A line is a dot that went for a walk

Location: Kaldor Hall, ground level
Free, no bookings required

Riffing on the famous definition by Kandinsky’s great friend, Paul Klee, Ensemble Offspring musicians Claire Edwardes (percussion), Henry Justo (viola), Lamorna Nightingale (flute) and Benjamin Ward (double bass) will perform an array of experimental works from the past 100 years inspired by the artworks of Kandinsky. They will interpret the work of composers Tristan Coelho, Brendan Colbert, Erwin Schulhoff, and a new piece by Sydney composer Jessica Wells commissioned especially for the Klänge music program.

Wednesday 31 January 2024

7.30–8.30pm

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Settle in for some sensorially rich evenings at the Art Gallery of New South Wales this summer with a free program of performances celebrating the importance of music to the art and thought of Vasily Kandinsky.

Featuring commissioned compositions alongside classics from the early 20th century, Klänge (meaning ‘sounds’ in German) is a series of live music sessions, co-curated with percussionist and composer Claire Edwardes OAM and performed by virtuosic members of Sydney’s Ensemble Offspring in collaboration with Grammy award–winning, Chicago-based group Eighth Blackbird.

Kandinsky explored the synergies between painting and music, and considered music’s abstract language a model for a new form of abstraction in painting. Using colour and form to elicit the sensations aroused through vibration, pitch and the duration of sound, he referred to kläng (‘sound’) throughout his writings and, on occasion, in the titles of his works. To Kandinsky, ‘sound’ was interchangeable with the notion of ‘inner resonance’ or ‘spiritual vibration’.

Klänge presents musical compositions that will riff and swirl in relation to the artist’s paintings presented in the Kandinsky exhibition at the Art Gallery.

Live music program
Klänge

Wednesdays 7.30pm
10 January – 14 February 2024
Art Gallery of New South Wales
South Building
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