An interview with
Jockel Liess Your video installation Green meadow reveals a remarkable synesthetic approach, which is no doubt a fundamental aspect of your artistic research. You studied electronic music as well as fine art, however, it would be more appropriate in your case to say that the starting point is not music itself, but musical thinking, which is at the same time philosophical and architectonic, just think of Ligeti's textures or Luigi Nono's works. Could you introduce our readers to the multidisciplinary nature of your art? Musical thinking underwent a seismic shift in the middle of the 20th century, in doing so it instigated some of the most radical thoughts in art and music. The ability to produce music electronically has contributed to this shift, as in Ligeti’s case. His flirtation with electronic music, in the late 50’s, influenced the move in his orchestral music, away from rhythm, melody and harmony, and towards timbre and interwoven sonic texture.
allow for the introduction of indeterminacy into the work itself. While the piece is fixed, the outcome or individual experience of the work is fluid, dependent on circumstances, interaction, interpretation or improvisation.
At the same time, the philosophy and teachings of John Cage prised open any previously existing limitations in music. For anyone engaging in Post-Cagean aesthetics all creative or artistic boundaries were removed. Not only the boundaries inside any one artistic discipline like music, but also boundaries between artistic disciplines. The medium, if writing, sculpture, performance, music or film became exchangeable for art movements like Fluxus, with the emphasis in their work shifting towards conceptual thought.
My emphasis is not primarily on the discipline or medium, but on the method, and with this, the introduction of fluidity into the structure of the artwork itself. Both art and music can be treated in this way, and in my case I strive to achieve this fluidity by building improvising computer systems, functioning within a territory of possibilities.
Musical scores like La Monte Yourng’s Composition 1960 #10 ‘Draw a straight line and follow it.’ can in equal terms be seen as conceptual art and conceptual score. Its most eccentric performance is probably Nam June Paik’s ‘Zen for Head’, whereby Paik dips his head into ink and tomato juice and draws a straight line with it on a roll of paper. The important contribution of scores like this however is the idea that music or art can be entirely composed of rules. In varying comprehensiveness, rules like these
Starting a new project is always difficult for me and begins with several very vague ideas or notions going round in my mind, sometimes for month before I actually start actively working on it. When I finally do my head tends to go blank.
Could you take us through your creative process when starting a new project?
Projects can start with thoughts or ideas about visual aspects, but more often now, with a fascination about a certain quality in a musical piece, or simply a sound, like the drop of a needle.