Music and painting combine in a unique experience
Shanghai audiences are invited to a unique audiovisual feast at Shanghai Grand Theater this week when Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt's paintings come to life accompanied by the music of composers including Satie, Debussy and Mahler.
The live media concert "Van Gogh in Me," presented by Netherlands Kamerkoor (chamber choir) and Italian audiovisual studio fuse*, takes audiences on an immersive journey through a historical period commonly called Belle Epoque, from the 1870s to the outbreak of the first world war.
"Van Gogh in Me" is presented by Netherlands Kamerkoor and Italian audiovisual studio fuse*.
The performance features 13 pieces of music chosen from composers of the time: Saint-Saens, Debussy, Satie, Alma and Gustav Mahler, Strauss and Schönberg. Each song enters into a dialogue with the works of Van Gogh and Klimt and their historical background, adding a new layer of complexity to the narration.
With the support of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and Austrian Gallery Belvedere, fuse* worked on high resolution images of the paintings to train neural networks and study the style and trait of the two artists.
During the concert, two huge screens are arranged in a V-shape behind the choir. The paintings, alternated with historical materials, evolve in continuous, slow-moving animations according to real-time data collected live from the theater hall.
Netherlands Kamerkoor members introduce their performance to Fudan University students.
Fudan University choir and a few Netherlands Kamerkoor members join in singing during the activity.
Singers' voices, pulses, and breath changes are detected and tracked by microphones and GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) Shimmer sensors. Conductor Peter Dijkstra's movement and gestures are captured by an infrared camera, and even audiences' facial expressions are extracted for emotion analysis.
These data influence the visual processing of the paintings, and collaborate in the co-creation of the final work, which makes each performance unique.
"And in a painting I'd like to say something consoling, like a piece of music," Van Gogh had said.
The performance is an experience where the boundaries between music and image blur.
Singers' voices, pulses, and breath changes are detected and tracked by microphones and a GSR Shimmer sensor.
The first part of the concert focuses on Van Gogh's life, presenting walks in the fields, portraits of peasants, his inner turmoil, loneliness and despair.
In the central part, the torment is sublimated through the expressive power of his works and the influence they had on Klimt's art.
The final part tells the evolution of Klimt's style. The music follows the narrative thread of the story with sometimes intimate and sweet atmospheres, sometimes dark and disturbing.
Everyone becomes a participant in the creation of the concert: it is their memory that activates the historical component, their emotions that influence the animations of the performance. It is this interrelationship that characterizes a concert which bridges past and present with the help of technology.
During the concert, two huge screens are arranged in a V-shape behind the choir.
Performance info
Dates: March 6-7, 7:30pm
Tickets: 180-680 yuan
Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater 上海大剧院
Address: 300 People's Ave 人民大道300号
