UR Portrait Veilhan

Live sound experience of StudioVenezia, Xavier Veilhan’s French Pavilion at the 57th Venice Art Biennale 2017

« I imagine a total environment: an immersive installation referring to the universe of the recording studio and inspired by the pioneering work of Kurt Schwitters, the Merzbau (1923-1937). Musicians from all walks of life are invited to activate this sculpture-studio, which becomes the support of their creations during the seven months of the Biennale. The Pavilion is a fusion of visual arts and music, reviving references ranging from Bauhaus and Black Mountain College experiences to Station Station Doug Aitken. » Xavier Veilhan

Urportrait, sound poem for narrator, harpsichord and percussion by Zad Moultaka, according to Xavier Veilhan.

As Nigel Godrich recorded “Chaos and creation in the backyard” by asking Paul Mc Cartney to play all the instruments, Zad Moultaka used the mixing console loaned by Godrich to Studio Venezia of the French Pavilion of Venice to make a collage, as a poetic and sound portrait of Xavier Veilhan. As in the  Ur sonate purely phonetic Ur sonate of Schwitters – whose Merzbau inspired the cubist architecture of Studio Venezia – the artist recites by heart and in German a poem by Goethe, “Welcome and Farewell”, while playing the harpsichord in a purely physical way – with his arms – under the direction of the composer, plays percussion by tapping on the walls of the studio and still uses various other instruments in different ways. From the pure explosion of the beginning to the intense lyricism of the end, this Ur portrait, a contemporary version of Ur sonate of Schwitters’ Ur sonate (as well as a reflection on the Lamentation of Ur,, which Moultaka puts in image and in sound with his own ŠamaŠ in the Lebanese Pavillon), is a tribute to the creative generosity of Xavier Veilhan.