The
idea for the documentary "head over heels to China"
came during a
performance tour through China in the course of the
German short film
festival. Part of the performance was always a
specially prepared
projection by Uwe Bastiansen and Hamburg artist Irina
Frederich. For 6
weeks musician and performance artist Uwe Bastiansen
travelled through
the People's Republic of China. At different
locations, from village
festivals over clubs, art galleries, museums to
universities, he
ventured his own cultural voyage in more than 20
performances.
Interacting with the audience and various artists and
musicians was a
direct exchange of experiences that was unpredictable
and unique.
Chairs being thrown through the crowd,
Plaster cast heads being worked on and destroyed
live, shaving foam and
other sprays being used for the mobilization of the
masses. Banners,
shopping bags, feather pillows and various devices
otherwise rather to
be encountered in the scrap yard were used to
provoke reactions in the
audience that gave the artist the equally surprising
opportunity to
improvise. more highlights were spontaneous concerts
- at places like
Shanghai, Macau, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Shenszen -
with local "noise"
artists, freejazz musicians as well as classically
trained traditional
musicians and smashed guitars. there were overnight
stays at 5-star
hotels, in artist villages and brothels, 10 Watt-
sound systems without
wiring etc.
A
step
across the border for both cultures
with an accent on spontaneity. the movie tells of
bilateral inspiration
and the experience of what "open eyes" truly
achieve: understanding. It
is not about when and which cultural change took
place and how politics
related to it but about everyday life. And with each
more day of the
journey bit by bit the own personal view changes.
the trailer to the
movie "le piano fatigué", in the meantime translated
into Chinese, was
also shown. Lectures were held about "modern art and
music" at
universities and galleries were engaged for
restoration works
(afterwards). The trailer (composed in quite a
hurry) gives a first
impression.
the
home
country is being appraised again.
this movie shall be filmed during a new tour through
China and finished
in Hamburg. Already finished recordings will be
added. The clip/trailer
produced with those already edited recordings serves
as an example. The
documentary shall make it possible for both cultures
to participate in
these adventures as viewers in the European as well
as in the Chinese
cinema/television.
NEW!
The shortmovie on DVD. German language.
Running time 14
Minutes.

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It
was one of those rare moments
of fleeting existence that spawned an outbreak of the
magic of life's
absurdity. when a long time of the extreme found a gap
in an
audiovisual explosion. the world condensed in a rave
between the
planets. between islands of beauty, chaos, of sensual
noise. where the
longing for the never ending experience of the ups and
downs of the
common met its zenith. more or less…
When in spring 2009 Uwe Bastiansen wanted to give
several
interviews for his movie "le piano fatigué" he was
quite surprised that
the management of the Point Éphèmére in Paris even
one year after that
concert still did not want to talk to him. A member
of staff described
his view on the art-errorist and bagio show with
these words: "There
are several things you can do in a club in Paris and
several things you
cannot do – and this was almost everything you
cannot do...". on three
stages positioned around the audience a spectacular
took place with
Jean-Hervé Péron, Muck Giovanett and Uwe Bastiansen
waywardly
presenting an extremely unusual music and show with
tools and
instruments. With a chainsaw, pillows, rat traps or
buckets of sand -
the audience was permanently chased through the
hall. the title of the
movie "le piano fatigué" insinuates further
surprises.
That
evening
in
Point Éphèmére in Paris not only the
artists
Jean-Hervé Péron, Muck Giovanett and Uwe Bastiansen
and, as guest,
Iojik presented their role play. rather the audience
- partly planned,
partly not - became actor of this memorable
performance. Not only the
music but a variety of multivisual and experimental
narrative
techniques led to the success of this "happening".
the three musicians
did not share one stage but each one occupied one
"island". The
audience had to battle for their space in between
this
three-dimensional sound spectrum but was stirred up
again and again.
Each musician was filmed separately and projected
onto another via
beamer or tv. visuals and sounds from 3 different
directions led to an
experience that surprised the audience and left it
utterly confused. On
top of that an additional camera being passed
through the hands of the
audience documented this event from an individual
perspective.
the
silence induced an almost
audible tension.
microphones attached to an old bicycle tyre and a
special surround
recording technique sum up to the authenticity of
this movie. You might
believe you were there.
The following objects were used as instrumentarium
(listed
alphabetically):
bass - milk frother - cymbals - cabasa - concert
guitar - chainsaw -
drums - freezer bags - glass - goat's hooves -
guitar - gun - harmonica
- hunting horn - light bulbs - megaphone - metal -
piano - pillows -
rat traps - sand bucket - screams - sledge hammer -
sticky tape - sound
latch - tambourine - vacuum cleaner - vocals - wood
etc.
Reviews of the concert: Jeanne Marie Chemalep, hand
camera:
"it was a very
polite audience.
considering that, when the smoke bomb
was triggered, everybody stayed quite cool."
"the communication
between the
location and the fire brigade seems to
have been very good."
"i would have been
quite
shocked. with hammers and naked people and a
drummer looking like an alien UFO just landed on
stage and a smashed
piano and so much smoke…"
"many were
confused. very
confused."
"the mood
oscillated between
"having fear" and "being fascinated", to
and fro. between fear and fascination there is
confusion."
"the piano player
played on and
on and suddenly someone came from
behind with the hammer and slammed it on the piano
and she just
continued playing. you could see her eyes
expressing "help, help hope
this will work out". but her fingers played on and
on and on."
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