Wassily Kandinsky (b. 1866, Russia – d. 1944, France)
Der Gelbe Klang, 1909

I am experimenting with butoh on the topic of yellow. And – to my surprise – I find an experimental opera/theatrical piece by Kandinsky, “The Yellow Sound”. The piece was never stage during his lifetime and the original musical score seems to be lost – but there are quite a few recent productions and, to my surprise, I do find interesting parallels to my yellow experiments. Both in terms of interpretation, body movements and sounds.

I do not care much for synesthesia that may have been quite central for Kandinsky, but I am interested in multimedia works for a variety of reasons. It is interesting what is highlighted and what is obscured when same ideas are expressed for different senses, it is interesting how sense-making works under sensory overflow, it is interesting to challenge the rather arbitrary division of our perception into different senses – and of art into different media – in itself.

I also find Kandinsky’s quite abstract narrative really interesting. Instead of particular characters and life dramas it is based on colours, intensities and dynamics. I am interested in what is left of meaning once layers of particular details are being peeled off one after another.