna Elektrarna, Elektro Ljubljana

An art laboratory was held on the premises of Stara Mestna Elektrarna as part of the Gymnastics of non/sense II project (2021) produced by Sploh Institute in cooperation with Bunker Institute. This is the second project of the challenges set in the Gymnastics of non/sense project (2014–2016), in which the composer Matej Bonin has already examined the conventional ways of creating a musical composition and searched for the less obvious potentials of music. (Two media were interconnecting here – poetry and music. Not as separate levels – as text and sound accompaniment – but as interdependent media, where the word "grows" into music and is thus "sounded", and the music that seeks its identity already in the very sound and occurrence of syllable /words.)

In the first project, the text template was written in advance and it used the poetry collection Krčrk (2012) by Karlo Hmeljak as its source. Furthermore, the stage layout was also quite static. Gymnastics of non/sense II upgrades its predecessor. On the one hand, Hmeljak's text is created exclusively for this project and it occurs in parallel with the sound material, and on the other hand, it proceeds on the assumption that each concert is actually a performance, as at the time of public presentation it becomes a subject to the key element – the listener/spectator – which with its randomness and independency brings together everything that surrounds it into potentially coherent ideas. In this light, the project goes beyond the static and also considers the body in space which it’s implementing it, and consequently gives focus on three media: sound, word, and movement.

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