ATOM/DOCUMENT
(IMBALANCE COMPUTER MUSIC)
Robert Henke is a softly-spoken giant of modern music: the driving force behind Monolake, his work is routinely arresting, perception-challenging and envelope-pushing. Over the past twenty years he’s been instrumental in the technological and aesthetic evolution of techno and sound-art alike, and hiswork continues to enthral, entertain and educate both E-fuelleddancefloors and po-faced gallery crowds. What unites all his projectsis a fascination with the spatial possibilities of sound, and agrievously-honed, often stealthy musicality far beyond the means ofmost of his peers.
Atom/Document is a recording of his contribution to Atom, a liveaudio-visual installation conceived and executed with ChristopherBauder. Premiered at TESLA-Berlin, the focus of the work was aneight-by-eight arrangement of white, self-illuminated spheres, themovement of which was adjusted by a computer-controlled cable winch.The accompanying “sonic events” were manipulated in real-time by Henke.
Shorn of their visual context/corollary, one would expect these sonicevents to flounder – but if anything, it’s liberated, conjuring imagesin the mind’s eye far more vivid and amorphous than a bunch of LED-litballoons. Tracks like ‘[_flicker]’, ‘[_exit] and ‘[_convex]’ areexpansive ambient excursions which hint at the magnitude of both inner(atomic) and outer space – fans of Murcof’s Cosmos and LawrenceEnglish’s Kiri No Oto will feel right at home amid their undulatingwaves. [_metropol] is a brittle rhythmic workout in the vein ofMonolake’s Polygon Cities, but by far the most inviting and envelopingpiece here is ‘_first_contact’, a pulsing, piano-led gesture of beautyand foreboding that affirms Atom/Document’s status as a wondrous workof science fiction.
Rating: 8 / Jason Statto