Focusing exclusively on the polyphonic and polyrhythmic chorusing of frogs and toads, this edition will unravel rare field recordings from various continents by Paul Prudence, German Popov, beepblip, Mike Rijnierse, Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand. German Popov will also present his freshly published vinyl record featuring a South African amphibian chorus. The evening will culminate with a live set by beepblip and a performer conducting an Amazonian frog ritual.
German Popov is a multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, sound artist and researcher. Throughout all of his projects, he works on re-establishing contact with sources and archetypes of modernity. A significant part of his research is dedicated to incorporating ethnographic and anthropological data into artistic activities. He has been involved in various musical and social events focused on the topic of Central Asia. Under the stage name ‘OMFO’, he published several musical works and soundtracks, which achieved international acclaim. His current research is based on combining ancient art forms with novel techno-scientific pursuits and performative concepts. Popov has collaborated with Sainkho, Huun-Huur-Tuu, Almagul Menlybayeva and Atom TM. He is a recipient of grants from the Aga-Khan Music Initiative, AFK and Hivos. His music has been published by Solaris Music, Essay Recordings, Universal, G-Stone, Atlantic and Blue Asia. His curatorial work has been featured at the Water Music Festival (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin). Popov has performed at the Venice Biennale, the Biennale of Sydney and the Lahore Biennale. He has been conducting research in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. His music was featured in 20th Century Fox’s Borat’s ‘Cultural Learning of America’.
Paul Prudence is a writer and artist. His essays have been featured in Reliquiae, Substance and Holo, he is also regular contributor to Neural Mag. His audio-visual work has been exhibited and performed internationally at intermedia arts festivals. Paul maintained the weblog Dataisnature exploring the historical and contemporary interrelationships between natural processes, computational systems and procedural-based art practices.
Evelina Domnitch (b. 1972, Minsk, Belarus) and Dmitry Gelfand (b.1974, St. Petersburg, Russia) create sensory immersion environments that merge physics, chemistry and computer science with uncanny philosophical practices. Having dismissed the use of recording and fixative media, their artworks exist as ever-transforming phenomena offered for observation. The duo’s practice has emerged through unorthodox collaborations with pioneering research groups, including LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), RySQ (Rydberg Quantum Simulator) and the Atominstitut (TU Vienna). They are recipients of the Witteveen+Bos Award (2019), Meru Art*Science Award (2018), Japan Media Arts Excellence Prize (2007), and five Ars Electronica Honorary Mentions (2007, 2009, 2011,2013, 2017).
beepblip (Ida Hiršenfelder) is a sound artist and archivist. She makes immersive bleepy psychogeographical soundscapes by meas of analogue electronics, DIY and modular synths, field recordings and computer manipulations. She is interested in bioacoustics, experimental and microtonal music. Her solo albums Noise for Strings, Vol. 1 (2019) and Noise for Strings, Vol. 2 (2020) were published by Kamizdat label. She is currently at the Masters of Sonology program of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.
Mike Rijnierse (1974) is an artist, media researcher and educator working in the fields of light, sound and architecture. He is intrigued by perceptive experience, whether visual, acoustic, spatial or synesthetic, creating sculptures, installations and site specific performances in urban environments. Rijnierse has exhibited his works throughout Europe as well as Korea, Taiwan, Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Brazil; from media art festivals, to galleries, museums and public space interventions. As a docent since 2009 at the Design Art Technology faculty of ArtEZ, Arnhem, Rijnierse has developed the course Design of Instruments, where students research and create instruments that transcend technological domains, exploring new and obsolete media.
Obviously Unthinkable is a series of live experiments, talks and performances, highlighting exchanges between art and cutting-edge science.
Obviously Unthinkable is presented by iii with financial support from Creative Industries Fund NL, The Municipality of The Hague and Performing Arts Fund NL.