THE NECK (I)
24 minutes, 8 channel composition. Ljubljana 2019 (Museum of Transitory Art)
Composition commissioned by MoTA for the Arcade Gallery and previewed as an installation at Lutkovno gledališče / Ljubljana puppet theatre during the SONICA 2019 festival.

The Neck is an eight channel, 24 minute long composition work made by London-based, Swedish electronic music composer Tomas Nordmark. The poem “Näcken” by Swedish poet E.J. Stagnelius (1821-1823) serves as a point of departure for the work in which Nordmark investigates the obscurity of the mythological shape-shifting water sprite ”Näcken” (in Scandinavian folklore often depicted as a naked man luring humans down into his water with beautiful violin music) and tries to open up a dialogue with the creature itself. The composition uses slow and evolving phase-shifting calculations, a process reminiscent of the American downtown minimalists and inspired by the French literary OuLiPo group – yet the oscillating composition and narrative entwine in the spirit of a mythological mutation.

The composition was also part of the SONICA X IKLECTIK event in London, November 28:th 2019.

Supported by the Swedish Arts Grants Committee