FOSSIL
FOSSIL is a project based on stone where I research the material both acoustically, performatively and sculpturally, together with an interest of stones in an ecological, geological and cultural context. I perform with stones as a solo artist and I have also composed ,the suite ‘Öländsk Svit’ for limestone and sandstone for the renowned Swedish percussion ensemble HIDDEN MOTHER.
Since an early age, I have collected stones from wherever I travelled, but especially limestone and sandstone from my childhood shores at the island Öland in the south of Sweden. I was particularly drawn to fossils in an intuitive, almost magnetic way. The 500 million years old skeletons of ancient animals, shaped into beautiful patterns, became my treasures. When I started researching my limestone and sandstone collections as sound objects I rediscovered them, and created an even deeper relationship with them. Their harsh brutality at the same time as their soft dignity inspires me, and the overwhelming time perspective they embody with their massive density fills me with awe. I hear wind, breeze and storm, sea and rain, fire and lava through them, but I also discover sounds that go beyond the material and create for me new abstract associations.
2018 I composed and recorded my first piece for sandstone and limestone, Du-et, a commission by artist Hiroko Tsuchimoto.
At a Master Clinic and residence at CAMP in Aulus-les-bains, France, spring 2018, I collected slate by the Pyrenees rivers and composed and performed my first pieces for slate, Slate-1 and Slate-2.
After more research of the material and the incorporation of electronics, I composed the electroacoustic piece Les Pyrénées, premiered at Index (The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation) in Stockholm.
In 2018-2019 I composed the suite Öländsk Svit, a four movement suite for limestone and sandstone for the performative percussion duo HIDDEN MOTHER, (Magdalena Meitzner and Ulrik Nilsson) a commission by Samtida Musik (organization for Contemporary Music in Sweden). It was premiered at Bredäng Church in Stockholm 2019 and has since then been performed by HIDDEN MOTHER at Kulturtemplet, Göteborg, (production by Levande Musik) at Kalv Festival and Stockholm Concert Hall.
I have also performed Öländsk Svit as a solo work, 2019 at Fylkingen, Stockholm, and 2021 at the festival Nordic Music Days at the Faroe Islands.
Öländsk Svit (dur. 30 min) for sandstone and limestone consists of four movements, named after the places where the stones are collected at the northern part of Öland.
– Byrum
– Ramsnäs
– Hagskog
– Kalkbrott