David Bird »Iron Orchid« (2021)
For piano and live electronics, 22′, premiere
»Iron Orchid« is written for piano and electronics and was developed in collaboration with pianist Ning Yu. The work finds its inspiration from the piano’s inherent materials (metal, ivory, wood, wire, etc.) and investigates the link between these material properties. Multichannel electronics aid in this fluid practice, establishing immersive sound environments that always evolve to create a larger expressive trajectory. Bird and Yu previously collaborated on the sound installation »Echo Chamber«, an 11-foot metallic structure created in 2019 with the artist Mark Reigelman. While it exists as a distinct work, the structure’s resonant metallic tone haunts the production of »Iron Orchid«. Music theorist William Mason writes, »The sculpture is simultaneously absent and yet omnipresent. Stasis and momentum evoke motion through an imaginary environment, one haunted by a foreign and unknown object freighted with immense mass, and operating under its own logic.«
– David Bird
Credits: ZKM | Hertz-Labor /// ZKM Hertz-Lab
Ludger Brümmer Künstlerische Leitung /// Artistic Director
Dominik Kautz Projektleitung, Organisation & Programmheft /// Project Management, Organization & Program
Sebastian Schottke Klangregie /// Sound Direction
Jakob Schreiber, Manuel Urrutia Tontechnik /// Sound Technology
Hans Gass Licht & Veranstaltungstechnik /// Light & Event Technology
ZKM | Videostudio /// ZKM | Video Studio
Christina Zartmann Schnitt & Kamera /// Editing & Camera
Xenia Leidig Kamera /// Camera
