Tag: Jan Bang

The God of Single Cell Organisms

‘the muscle that connects me with the world’

Two voices share the listener’s focus on the opening track of Uncommon Deities, Jan Bang and Erik Honoré’s reimagination of the audio-visual installation of the same name staged at their Punkt Festival in 2011. First, David Sylvian reads Paal-Helge Haugen’s poem ‘The God of Single Cell Organisms’ in English translation, his precise diction crisply conveying the poet’s characterisation of a forgotten lesser deity who ‘in his impotence…seeks refuge among the microbes.’ As we grapple with the concept of a god who is so insignificant that ‘we cannot find him there, with our immense microscopes,’ a tight burst of bowed strings serves as the introduction to the second voice.

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Playing the Schoolhouse

‘sensitivity to time within space’

From 30 November to 2 December 2016 a symposium entitled On the Edge was staged in Oslo, Norway. Whilst David Sylvian was not present at the event, his influence on the proceedings was significant. The programme was created by Ivar Grydeland, a musician who works in the field of improvisation and a member of the groups Huntsville and Dans les Abres, the latter’s eponymous debut album having been released on the ECM label in 2008.

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Before and Afterlife

Creating other worlds

When Jan Bang heard that Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær had been invited to rework a track for David Sylvian’s instrumental compilation, Camphor, he didn’t hold back in seeking a role in the commission. ‘I said to Nils, “If you are doing a remix of David Sylvian, I need to be on it.” Just like that,’ remembered Bang, laughing, in an interview with John Kelman for the All About Jazz website. ‘Nils and I had been working closely for so many years, and it sort of felt natural.’ (2010)

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The God of Silence

Sound collage art

The Uncommon Deities audio-visual installation heralded the start of David Sylvian’s creative input to the 2011 Punkt Festival in Kristiansand, Norway, where he was artist in residence. Invited by Punkt founders Erik Honoré and Jan Bang, Sylvian’s initial intention had been to re-stage an audio installation that he had provided for the Bienal De Canarias on Gran Canaria two years earlier (see ‘When We Return You Won’t Recognise Us’) . However, he saw the opportunity to bring together various creative threads to concoct a truly immersive experience for the first night of the festival.

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A Certain Slant of Light

A new catalyst for composition

The vocal disc of David Sylvian’s 2011 album Died in the Wool comprises pieces that fall into three categories: variations on tracks from his Manafon album created by contemporary classical composer Dai Fujikura, Manafon variations crafted by Punkt festival founders Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, and six compositions appearing here for the first time.

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