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Finnbogi P​é​tursson - Diabolus

from Organ Works, Past, Present & Future by Various Artists

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about

Finnbogi Pétursson, the artist representing Iceland in the Giardini di Castello at the Venice Biennale in 2002, has built a large square wooden tunnel, approx. 2 metres high and 16 metres long. It protrudes from the entrance of the Icelandic pavilion. At the entrance the tunnel is approx. 2.50 metres across, but narrows down towards the other end where it finishes in a 50 cm wide square organ pipe, 2.50 metres high and 60cm deep. Inside, and under the pipe, a low frequency loudspeaker is placed which produces the first tone at 61.8 Hz faded up in 30 seconds. At the height of its pitch it triggers an air pump which blows into the pipe and creates the second tone at 44.8 Hz. Together the two tones engender a heavy interference wave of 17Hz, which used to be referred to as a “Diabolus in musica”. The name of the work is "Diabolus", and the two sine waves delivered through the tunnel are produced with the latest equipment available. Consequently the work relates to two opposed periods; the contemporary world of today when all taboos are transgressed in the name of research and technology; and the Middle Ages when the tonal combination called la Quinte-du-loup was proscribed from the ritual. What intrigues Pétursson is the historical fact that a relatively simple and innocent tonal combination, which through the centuries formed the basis of Icelandic traditional singing, was banned only because of the slight difficulty singers encounter when they have to bridge the tritone of an enlarged fourth. He wonders how little it took to control expression, regulate the artist's freedom of action and prohibit all irregularities in the making of art. Hence everything which art today stands for might have been blacklisted during the Middle Ages as an expression of pure blasphemy. Pétursson is not interested in disturbing the peace of the clergymen who in the early centuries of Christianity came to the conclusion that a certain music was 'diabolical'. With his monumental sound work he would rather have us reflect on the state of contemporary art and ask ourselves whether by any misfortune we might again fall for the idea that only the beautiful and harmonious is ideologically correct. What a pity it would be for all those who have created original art with wonderfully discordant means. (Edited from a text by Halldór Björn Runólfsson)

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from Organ Works, Past, Present & Future, released April 2, 2004

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Spire London, UK

An improvised group made up of the Spire players, explores the sonics of the mighty organ, in all its thundering glory. A free range is given to the players to dive into musical territory they cannot do with scored work. Initially set up to provide links between the main sets, The Eternal Chord has evolved into one of the acts in its own right and has become a mainstay of all Spire live events. ... more

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