iris ter schiphorst

A musical-theatrical action
for female voice, sign language soloist, male soprano, 1 oboe, 1 bass clarinet, 3 trumpets, prep. Piano/sample keyboard, 1 solo violin, 3 violins (tuned a fifth lower), 1 Vc, 3 percussion instruments, electric guitar, electric bass, live electronics

About the work

Over the course of their five-year collaboration, Iris ter Schiphorst and Helmut Oehring have repeatedly explored the possibilities and impossibilities of communication. Both from their very own perspective. For Oehring, the son of deaf parents, language contains a visual dimension. Language also gives rise to images, which he does not try to capture verbally, but transfers into the medium of his sound language and focusses on them wherever possible. For Iris ter Schiphorst, on the other hand, the literature of the twentieth century is an important starting point. Nevertheless, the visual is also a central component in her works, whereby she makes use of the entire spectrum of media realisation possibilities.

In DER ORT IST NICHT DER ORT, a musical-theatrical action for a voice, a soprano, a deaf person, live electronics and feeds, the two composers reflect on their own work, whereby the main theme of their joint artistic activity, the search for understanding, is visualised. Together with the graphic artist Hagen Klennert and the light artist Lutz Deppe, formal musical constellations are captured and symbolised in new spatial situations. The result is a visual and audio play with constant changes of location, the longing for comprehensibility and finding oneself again in an environment that becomes a non-place through misunderstandings and breaks in continuity. The will to understand is negated by the inability to do so. The programme makers in the German Pavilion have ventured far ahead with their assignment for 26.10.2000 and risk not answering questions at the end of the EXPO. At the same time, they are signalling openness and expectation at the beginning of the 21st century. The performers in the August Everding Hall at EXPO 2000 Hanover will be Arno Rauning (soprano), L. Lixenburg (soprano), Christina Schönfeld (sign language) and the Ensemble Aventure under the direction of Christian Hommel. The electronics will be provided by GOGH Surround-Sound-Studio Berlin.
(2000)