The aim of the Sequences festival is to produce and present progressive (visual) art. The 11th edition of Sequences took place in October 2023. Marika Agu, Maria Arusoo, Kaarin Kivirähk and Sten Ojavee were this edition’s curators. This dynamic curatorial team works together at the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Tallinn, Estonia. Sequences XI featured 50 international artists across multiple venues and public spaces.
Powerless Flight
This edition of my aeolian harp installation Powerless Flight was part of a small collection of artworks for public space. The harps we placed in an open grassy area between the Harpa concert hall and the Edition hotel of Reykjavik. Besides being a highly visible location it was also open to the sea to the north. This proved somewhat challenging given the heavier wind conditions in Iceland. Needless to say the harps worked well and were often overworked in terms of their structural capacity. This comes with the territory given that engagement and raising sensory awareness local climactic conditions is at the core of this project.
Read The Guardian article “Blown, battered and bottled: the artists who catch the wind” which features my wind harp work.
Audioswarm Reykjavik
Audioswarm is an inclusive participatory performance combining collective listening and movement that uses available technology (phones and bluetooth speakers). This was the first Audioswarm to take place outdoors in public space. Audioswarm is built around the biological concept of ‘swarm intelligence’ using sound and listening to structure movement and synchronization of individual ‘agents’ as a coherent group. The sound of the swarm was an original audio composition based on processed and unprocessed environmental sound recordings from in and around Reykjavik. The piece was designed to enhance our sense of spatial dynamics and perception taking account of the urban path I choreographed. The weather was less than ideal. We were spared heavy winds which helped the acoustic atmosphere but there was steady rain which may have kept some people from joining.
photos by Vikram Pradhan
Special thanks to the team at the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art for their efforts, the helpful team at the Edition Reykjavik hotel, the participating Sequences venues and their helpful assistants who made everything possible.
UPDATE:
The wind harp installation was moved to Seyðisfjörður in east Iceland for the List í Ljósi festival in February. The List í Ljósi festival celebrates the return of the sun every year to the remote, East Iceland fjord. Thanks to the producers and for arranging this and Vikram Pradhan for the photos.
