project description
Design by Elina Akselrud
Premiered: June 1, 2018
One of the most crucial tasks for artists is communication to the public on contemporary sociological and environmental issues. Sometimes viewing a piece of art can leave a profoundly intense impact on the audience and evoke their interest towards a certain matter, which they might have never thought about before.
This Intertwining Arts project is a blend of live piano performance of the first five Piano Sonatas by Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) and a simultaneous projection of artistic video collages, with the Planet Earth and humanity's impact on it as the main subject matter. It was premiered in Switzerland, in June of 2018 and its cinematic version was released on September 7, 2019 at Schouwburg Theater Hengelo, The Netherlands.
Arletta Elst and Elina Akselrud after a performance of “The Scriabin Sonatas Reimagined, Part 1”
The project focuses on artistically displaying two main themes: the beauty and power of Earth, the generous planet, which is the home to all of us, opposed to the results of the human activity during the last 100-150 years, which has been drastically changing the environment; since the industrial revolution gradually lead to such a development of technology, which in turn created unretractable outcomes. This includes pollution, waste, climate change, lack of drinking water in certain parts of the planet, and many other problems. It concerns all and each of us and none would be able to avoid the consequences at a certain point in time. It is impossible for any thinking person not to notice these changes and to disregard this issue. Intertwining Arts brings up this subject and figuratively speaks about it from the stage by the means of live music and video projection.
The first four Sonatas concentrate on the four natural elements: the Fire, the Water, the Earth, and the Air. The Fifth Sonata will blend the elements of the preceding four in a way, with the add-ons of effects representing electricity, outer space, surreal imagery, and several other visuals connected to the planet and the humanity. The project emphasizes the destructive aspect, in order to sharpen the awareness and encourage the public to pay more attention to the place we all live in, by diminishing each individual's negative input into this situation.
Theater Schouwburg Hengelo, The Netherlands, where the Project’s Closing Performance and Film Release took place, on September 7, 2019
The project team's goals were exploration of the topic and enlightenment of the audience by means of a vivid creative presentation with a professional performance uniting two art genres. The project is now officially closed.
We are extremely grateful for the support of the performances and film making to:
Stiftung Monika Widmer
Susanne und Martin Knechtli-Kradolfer-Stiftung
Anne-Marie Schindler Stiftung
The Puffin Foundation
StockArt, Stiftung für Musik
Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung SIS
Marianne und Curt Dienemann Stiftung
Alfred und Ilse Stammer Stiftung
Theater Schouwburg Hengelo