Assembly 2019 and other works, including the influence of John Cage
Angelica Mesiti. Photo: Josh Raymond.
Angelica Mesiti was born in 1976 and is an Australian artist of Italian heritage and I had the pleasure of visiting her Assembly in the Australian Pavilion of the 2019 Venice Biennale.
I was at first drawn to the use of music in Mesiti’s work, as the three-screen video installation involves classically trained musicians playing dissonant long tones, whilst they stand in state function rooms and assembly halls. A chorus like segment introduces a vibrant drumming group dancing with neon lit drums, before returning to the slow dissonance of the somber musicians as before. It is a complex 25-minute piece with many nuances and more performer segments than mentioned thus far. The political factor bears important connotations on democracy in response to Ralph Rugoff’s chosen theme for the 2019 Venice Biennale, May You Live In Interesting Times.
The factor I was most influenced by, however, was Mesiti’s notion of translation. Assembly essentially has a poem translated into a ‘Michela machine’ (a device used to record Italian state affairs), which is transformed into a composition played by the musicians, which in turn is translated into movement, thus encapsulating a whole stream of translations into new forms, surpassing poetry, music and dance.
You can find my analysis of the exhibition among the other blog posts, where I focus on the significance of exhibition space, both how the piece is exhibited to the public, and how the spaces depicted in the film are essential to the premise of the work.Translation, communication, and democracy are key themes I took from the experience.
My enthusiasm for the exhibition led to my research of Mesiti’s other works.
One I am particularly keen on is her Citizens Band, where she has taken street musicians and incorporated their art into a video installation. This involves having a drummer beating the water in a swimming pool, creating rhythms and a spectacular splash with her hands. Another segment is a taxi driver in America whistling some hauntingly beautiful blues in atmospheric night scene where his face is hidden. A third musician is a young man on a bus with an electric keyboard on his shoulder, with the unusual vocals resembling Mongolian throat singing. These unique musicians sparked my interest in how I might be able to take urban sounds and manipulate them into a composition.
(Her images are copyrighted but you can view them on her website)
A third inspirational piece by Mesiti is titled The Colour of Saying, 2015, and includes two retired ballet dancers silently acting their routine whilst seated, leaning and gesturing with their hands, beautifully in sync whilst never actually touching the other, giving new significance to my understanding of ‘dance’. It is completely silent, except for some shuffles from their spectators. A choir is also present, but silently perform their piece in sign language. The only noise is when two percussionists converse to the other with rhythmic claps. Contrastingly, a film installation called The Calling features clips of daily life within a community that is able to communicate from miles away, by whistling.
Prepared Piano for Movers has recorded two men carrying a piano up a spiral staircase, but the noise is far from chaotic, as it is inspired by the composer John Cage, who had similarly ‘prepared’ a piano in 1938 to have objects hammering its strings. Mesiti's prepared piano is a film, recording the piano's dissonant percussive sounds as it is moved. As noted on Mesiti’s website, ‘the video emphasizes the piano’s perilous climb, while its improvised, unpredictable music is analogous to the laborious efforts of the men as they proceed. Mesiti’s work highlights the grace and invention of everyday working life.’
I was particularly drawn to this piece, as a pianist is drawn to a piano. John Cage, the famous American composer who uprooted the music scene with his ‘4’33’ piece, is highly regarded for bringing new light to the definition of music, and his influence over two of the artists I have researched, Mesiti and Eno, lead me to research his minimalism:
Essentially, the entire tradition of Western music since Beethoven had assumed that pitch is the fundamental element of music.
But this view relegates many instruments and sounds to a secondary place, eg. Percussion below piano. He thought this was elitist and restrictive, then argued that the fundamental element was not pitch but duration.
Duration is fundamental to music, not pitch.
No such thing as silence
The composer should aim to make the audience accepting of all sounds and not allow his own emotions to influence the music
All it takes for something to be art is for it to be framed in an aesthetic way.
4’33 is simply a ‘frame’. He is inviting you to start framing any sounds you hear, at any time, in an aesthetic way.
I noticed that Mesiti’s works revolve around themes of communication, and expression, whether through music (like in The Calling or Citizens Band), or dance (as in The Colour of Saying) or both these features (like in Assembly). A notion of daily life is also very present, where ‘The Calling’ hones in on a community’s unique whistling communication, Prepared Piano is analogous to daily life’s labour and unpredictability. Assembly, as her most recent work, seems to me the culmination of these themes, whereby her response to the Biennale slogan ‘may you live in interesting times’ has embodied a democratic message of togetherness through adapting artistic communications.
Whilst I couldn’t have a true experience of these other film installation pieces, various you tube clips and photos from Mesiti’s website gave an indication of the elements I find extremely interesting. Namely the notions of translation, exhibition space, and incorporation of music. Consequently, I feel a need to include some form of creative translation between music and art, and an immersive experience whilst viewing a tangible piece of work –because where Mesiti uses cinematographic film, I wish to utilize Warwick’s printing press and fine art materials. Thus far, I envision my final piece to be a selection of prints to be viewed with headphones playing some composition of various sounds I have collected and manipulated.
Edit: Due to lockdown, I was unable to continue this final piece idea of making prints, but the compromise and continued influence of Mesiti is obvious in the annotations of my sketchbook.
Website of Mesiti: http://www.angelicamesiti.com/
Australia Council for the Arts article on Mesiti representing Australia at the Venice Biennale
Videos I used in my research:
https://youtu.be/DcKKDgu-XlsJuliana Engberg tells Angelica Mesiti “Assembly” Australian Pavilion BiennaleArte2019,BellatrilliMarialauraBidorini, (2019),
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMtKBe-U63U (A viewer's video of the experience, gives a sense of the sound and light in the room, shows drummers and choir and shot of parliament rooms)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hHRCC9TVXE artist explaining her style and purpose e.g. 'not driven by narrative' but inviting her encounters with people to participate. Interesting comments on her actions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZCESnLdr1c&t=46s artist interview, again saying narrative and storytelling is not the purpose, focus on The Colour of Saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocmlJZ4M2As The Calling, artist interview on the three video installation. Cinema elements.
https://johncage.org/ John Cage website
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