Rie Nakajima builds mobiles and ecosystems of sounding objects in which different mechanisms overlap and influence each other. Small engines may follow their own mechanical logic, be choreographed by the artist or interact without intervention.
Nakajima's objects might be experienced as addressing each other as well as the audience. The global rhythm of her work and its open methods have been compared to games of dice.
During her residency at Lydgalleriet the week before Borealis, Nakajima built a site-specific installation in which her own objects encounter objects and social situations in and around the gallery space.
The duo O Yama O, consisting of Nakajima and Keiko Yamamoto, will do a performance March 13th. as part of the festival programme. The two artists and performers are inspired by Japanese folk culture, myths and rituals, as well as everyday, non-spectacular sound worlds. 'Yama' is Japanese for mountain and is also a mythological figure in East Asia representing death.
Yamamoto sings and recites ancient texts accompanied by a comprehensive micro-orchestra gradually built up by Nakajima from small, moveable found objects: toys, rice bowls, an array of microscopic engines, drums, flutes, nuts, clocks and wind noises.
Co-produced with Borealis- festival for experimental music.