KLEX 2016: Spark presents three nights of music and audio-visual performances featuring 19 local and international visual artists and musicians, showcasing experimental, improvised and noise music and sound performances. Mark your calendar and do not miss our exciting performance programmes!
Venue: Findars Art Space, Kuala Lumpur
Friday, 25th November @ 10pm
Charlotte Clermont (CA), Kok Siew-Wai (MY), Liu Fangyi (TW), Nous perçons les oreilles (CA), Paul Timings (NZ), Sudarshan Chandra Kumar (MY), Yong Yandsen (MY).
Saturday, 26th November @ 9:30pm
Asger Thomsen (DK), C-drÌk (BE/DE), Dharma (SG), Kok Siew-Wai (MY), Tey Beng Tze (MY), Yngel (DK), Wong Yok Teng (MY), Yong Yandsen (MY).
Sunday, 27th November @ 8:30pm
Dharma (SG), DJ Urine (FR), Goh Yen-Lin (MY), Ikbal S. Lubys (ID), Liu Fangyi (TW), Paul Timings (NZ), Riar Rizaldi (ID), Sudarshan Chandra Kumar (MY), Tey Beng Tze (MY), Yong Yandsen (MY).
ASGER THOMSEN
ASGER THOMSEN (b. 1989) is a musician and composer from Copenhagen, Denmark. He was educated at Syddansk Musikkonservatorium, Esbjerg (bachelor) and currently studying at Rythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen (Music Performance Master’s Degree). He has studied with Søren Kjærgaard, Thommy Andersson, Adam Pultz Melbye among others, and has toured in Denmark, Poland, and USA. He has been working with prominent names such as Kresten Osgood, Kasper Tranberg, Christian Kyhl, Eliot Cardinoux, Pandelis Karayorgis, and many others. Thomsen is primarily working as a double bass player and composer in the field of improvised music with and without notated material. He has established himself as a strong improvisor in the Copenhagen scene and can be heard in many different contexts spanning from alternative pop to free/experimental jazz and avant-garde.
C-DRÍK AKA KIRDEC
C-DRÍK AKA KIRDEC is a composer and musician who operates in the field of noise, electronic and experimental music, born in Zaire (DR Congo), he is now based in Berlin (Germany). He studied electoacoustic music in Belgium explores electronic, experimental and noise music from Asia and Africa trough his label Syrphe, he is also a concert organiser and publishes essays and writings about Asian and African alternative music. He collaborates to Radio Staalplaat where he presents electronic and avant-garde from Latin America, Africa and Asia. He has been active in various music projects such as Axiome, Crno Klank, Ambre, Tasjiil Moujahed and occasionally composes sound tracks for theatre and choreographies. (Photo: Cher Tan)
CHARLOTTE CLERMONT
CHARLOTTE CLERMONT lives and works in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts (2016) from Concordia University. She has participated in three residencies at the artist-run centre Vidéographe in Montreal. In 2016, her mixed media video Élise-Élise was presented at the Chromatic festival in Montreal and Toronto, and her glitch and text-based video Parking Lot Attendant was screened at Artist Television Access in San Francisco, California, USA. Her video Pink Noise, which uses Super8 film and explores her relationship with the subject is distributed by VIVO Media Arts Centre in Vancouver, British-Columbia, Canada. She is currently an artist in residence at Studio Kura in Itoshima, Japan and will be part of the biennial Itoshima International Art Festival.
DHARMA
Best known as the former guitarist of Singapore out-rock group The Observatory, DHARMA was with the band for the first 7 albums. His initial approach stems from guitar experimentations with effects and later on incorporating objects to bring it to a grittier, mystical and industrial-esque sonic dimension. Dharma’s solo practice, which came to fore with his 2013 solo debut, Intergranular Space, has opened up new vistas for his guitar work. Using prepared and extended techniques, his guitar no longer just plays notes and chords, but conjures forth colours, textures and even beats. (Photo: Ray Shion)
DJ URINE
DJ URINE is a sculptor and sound artist from France. Instead of cutting and pasting snippets of audio together on a laptop, Dj Urine reaches for the superglue and creates literal sound collages from fragments of vinyl records. These are assembled in a variety of ways, from the pizza slice method to fine mosaics, and played on up to 1 to 7 phonograph simultaneously, to build up rhythms, loops and textures out of many different musical genres. Sped-up Bollywood vocals can be heard over corrupted bars of Frank Zappa, French folk songs, spoken word guitar tutors and breakcore, resulting in a delightfully chaotic barrage of sounds. That whole process is executed in a thoughtful and imaginative way, and with a sense of humour.
GOH YEN-LIN
Pianist GOH YEN-LIN is an avid performer of contemporary classical music integrating culture, language, and multi-disciplinary art from Malaysia. She has premiered numerous solo and chamber works across North America, Europe, and Africa. Composers she has collaborated with include Chen Yi, Ge Gan-ru, Tom Lopez, and Mayke Nas. Yen-Lin’s special interest in improvisation has led her to form contemporary improvisation ensembles and to work extensively with different instrumentalists, vocalists, dancers, actors and theater directors on improvisation projects and concerts. She started including toy piano and toy instruments in many of her performances. Her passion for teaching brought her to Tanzania in 2013, working as a piano/voice teaching fellow at Umoja School of Music and a lecturer at Tumaini University Makumira. She is currently a senior lecturer at Sultan Idris Education University in Malaysia.
IKBAL S. LUBYS
Graduated from Performing Arts Faculty, Indonesian Institute of Art Yogyakarta, IKBAL S. LUBYS actively collaborating with various of music from classical, ethnic, electronic, noise, experimental and metal. Now more serious in developing the functions of stringed musical instrument especially guitar, in addition some workshop programs and musical clinics. He has participated in several residencies and collaboration programs in Asia & Europe, and so far decided not to be in a certain musical territory.
KOK SIEW-WAI
KOK SIEW-WAI is a vocal improviser, video artist and independent artist-organizer from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She studied and lived in USA from 1998-2005. Siew-Wai has shown, performed and presented her works in Asia, Europe, Canada and USA. She has performed in festivals such as SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival (Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival, Playfreely Festival (Singapore), Choppa Experimental and Improvised Music Festival (Singapore), Asian Meeting Festival (Japan), RRRec Music Fest (Indonesia) and E-Poetry Festival (USA). Siew-Wai is the co-founder, co-curator and co-director of KLEX. (Photo: Asian Meeting Festival)
LIU FANGYI
LIU FANGYI is a sound artist based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. His work focuses on noise collage and field recordings, where he uses objects and voice as source material in his improvised performance. Fangyi often collaborates with different musicians and artists from around the world. He runs a Facebook group called Cochlea, aims to introduce musicians from different fields to new audiences. He also organizes music concerts sometimes.
NOUS PERÇONS LES OREILLES
Two saxophones, two voices; two gargoyles, two satyrs; two forces of nature that agitate, whistle, squeek, scrape, blow, and bite, transforming music into a secular incantation and a banquet of sound. NOUS PERÇONS LES OREILLES is a rather peculiar duo, down to its very instrumentation. There is a certain symmetry at its core: two alto saxophones improvising together, but the sax players also sing, one relaying the other to a point where, in some places, there is no way of knowing who plays what. A hall of mirrors, symbiotic work. A duality blending into one, just like two ears sending different and complementary signals to the same brain. (Photo: Jean-Claude DŽsinor).
PAUL TIMINGS
PAUL TIMINGS is a New Zealand sound artist who composes and performs experimental music, and creates sound installations. Paul develops software-based performance tools, compositions and installations via algorithmically produced soundscapes, using source material primarily derived from field recordings. His work has been exhibited in New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia. (Photo: Bannai Roo)
RIAR RIZALDI
RIAR RIZALDI is an artist from Indonesia. He is interested in developing new possibilities in presenting audiovisual through an obscure forgotten technology and medium. His works mainly focus on the relationship between motion images, sound structure, and their intervention with the body. Riar will be presenting a solo audio-visual performance at KLEX entitled “The Act of Seeing”. The performance explores the potential relationship between eye movements and improvised audiovisual/live cinema by creating a performance piece where the data from the performer’s eyes movement will be generated into motion images & sound using a technique of measuring electrical potential. Moving images will be projected into the performer’s body: the lights from the moving images will affect the eyes’ movement and create a feedback loop reaction between eyes and motion images.
SUDARSHAN CHANDRA KUMAR
SUDARSHAN CHANDRA KUMAR is a musician from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has contributed vocals and live electronics to bands such as HKPT, T!T!T!, and Takdir. His live setup is comprised of loopers, synths and effects pedals which are used to create improvised soundscapes. Sudar has participated in festivals such as Choppa Experimental and Improvised Music Festival (Singapore) and Iskarnival 2016 and performs regularly in KL especially with music improvisers.
TEY BENG TZE
TEY BENG TZE is a Malaysian visual artist, based in Kuala Lumpur. He graduated from the Malaysian Institut of Art in 2004. Beng Tze is the co-founder of local indie art collective Findars Art Space, running it from 2008-present. His artworks are collected by local & overseas art collectors. Beng Tze held his 1st solo exhibition “Dirty Mary Crazy Mickey” at Findars @ The Annexe Central Market in 2009; and the 2nd solo how “From Little Things, Big Things Grow” at Lostgens Contemporary Art Space in 2015. He also works as a tattoo artist.
WONG YOK TENG
WONG YOK TENG is a full-time photographer and is best known as the bassist of Malaysian instrumental band NAO. Having toured with the band in several countries over the last few years, Teng believes that music could become a source of inspiration and eventually shape him into an exceptional character. He aspires to share his ideas and sentiments through music. (Photo: Teoh Eng Hooi)
YNGEL
YNGEL is a Danish experimental guitar-duo, formed by Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen & Emil Palme, exploring the boundaries of how to use the electric guitar through composition and improvisation. They use simple tools such as stone’s and metal objects to explore and interweave different approaches to the guitar and its sound. Yngel draws as much influence from free jazz and punk as they do from classical and folklore. The duo is born out of Copenhagen’s wide experimental underground scene.
YONG YANDSEN
YONG YANDSEN is an improvised saxophonist and artist-organizer from Malaysia. He has played at the Asian Meeting Festival, Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival, Mosaic Festival Singapore, Choppa Eclectic Improvised Music Festival, Turn Around Free Jazz & Improvisation Festival amongst others. Yandsen, together with Darren Moore and Brian O’Reily, form improvised trio Game of Patience, and have toured to Japan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. They released their debut album “Trial and Error” on Herbal International label in 2015, and self-released debut LP “The Bad Sleep Well”. Yandsen’s debut solo LP was released by Doubtful Sound (France) in 2013. Yandsen is the curator of the monthly improvised music and performance series “Serious Play Improv Lab (SPIL)”, which is a project of KLEX. (Photo: Cees Van Toledo)