Nine simultaneous projections of films/videos from the series The Movement of People Working, permanent electronic drone compositions and every two hours live performances by 12 musicians playing compositions written for them by Phill Niblock.
The Movement of People Working by Phill Niblock is a massive cinematic-musical monument. More than 25 hours of film, shot since 1973, initially on 16 mm colour film, later with video and digital technology in Peru, Mexico, Hungary, Hong Kong, Brazil, Lesotho, Portugal, China and Japan, on Sumatra and in the Arctic.
Films that show nothing more than manual labour. Documentary, extremely minimalist editing, Niblock presents people in their daily activities and tasks. Hammering, sawing, grinding, harvesting, dyeing, fishing, and much more – work in its most elementary form. Phill Niblock’s minimalist and monumental compositions with their slowly unfolding microtonal drones belong to this film material. Multiple layers of sound material create a continuum of sonic movement and pulsations with an extremely dense texture.
The Movement of People Working at silent green combines both – film and composition – in a 24-hour film-video-sound installation: while the cinematic part of the work unfolds in parallel and permanently projected on nine surfaces, electronic drone compositions Niblocks sound in dense succession, which are also supplemented by live performances every two hours. Invited are musicians from the Berlin scene who have been performing Niblock’s music for years. Most of the works were composed especially for them.
Phill Niblock: The Movement of People Working
Starts: Saturday, 21.10.2023 / 21:00 CET | Ends: Sunday 22.10.2023 / 21:00 CET
Betonhalle silent green | Gerichtstraße 35 in 13347 Berlin-Wedding
