2023-04-29 09:26:24
The Minoritenplatz in Krems-Stein seems a bit untidy these days. No wonder, since the Toxic Temple has set up its dumpsters, handed out plenty of barrier tape (though this is more for wrapping than locking out) and banged its order of service on the door. In this way, unbelievers get a first impression of what to expect: confession opportunities, measuring times and sound meditation are on offer. To ask?
Probably yes. The succus of the work “Mess” is quickly grasped: at a time when climate catastrophe and floating mountains of rubbish meet, homage is simply paid to waste. Why fight when you can surrender? Insofar as it is logical that the audience is wrapped in blue plastic bags when entering the temple, before they dive into a gaudy and absurd world of cables, wind machines, altars from freezers and plastic accumulations set in ice, which are released drop by drop. Above all this is a meandering sound collage that has a ritual character.
Those who venture into the confessional are in turn gently questioned regarding their sins. Leaving too much rubbish behind is quickly reversed. “Abundance creates something new,” was the affirming answer. You are released with the prospect that one day your own body, completely encased in plastic, might power a new generation of internal combustion engines. Hm. Not exactly a desirable idea. But at least you still have the entire festival span to deal with the garbage religion and its excesses, since “Mess” is scheduled as a permanent performance.
The thoughts released by the visit to the temple might also be lingered on at the various concerts on Friday. In the Minoritenkirche, the duo Rojin Sharafi and Epong offered a dreamlike journey from loud to quiet, exploring the transitions between static sound and vehement groove in the interplay of traditional instruments such as electronics, while in the background images of a forest landscape bathed in a wide variety of colors vibrated subtly to the rhythm . What had a meditative character here was later thwarted by the British artist Petronn Sphene at the exhibition center: hectic gestures and similar sounds, scraping hard past the caricature, invited everyone to let off steam. A technoid excursion into the fairytale world.
The Canadian group Big Brave, on the other hand, was more stoic in appearance and expression. Focusing entirely on the new album “Nature Morte”, there were booming guitars and massive drumbeats, over which singer Robin Wattie sometimes laid melodic, then harsh vocals once more. Catharsis was very important. As a group, it is important for them to always look ahead, Wattie said before appearing in the APA interview. If you dwell too much on the past, “you will be held back by it. In the end, it’s regarding staying honest and authentic.” Colleague Mathieu Ball agreed. “It can happen that you get stuck. Then you have to actively work to pull yourself back out. So you turn to something new. It has to feel right without you repeating yourself.”
Repetition, on the other hand, is Godflesh’s basic recipe, so to speak: the British industrial legend, consisting of Justin Broadrick and GC Green, has been a bank in terms of monotonous but equally powerful riffs and drum machines pounding with devilish hardness since their debut “Streetcleaner” (1989). This time, however, it wasn’t quite possible to close your eyes and through, because Broadrick’s guitar signal caused problems as early as the third number. A few perseverance slogans and jokes later, things were up and running once more and the hair on the head might be shaken eagerly.
After a long day, during which you were also acoustically sprinkled with bees (Felix Blume distributed 250 bees to as many small loudspeakers dangling from the ceiling for his installation “Swarm”) or at an exhibition the erasure of the border between organic and synthetic bodies admired (“A bestiary of the anthropocene [An atlas of hybrid creatures]’ by the Disnovation.org collective), thanks to Nihiloxica there was still the opportunity to dance wildly. The band from Uganda merged driving rhythms with electronic elements into an easily digestible, yet never stale mixture. Such a program is a popular one to convert.
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