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Rebecca Horn: Der Federfinger (1972)
Video art:
Hector Meinhof: Malcrêatiure (2011)
Pontus Langendorf: The Fifth Squire (2012) Collaboration with Magnus Bunnskog
Hidden Mother: Audio Graffiti (2011)
Reviews:
"Hidden Mother is a contemporary ensemble, whose members combine high
musical competence in their instrumental skills with an intelligent research
for new formats and presentations in a rare-to-find quality" - Heiner Goebbels 2014
"Hidden Mother's artistic research and curiosity is promising, and I'm sure they will
keep surprising not only the academic music world with unexpected projects"
- Heiner Goebbels
"I was fascinated the whole time. An exciting concert that promises
a lot for the future" - Håkan Hagegård, opera legend
"Inspires the audience imagination, makes them associate and reflect
on other art forms" - André Chini, composer
"During the early years of photography, when the exposure time exceeded
the patience of a child, the mother was often forced to hold the child so
that it would not move and render the picture blurry. The mother herself was
hidden under a cloak. The phenomenon is known as Hidden Mother, which is
also the name of the percussion ensemble consisting of the Kroumata members
Ulrik Nilsson and Pontus Langendorf together with Magdalena Meitzner. In the
shadow of the Baltic Sea Festival they performed a well put together programme
where they in the context of Hidden Mother examined the "invisible" qualities
of music and stage performance.
In all of the works there was a tension between the concrete and the abstract,
between presence and absence, between what we hear and what we cannot
discern, or only slightly so. Thus the concert started with a mimed ritual around
vision and ended with a feathered hand closing eyelids (a tribute to the german
artist Rebecca Horn's performance art piece from the early 70's). In between the
audience was treated to a well choreographed performance. The whole might be
considered as stronger than it's individual parts, but among these were of course
a couple of gems.
For example Magdalena Meitzner's solo piece Zirkel, where small fragments of "hidden"
voices broke into an otherwise very visually sounding percussion choreoghraphy.
Otherwise the high point was Esaias Järnegards fenomenal Night Work. In a large drum
a string was fastened and by pulling on the string with varied power and friction
Pontus Langendorf managed to obtain a rich variety of darkly rumbling sonorities.
There was also a formal lucidity, also in a choreographical sense, where the musician
moved along the stage along the hanging sheets of music."
-Andreas Engström Nutida Musik 3/2010 (translation Hidden Mother)
