echoraum, Vienna
I am one of the invited artists contributing to this project, a performance in which vinyl records are sealed with paint while they are playing. The audience itself becomes the archive: witnesses to a story told in sound collages, texts, songs, field recordings and psychoacoustic compositions from the underground. Once a record has sounded, it is silenced forever.
In standard archival practice, audio recordings are typically digitized and then tucked away in an archive. In Loves Labour Lost, the audience itself becomes the archive—witnesses to a story told through sound collages, texts, songs, field recordings, and psychoacoustic compositions from the underground.
As the music plays, a specially modified turntable seals the record grooves with a synthetic resin lacquer. In the process, the records are rendered permanently unplayable; the audio media are transformed into visual objects. Once a sound has been heard, it is silenced forever.
The invited artists converge on a single vinyl record, exploring the concept of ‘the underneath’ in all its various meanings: the underground, the afterlife, the occult, the hidden and buried, the act of descending, and the process of sinking or perishing.
Fifteen tracks, cut specifically for this project, are distributed across three unique, one-of-a-kind records. These are mixed together in a DJ-style performance, creating a narrative of the underground through the dialogue between the tracks—a narrative that simultaneously emerges and vanishes.
Artists: Anne Juren, Alex Franz Zehetbauer, Anne Wundrak, Arno Briggman & Beate Ronacher, Camila Sposati, Dino Spiluttini, Dustin Maxwell, Lissie Rettenwander, Marie Vermont & the concept horse, Michaela Kisling, Patrick Topitschnig, Robert Schwarz, Samuel Schaab, Stina Fors.
Concept & performance: Christian Schröder
Kindly supported by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna and Bears in the Park.
Sponsored by Pro-Ject Audio Systems. Produced by Schulde des Sterbens
https://echoraum.at/loves-labours-lost-underground
