Reviews from Krems, Kontraste 2012 (in English and Norwegian)

The concert I did with light artist HC Gilje is documented, however not giving the right impression since this was a quadrophonic experience with a high quality sound system, and what you hear below is just one camera with it’s microphone placed somewhere in the audience. But still…
Reviews below.

Visual artist HC Gilje and sound artist Maja Ratkje ended the festival. The setting was impressive: eighteen large (40 x 40 cm) monitors were stacked in a semicircle about eight feet high. Ratkje stood with her equipment in the centre of this monitor array, while Gilje, on a slightly raised platform in the audience, watched the monitors. Besides the familiar noise sounds, Ratkje also squeezed a strikingly number of high frequencies out of her equipment. This was an event in itself, because (white) noise and drones had prevailed during the rest of the festival. So many possibilities, yet so much was confined to specific dynamic and frequency spectra that many wondered if these performance artists (or this generation of performance artists) have agreed to a convention about this, or simply have a limited approach to sound. Ratkje also manipulated her impressive voice with electronics, evoking references to Laurie Anderson, often peaking in high tones as well. Gilje improvised with the intensity of the colours and the shapes on the monitors, producing intensely beautiful images, with Ratkje as a black silhouette in front them.
Gonzo (circus)

Vi nullstiller med et nydelig liveopptak med Maja Ratkje. Mye takket være den anerkjente, Trondheimsutdannede (KiT, naturligvis) videokunstneren HC Gilje, som projiserer bilder på LED-skjermer som egentlig er beregnet for utendørs videovegger – et titalls skjermer som er plassert i en bue bak Ratkje mens hun opptrer. I tillegg til å være velegnet for video, fungerer skjermene ypperlig som kraftfulle lyskilder i mørklagte rom. Dette prosjektet, som først kom i stand til årets festspill i Bergen (i Johanneskirken, komplett med gjenteipede vinduer for maksimal dramatisk effekt), var deres første samarbeid på sju år. Senere ble konserter med lignende oppsett gjentatt i Brussel, og senest i Krems, Østerrike nå i oktober, hvor dette opptaket er gjort. Sammen med Ratkjes vanvittig kraftfulle musikalske uttrykk blir dette en powerhouse-kombo av dimensjoner. (Musikkavdelinga, Trondheim folkebibliotek)

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