The Narrative Sounds of Christmas
(2008)
Invited by Christian Marclay to DJ at his yearly The Sounds of Christmas series, I proceeded to concoct a set where no one will hear what I will be playing. I planned DJ and ‘translate’ the soundtrack with my own self-reflexive improvised speech (through a wireless lapel microphone). This is radio DJ banter taking entirely over the mix. A DJ mime gone the route of Dan Graham circa ‘Performance, Audience, Mirror’. Turning my taciturn self into a verbo-motor. I will speak about the context, the recordings I’ve picked (all versions of 'Silent Night'), my manipulations of the records, what I’m hearing, etc. I will also hum and convey the sounds I’m hearing through voice —think of it as an a cappella DJ. The narrative of the inner speech of DJ exteriorized.
This iteration of The Sounds of Christmas was presented by DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art, December 14 - 20, 2008 at the Fonderie Darling. This event was in conjunction with the exhibition of Marclay's Replay at DHC/ART.
Photo credit: Guy L'Heureux
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DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art presents
THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS
Christian Marclay
December 14 - 20, 2008
After successful presentations at the New Museum in New York and Tate Modern in London among other venues, DHC/ART in collaboration with the Darling Foundry is pleased to host Christian Marclay's The Sounds of Christmas for 2008. First organised in 1999, this seasonal work is presented annually in a different city during the month of December.
Part community project and part art installation, The Sounds of Christmas consists of 1200 Christmas LPs made available to the public for consultation, and to local DJ's on scheduled events. The project also comprises six video monitors documenting the album covers and a projection of past performances, which provides a soundtrack for the space. During the one-week installation, noted local DJs are invited to create remixes of their own selection from Marclay's exhaustive archive of Christmas music, thereby transforming sentimentality into experimentation, and disrupting the usually dismal and hackneyed holiday season soundscape.
Darling Foundry
745 Ottawa Street (corner Queen Street) Montreal (Québec)
Hours
12 PM to 7 PM from Monday to Sunday and until 10 pm on Thursday.
PERFORMANCES:
Sunday, December 14, 2008
5 PM - 9 PM
Christof Migone
Mitchell Akiyama
With special appearance by Christian Marclay.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
5 PM - 9 PM
Nancy Tobin
Martin Tétreault
Olivier Alary & Raf Katigbak
Free admission
For information: www.dhc-art.org / info@dhc-art.org / (514) 849-3742
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