World premiere
with Decoder Ensemble and Julia Rehme, tattoo artist
ADVERT is an exploration of the ‘self’ amid an increasingly tribalist society. The piece examines a tension between the need to advertise a particular selfness to our desired tribe and the longing for authenticity of the self, free of social expectation. Utilising autobiography plus original text by Sam Redway alongside texts by several writers including Edwina Barvosa, Amy Chua and Donna Harraway, this work confronts the audience with a vulnerability that literally draws blood.
This new multimedia music theatre work is premiered by composer, performer and mezzo-soprano Laura Bowler alongside Julia Rehme, a Leipzig-based artist and tattooist whose works are characterised by abstract expressionistic imagery moving across different visual genres. They are joined by Decoder Ensemble, a group of electronic and acoustic instrumentalists specialising in contemporary music with a knack for fusing multimedia elements, staging and physical performance in their intense collaborations with avant-garde artists.
Content warning: this performance contains video projection of tattooing taking place live on stage, including blood and skin damage
This performance will be followed by a post-concert discussion with Laura Bowler
Decoder Ensemble:
Leopold Hurt e-zither
Inigo Miranda keys
Sonja Lena Schmid cello
Carola Schaal clarinets
Alexander Schubert sound / electronics
Jonathan Shapiro drums / percussion
Laura Bowler voice
Julia Rehme tattoo artist
ADVERT will also be presented at November Music, Ultima and Time of Music in 2024.