an inhalation and AN exhalation in four movements for winds, voices, strings and images

PNEUMATICKS is a cinematic symphonic work about the source and unification of body and soul. In northern Uganda, at the source of the Nile, lives Leotissa Ayelango. She makes pots from two types of soil, that exist on each side of her village, Nyaravur. Blending the soil with the water from the river, shaping it with small fragments of old pots and creating new ones. Her work happens in balance between earth, air, water and fire.

We follow her in real time, with the breath’s inhale, exhale and pauses like symphonic markers - on a cyclical journey, into the creation of a soul, a lung of air that contains a life. Her task is infinite. She unifies the elements. She creates constantly while she lives. With arduous effort and perfect ambition, she moves us around and shapes the world, like the source of life itself.

PNEUMATICKS, audio-visual work, 55 minutes. Film: Day-for-night recordings = moonlight. Long shots follow 4 phases of the creation of a pot: Balanced soil walks the earth. Fertile earth, digs the soil. Fired earth gives birth. Hand polished dirt is mortal coil.

Music: Through-composed symphonic work in 4 movements for two cellos, tree singers and one bass clarinet, with individual elements of improvisation. The work is acoustic throughout, but also contains electronically manipulated sounds and effects. The work is a result of close collaboration among the composers and visual artists.

“Each second, each breath is a work which is inscribed nowhere, which is neither visual nor cerebral, it’s a sort of constant euphoria.” - Marcel Duchamp

Composition by Signe Lykke & Lil Lacy
Film by Ulrik Heltoft & Ann Sophie von Bülow

MUSICIANS
Katinka Fogh Vindelev - soprano
Laura Mayer - alto
Simon Rønne Rischel - baritone
Morten Lohmann Sønderskov Jensen - bass clarinet
Soma Allpass - cello
Lil Lacy - cello
Recording and mix by Bjørn Gjessing

LIVE PERFORMANCES
CLICK-festival, Helsingør / May 13th and 22nd 2017
Maltfabrikken, Ebeltoft / June 29th 2017
Musikhuset, Århus / October 29th 2017

INSTALLATION
Maltfabrikken, Ebeltoft / June - August 2017