Music for Riots and Fights
Video, 2012 (Egypt), performance
In collaboration with the New York Public Library / Lincoln Public Center, the silent movie scores and compositions archive were researched. Intention was to find and record soundtracks that can be considered purely visual compositions. Compositions with such titles as “Music for Fights and Riots” indicate that the soundtrack is in fact written for certain (possible) scenes in a film and not for one single, specific film alone. As such the compositions selected can almost be considered theatrical props; elements or tools to construct a dramatic narrative.
Sixteen soundtrack compositions, written between 1899 and 1929, were recorded and compiled on a cd entitled “Music for Riots and Fights” (played and recorded by Adonis Gonzales and conducted by Gabriel Lester). Initially the recordings were made with no intention to publish or distribute. Never the less, since the selection of silent movie soundtracks – and for that matter, the whole area of musical composition for silent movies – seems to have been lost, discarded or forgotten, the CD has become a rare attempt to document some of the very rich and creative musical (and visual) compositions of the twentieth century.
Artist's Bio:
Currently lives and works in Shanghai and Amsterdam. His artworks consist of installations, performances and film/video. Other activities include commissioned artworks for the public space, film directing, teaching, writing, sound and video editing. Lester’s artistic practice originates from a desire to tell stories and construct environments that support these stories or propose their own narrative interpretation. Like cinema, Lester’s practice has come to embrace all imaginable media and occupy both time and space. The artworks seldom convey any explicit message or singular idea, but rather propose ways to relate to the world, how it is presented and what mechanisms and components constitute our perception and understanding of it. By dissecting, editing, cutting up, repositioning and forcing perspective, Lester aspires to captivate and engage. Ultimately his artworks suggest both rational consciousness as well as associative magic thought.