Earth I (première)

In the performance EARTH I Karl Van Welden and Frederik Croene make use of a big felt cloth. They want to investigate the impact of felt on music – the effect on musical acoustics – and on the pianist while playing the piano. During the performance the felt dampens the music and increasingly restricts the pianist's freedom of movement. A felt canvas, as long and as wide as the stage, descends over the pianist, who imperturbably interprets his 'melody'. Suspended from several points, the felt appears and is slowly forming a sculpture that takes on imperceptibly different forms. Sometimes it looks like an appearing or disappearing mountain landscape, sometimes it transforms into an abstract sculpture that slowly but surely threatens to suffocate the pianist. Through a play of minimal lighting, illusions are also created that refer to tent cultures or covered furniture in unused dwellings.

• Karl Van Welden