100 Keyboards

ASUNA

© Julieta Cervantes

  • Director Asuna Arashi
  • Genre Multidisciplinary
  • Date 10.22.Wed. 19:30 10.23.Thu. 19:30
  • Language
  • Accessibility This content is coming soon.
  • Conversation with Artists 10.22.WED.
  • Rating 7 and above
  • Venue TINC(This is not a church)
  • Duration 85 min.
  • Premiere 2018 Melbourne International Arts Festival, Australia
  • Tickets 30,000 won

 

Global Interpark

A unique sound performance of resonance and interference, woven by 100 toy keyboards

Introduction

<100 Keyboards> is a live music performance featuring over 100 toy keyboards. Each keyboard plays a sustained note of a certain pitch, and as the number of keys increases, a strange moiré of sound is created.
Since most of the keyboards being played are cheap products or made as toys, the pitch or tuning of each key may be slightly off and fluctuate slightly in pitch when played for a long time and battery powered. The slight misalignment creates a complex resonance, ultimately forming a rich and multi-layered sound.
The performance explores the complex interference sound and distribution of sound pressure that occur when sound waves of the same frequency but with different propagation directions overlap. In particular, it focuses on how the resonance generated by the subtle differences in pitch is perceived as a visual pattern, creating an auditory illusion known as a "moiré" pattern.
As the audience turns their heads or moves between the keyboards, the sound dispersed throughout the space changes accordingly in real time. Even the same sound can be heard with completely different reverberations, repetitions, and pulsations depending on the listener's position and direction, allowing them to experience the intricate weaving of textile patterns with their ears.
The word moiré refers to unexpected vibrations and waveforms created by overlapping patterns. <100 Keyboards> translates this concept into sound, presenting a unique sound performance that transcends audiovisual boundaries.

Director
Asuna Arashi

Asuna Arashi

ASUNA is a Japanese sound artist who has gained renewed recognition in recent years within the experimental music and art scene. Beginning his creative journey in the late 90s, ASUNA immersed himself in Tokyo’s experimental and improvised music scene from his teenage years. He has been building a distinctive practice that combines an interdisciplinary approach to art with influences from punk and lyrical music.

ASUNA’s signature work <Each Organ> (2002), is a sound installation that translates the etymology of objects into sound, showcasing his unique aesthetic sensibility and investigative approach.

The following year, he launched his international career with <Organ Leaf> (2003), an album of reed organ drones and serene electronics, released on the Spanish label Lucky Kitchen. Over the years, he has released music on various labels, including Meeuw Muzak (Belgium), Senufo Editions (Italy), Faitiche (Germany), and 12k (USA).

His avant-garde performance <100 Keyboards> has become a signature work in his repertoire, taking him on tours across Europe and Asia. The piece has been presented to great acclaim at international art festivals and theatres, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in New York.

In <Falling Sweets / Afternoon Membranophone>, released in 2022, ASUNA focuses on the interaction between errors and gravity produced by falling candies, as well as the subtle vibrations of membranes caused by changes in drumhead tension. With physical phenomena and microtonality as key themes, ASUNA continues to create original sound works where theatrical sensibility intersects with scientific inquiry.

Credits
  • Director&PerformanceAsuna Arashi

This content is coming soon.

  • “Having built the undulating drone that filled the room like an untouchable sculpture, Arashi began taking it apart. By then I was cross-legged on the floor, a few steps from the circle, unexpectedly lulled into a pleasant but potent trance. He walked through the maze, pulling up his stakes, unweaving the moiré note by note until it was once again silent and his audience released.“
    Bomb Magazine, US
  • “In this year’s SIFA, 100 Keyboards is the gift of sound. That we sat in a room listening to nothing but sound for 1.5h struck me as nothing short of amazing, and proves once again that some of the best pieces of art created and experienced are not seen, but heard.”
    Singapore International Festival of Arts, SG