SchwittCD - Bernhard Loibner
The sound material forming the basis of this CD was designed by the contributing artists at very different locations and times, under very different conditions and transmitted by very different types of media, each of which strongly contrast with the other in its inherent character. Some of the contributions were live performances, while others were transmitted as a private Webcast via low frequency range; one contribution was sent by telephone while others via Snail Mail. SCHWITT-RADIO reflects the multi-layered character of Kurt Schwitters´ work, who was a virtuoso in working in different forms of media.
In addition, the often distinctly differing artistic backgrounds of the various contributors and the very individual approaches to the phenomenon of the "Ursonate" demonstrate a fascinating variety of sound manifestations. Whereas the connection of some pieces to the leitmotiv is clear, in others the link remains very abstract.
During the 12-hour lifecycle of SCHWITTRADIO a temporary, hybrid network was formed from these sounds, which was presented to each member of the audience in the most diverse of ways, depending on real or virtual location and time. Because of the fleeting form of the global "Ursonate", which changed its form depending on the point of observation and time, in my view it seems almost impossible to document an illustration of such a complex interwoven project on the index-sequence medium of a CD.
On the other hand, over the course of 12 hours it was not possible to follow the various aspects of the event or rather, to keep an overview of the many simultaneously running streams and threads. The idea behind this CD is, therefore, less a documentation of an event than an intensification of the material produced during the course of SCHWITTRADIO worked up into a collective composition of 74 minutes. For me, personally, the challenge was to select parts from the comprehensive pool of sounds and to combine them into a coherent whole while, at the same time, doing justice to the hybrid character of the project.
I hope to have achieved this with the present CD.
SCHWITTRADIO
The Project
MERZmuseum / Schwittradio / Schwittcd
Heidi Grundmann
MERZmuseum
Hank Bull
SchwittCD
Bernhard Loibner
Email
Hans Burkhard Schlichting
