Konrad Smolenski / Michal Kupicz / Mats Gustafsson Everything Was Forever, Until It was No More

The record is an attempt to document a sound installation by Konrad Smole ski presented in at the Polish Pavillion at the 55th Venice Biennale 2013. The sound sculpture is based primarily on the manipulation of the tolling of a bell. Through the process of transforming this familiar tone of traditional bells, Smole ski also changes its meaning: a sound that evokes a variety of associations is given an abstract frequency that seems devoid of connotations. Not only does the artist free the sound from its source by recording it in real time and then processing it, but he also resorts to the use of delay and reverberation. As a result, the enormous speakers retransmit the acoustic waves that accumulate, providing the broadcast sound with a force that affects all persons and objects in its vicinity. It appears that the acoustic signal can move the molecules of both animate and inanimate objects with an equal force.
About music: The two tracks represent two different approaches to the composition. Micha Kupicz prepared a mix of the recording of the installation that rather focuses on the overall atmosphere of the piece than represents it. It is an intensive composition that punctuates the ascending qualities of the sound sculpture. A work of music on its own terms, this studio mix also reworks a piece, which spatializes the mixing board, thus Smole ski's work is taken by Kupicz into another level.The second is a recording of a performance by Mats Gustafsson on baritone saxophone. The sound of the saxophone became another instrument taking part in the process. Thus the procedure allows Gustafsson to improvise with the sounds that were recorded just a moment before. The juxtaposition of the fiery and dynamic improvisation and a preprogrammed minimal composition recreates the tension present at the venue. Limited edition of 400.