Concert: Lawrence Weiner, 7

On Sunday 31 May, Herbert Foundation will host a live performance of Lawrence Weiner’s work 7 from 1972 in collaboration with the Lawrence Weiner Estate.

Weiner (1942–2021) is considered one of the most radical artists of his generation. Language, his material of choice, is used for his work in written, spoken and sung form. His words and graphic elements are the building blocks of his practice which exceeds the restrictions of time, space and form.

From the 1970s onward, Weiner experimented with audio and music. His collaborations with musicians yielded works in which language and sound complement and transform one another.

Produced by gallery Yvon Lambert, 7 was released as Weiner’s first LP in 1972. It represents a dialogue between voice and instrument: Weiner’s artworks are each read aloud followed by the flutist’s musical interpretation of the spoken word. Read first in English, then French, the differences between both languages prompt shifts in rhythm, sound and meaning. This creates a parallel dialogue with its own syntactical particularity.

7 is structured according to the seven notes of a scale, from C to B – or doh to si – with each note explored across the different registers (high, middle, low) and below or above true pitch (sharps and flats).

As language forms the core of the work, it provides the structure to which the musician responds. The punctiation and syntax allow for musical freedom.

The performance at Herbert Foundation will mark the first-ever live performance of Lawrence Weiner’s work 7. The English words will be read by David Chan, the French by Marieke Van Acker; music will be performed by flutist Sara Di Costanzo.
 

David Chan hails from Yorkshire, England, and has lived and taught in Flanders for 23 years. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication at Ghent University.

Marieke Van Acker studied Romance languages at Ghent University, where she obtained her PhD in 2004 with a dissertation on Merovingian hagiographies (7th-8th centuries) and how they were pronounced. Since then, she has been teaching French and Latin (diachronic) linguistics at Ghent University.

Sara Di Costanzo is a French and Italian flutist based in Brussels, specialising in contemporary and experimental music. Her work explores sound material (“matière sonore”) as a structuring element, continually redefining her role as a performer and her relationship with notation through collaborations with composer Rory Murphy. She performs as a soloist internationally, and with the Extended Music Collective (EMC), the Hopper Ensemble, and the Flume Quartet.
 

Programme
1:30 p.m.: doors open (entrance via Raas van Gaverestraat 106)
2:00 p.m.: welcome by Laura Hanssens, director of Herbert Foundation*
2:15 p.m.: concert Lawrence Weiner, 7
3:00 p.m.: Laura Hanssens in conversation with Sara Di Costanzo, David Chan and Marieke Van Acker*
3:30 p.m.: informal drinks, visit of the exhibition RED AND GREEN AND BLUE MORE OR LESS at Herbert Foundation – Loods (until 6 p.m.).

*In English
 

Location
Herbert Foundation
Raas van Gaverestraat 106, 9000 Ghent

Tickets
20€ – Buy your tickets here