Description
Empty Orchestra
The project Empty Orchestra by Noa Giniger and Robin Vanbesien takes place in two synchronized locations: the Square St. Denis in Brussels and the website www.PlacestDenis-SintDenijsplein.be (online 29/10). The project does not merely search to enlarge the given physical site (the square) but to expend the physicality of the term site specific as known in art. For this purpose the artists are using a specific system of stimuli: karaoke technology and its properties.
The term Empty Orchestra is the definition for the Japanese word Karaoke. The concept started as a form of entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. Today, karaoke service is no longer to be found merely in special bars but it can be downloaded on the Internet and uploaded on mobile phones.
For the duration of the project an instrumental karaoke version of a song is played on fixed hours (09:00, 13:00, 17:00) from the existing mega-phones located in the Square and the nearby streets. Every day there is a different song playing. Parallel to this event the lyrics of the song of the day are played on the website. There is no melody playing but the words appearing with respect to the songs tempo. By playing the lyrics without music on a parallel public (web) site the karaoke service is split up, suggesting that it could never be fully experienced by any spectator.
Dealing with the idea of appearance and the impression given by someone or something, the chosen songs move on the spectrum between reality and fantasy. Isolated from their melody, the words of the lyrics lose the depth that sound gives. They become more self-aware, dried out drama.
The physical elements located on the Square St. Denis function as a décor for the project while maintaining the dissonance between being and appearing to be. In the launderette space a mirror planter is displaying identical plants to those seen in the Square.
The next-door billboard is displaying a homogeneous green surface that suggests to be what it is - a green surface - and at the same time what it could be - a green screen - a potential to reveal more images behind it, multi locations. Combined with the daily soundtrack of the square, it emphasizes the potential sets the Square can host and prevents the site from becoming static.
The project Empty Orchestra by Noa Giniger and Robin Vanbesien takes place in two synchronized locations: the Square St. Denis in Brussels and the website www.PlacestDenis-SintDenijsplein.be (online 29/10). The project does not merely search to enlarge the given physical site (the square) but to expend the physicality of the term site specific as known in art. For this purpose the artists are using a specific system of stimuli: karaoke technology and its properties.
The term Empty Orchestra is the definition for the Japanese word Karaoke. The concept started as a form of entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. Today, karaoke service is no longer to be found merely in special bars but it can be downloaded on the Internet and uploaded on mobile phones.
For the duration of the project an instrumental karaoke version of a song is played on fixed hours (09:00, 13:00, 17:00) from the existing mega-phones located in the Square and the nearby streets. Every day there is a different song playing. Parallel to this event the lyrics of the song of the day are played on the website. There is no melody playing but the words appearing with respect to the songs tempo. By playing the lyrics without music on a parallel public (web) site the karaoke service is split up, suggesting that it could never be fully experienced by any spectator.
Dealing with the idea of appearance and the impression given by someone or something, the chosen songs move on the spectrum between reality and fantasy. Isolated from their melody, the words of the lyrics lose the depth that sound gives. They become more self-aware, dried out drama.
The physical elements located on the Square St. Denis function as a décor for the project while maintaining the dissonance between being and appearing to be. In the launderette space a mirror planter is displaying identical plants to those seen in the Square.
The next-door billboard is displaying a homogeneous green surface that suggests to be what it is - a green surface - and at the same time what it could be - a green screen - a potential to reveal more images behind it, multi locations. Combined with the daily soundtrack of the square, it emphasizes the potential sets the Square can host and prevents the site from becoming static.