Jens Brand
Zé Bif
Performance for Percussion & Video
Collaborative Project with Marcelo Aguirre
Soft- and Hardware construction Sukandar Kartadinata
2010
Zé Bif is based on different aspects of Death Metal as well as issues of Conceptual Art
it consists of three parts:
Parts of Zé Mit for percussion & video
Parts of Zé Bohn for percussion & Microphones
Parts of Zé Hart for 4 snare drums, sampler & video
Zé Mit
Marcelo Aguirre's base drum is equipped with a double-bass-pedal, alternating taking over the control of two videos: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" by Walt Disney and "La Bête" by Walerian Borowczyk. Each drum beat propels the movie one cut further (using the original cuts). This way the original storyline is in principle maintained. On the other hand, the storylines of both movies get mixed up and create alternative tales.
Zé Bohn
The piece uses four microphones, mounted on computer-controlled DC motors, individually routed to four speakers. Marcelo performs on various gongs and cymbals, below and just within audibility. The rotating microphones move in and out the very narrow range of the resonating objects, generating spacial movements.
Zé Hart
Marcelo Aguirre performs on 4 amplified snare drums as well as 4 toms that are equipped with midi-controllers that perform 4 different snare-drum samples. The eight snare signals are distributed to four speakers. The performance weaves in with a 12 minute video by Jens Brand, displaying a flashing segment of a neon advertisement that runs in a 1 minute loop, shot with a close-up microphone arrangement. /