Ed Pinsent finds content, meaning, and expression in the C30 by Midori and Kris. He enters a world of sounds and describes what he picks up or hears in the distance, beyond the horizon of what might be his last day on earth. Read the complete review.
Ryan Masteller says I’m just a ghoul willing these keys to type themselves with my mind (or my ectoplasm!) in the hope that someone will read this and seek out this tape before it’s too late, this tape that will then assist them in their passing into the great beyond, whatever comes after Earth. Read the complete review
I had the idea years ago. The C60 The Last Day on Earth had to become the follow-up of The Four Corners of the Night. I asked four artists. Each artist got a different score. The score was either a short story or a kind of poem. I never got four satisfying contributions in return. Two pieces were in line with the concept. I thought that I could use those two compositions, some fragments from the others and create an audio-book. My ambition was obstructed by reality. I put the release on hold for a long time. Midori and Kris were incredibly patient.
I had to think again of his contribution when I listened to Kris’ release begin_if_(3). I liked his cinematographic approach very much. Desolation and optimism, a burning landscape, industrial wasteland on a blackened horizon, two people who probably didn’t know anything about their fate, all these elements were present. I listened to Midori’s work. I encountered the quality I needed. She was absent in her piece. The piano talked. The notes floated gently. There was a hint of happy sadness that defines life once youthful years start withdrawing in objects. There was silence in between those notes, like there can be silence, when a distant feeling of calm pushes emotional ties aside.
The two pieces made me think. Burn Midori’s piece to ashes, the remains would sound like Kris’ composition. Treat Midori’s piano work with x-ray and what you will see is Kris’ work. I found the similarity striking and decided to pick up the original concept and make it a C30.
A long process started. My first concern was the look of the tape. Once that problem was solved, partly by coincidence, the idea for the artwork came. I knew it had to be a plastic bottle. It was impossible to do the sixties pop-art thing I had in mind. Maybe I will use this concept once I start creating artworks that measure at least one square meter. I think, though, that Geert-Jan Hobijn’s work in progress -plastic souls- pushed me to the plastic bottles.
The Last Day on Earth, with works by Midori Hirano and Kris Limbach is a C30 of chrome quality. It was duplicated at home, in real time, using a Marantz CP430. The inlay is an A4 with the complete texts of both scores and the credits.
You can buy this tape directly from the artists, at the staalplaat shop in Berlin, or from me. Price is 8.50€ ex shipping. Note: This edition has sold out. If you like a one edition copy, especially made and packed for you, and are willing to pay 25€ (worldwide shipping include) then get in touch.
Due to other label activities a second run of this release will have to wait.
STAALTAPE 