Together with The New European Ensemble we brought the musical world of world famous artist Piet Mondriaan to life in an audio-visual live performance.
In the Netherlands, 2017 was announced as the year of ‘De Stijl’, titled: ‘From Mondrian to Dutch Design’. One hundred years ago, Theo van Doesburg founded ‘De Stijl’ in the city of Leiden. A new art movement was born, which was to influence modern art worldwide. During the roaring 20s, Mondriaan, a painter and key-figure of ‘De Stijl’ movement, listened to Stravinsky and Satie while living in Paris. Later, in the 1940s, he came to New York and was confronted with the dazzling bebop from Thelonious Monk, further stirring his ideas on music.
Taking the entire oeuvre of Mondrian as a starting point, we designed generative and audio reactive video projections, inspired by the musical compositions played by the ensemble. The visuals were projected onto a translucent screen hanging in front of the ensemble, creating an immersive holographic effect.
For this performance we had the chance to collaborate closely with the experimental music composer Gonzalo Gabriel Gimenez, visualising his latest work, three Chamber Concerto compositions.
The New European Ensemble was founded in 2008 in the Netherlands by dedicated and passionate musicians from across Europe. The ensemble has built up a national and international reputation for imaginative programming, ‘great enthusiasm’ (Nutida Musik) and ‘excellent performances’ (de Volkskrant). The musicians regularly tour internationally. Some of today’s leading composers like Kaija Saariaho and Magnus Lindberg enjoy working with the group.
