ASUNA: 100 Keyboards

Presented as part of Sonica Glasgow 2019

‘within this minimalist premise exists a sound world of surprising depth and complexity’ – The Music

Japanese musician and sound artist ASUNA learned in his earliest experiments in music that all cheap keyboards sound slightly different, even when playing what should be the same note. For this installation and live performance in the Engine Works – a newly renovated Victorian warehouse which is home to the electrically powered Royce Ltd crane – he has assembled an orchestra of 100 different electronic keyboards, from colourful children’s novelties to inexpensive beginners’ models. One by one, ASUNA sets them to emit a single note, building up a digital-choral drone in which a hundred subtle differences of tone and frequency combine and resonate, generating patterns and sonic illusions as the audience moves around the space.

‘incomparable, transient, and (nearly) indescribable’ – Beatroute

Supported by: The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation