Event
6 April 17.00 – 18.00
- Talks
Cross Fire – the sound of war with Jacob Kirkegaard
In collaboration with Klang Festival
About the event
On Wednesday April 6th, Kunsthal Charlottenborg in collaboration with Klang Festival invites you to a talk with composer and sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard about his new work Cross Fire.
Cross Fire is a work composed with sound recordings of firearms and artillery. The work imitates the sound of a war situation, which is instrumented for an orchestra and premiered by the Royal Life Guards Music Corps at Klang Festival on June 18, 2022.
The so-called muzzleloading rifle was invented in the early 17th century. Today, firearms – and artillery in general – are widespread throughout the world, both as an object of fascination and the idea of security and freedom, and at the same time an object of force, fear and death.
The world order is dictated by physical weapons. The current situation in Ukraine is living proof of this. But what do weapons and war really sound like? How does the sound move through an open landscape or in a forest? Can a military orchestra play the sound of an explosion or imitate the sound of war? Is it possible to penetrate a weapon in sound; separate it with the ears?
Through a year of research and several visits to amateur shooters, as well as to the Danish military, Jacob Kirkegaard has made sound recordings with sensitive sensors as well as with acoustic measuring microphones. He has listened all the way into the mechanics of the weapon, the cutting of projectiles through the air and the deep echo of grenades.
The conversation will take place between Jacob Kirkegaard and artistic director of KLANG-Festival Christian Winther Christensen.
No registration is needed, and seats are given after a first come first serve principle. The event is free of charge. Please note that the event will be in Danish.
About Jacob Kirkegaard
The sound art of Jacob Kirkegaard explores ways to reflect on complex, unnoticed or unapproachable conditions and environments. The core element and method of his work derive from the use of sound recordings of the tangible aspects of intangible themes.
At the age of six, Kirkegaard made his first sound recordings, and in 1994 he began to create compositions based on recordings he was making. His works have since treated themes such as radioactivity in Chernobyl and Fukushima, border walls, actual and metaphorical, and melting ice in the Arctic. Since 2006 Kirkegaard has also been extensively researching, recording, and creating works using otoacoustic emissions: tones generated by the human ear. Two of his recent works are immersive acoustic explorations of global waste management and of processes that unfold when a human being dies.
The sound art of Jacob Kirkegaard explores ways to reflect on complex, unnoticed or unapproachable conditions and environments. The core element and method of his work derive from the use of sound recordings of the tangible aspects of intangible themes.
At the age of six, Kirkegaard made his first sound recordings, and in 1994 he began to create compositions based on recordings he was making. His works have since treated themes such as radioactivity in Chernobyl and Fukushima, border walls, actual and metaphorical, and melting ice in the Arctic. Since 2006 Kirkegaard has also been extensively researching, recording, and creating works using otoacoustic emissions: tones generated by the human ear. Two of his recent works are immersive acoustic explorations of global waste management and of processes that unfold when a human being dies.
Kirkegaard has presented his works at galleries, museums, biennales and concert spaces throughout the world, including MoMA in New York, LOUISIANA – Museum of Modern Art and ARoS in Denmark, The Menil Collection and at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, The Sydney Biennale in Australia, Aichi Triennale in Nagoya and at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan. Jacob Kirkegaard has gallery representation through Fridman Gallery (New York, USA) and Galleri Tom Christoffersen (Copenhagen, DK).
His work is in the collections of LOUISIANA – Museum of Modern Art and ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Museum Sønderjylland in Denmark, and Bell Gallery at Brown University, USA. Kirkegaard’s sound works have been released on record labels such as Important Records (USA), Touch (UK) and Posh Isolation (DK). He is a founding member of the sound art collective freq_out as well as the not-for-profit arts organisation TOPOS. In 2016 Kirkegaard was the sound-artist-in-residency at St. John’s College, University of Oxford, U.K.
His work is in the collections of LOUISIANA – Museum of Modern Art and ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, Museum Sønderjylland in Denmark, and Bell Gallery at Brown University, USA. Kirkegaard’s sound works have been released on record labels such as Important Records (USA), Touch (UK) and Posh Isolation (DK). He is a founding member of the sound art collective freq_out as well as the not-for-profit arts organisation TOPOS. In 2016 Kirkegaard was the sound-artist-in-residency at St. John’s College, University of Oxford, U.K.
About Klang Festival
Klang Festival is the largest, international festival for contemporary musik in Denmark. Since 2009, Klang has been a permanent bastion in Danish cultural life. Every year, Klang is visited by thousands of audiences, volunteers, artists and other interested people who share the fascination for contemporary music.
Klang presens some of the largest and best orchestras, ensembles and soloists from Denmark and abroad. Ensembles such as The DR Symphony Orchestra, Tivoli Copenhagen Phil, The Royal Life Guard Music Corps, Klangforum Wien (A), Ensemble Modern (D) and many more have visited KLANG in recent years. The festival takes place from 9-18 June 2022.
Klang Festival is the largest, international festival for contemporary musik in Denmark. Since 2009, Klang has been a permanent bastion in Danish cultural life. Every year, Klang is visited by thousands of audiences, volunteers, artists and other interested people who share the fascination for contemporary music.
Klang presens some of the largest and best orchestras, ensembles and soloists from Denmark and abroad. Ensembles such as The DR Symphony Orchestra, Tivoli Copenhagen Phil, The Royal Life Guard Music Corps, Klangforum Wien (A), Ensemble Modern (D) and many more have visited KLANG in recent years. The festival takes place from 9-18 June 2022.