Jan Hendrickse: Black Noise (2019) (UK)

Black Noise is a contemplation on the nature of change, transformation and human mortality. Sound is generated by the performer playing, and then burning a flute, exploring the idea that the dissolution of the instrument can become the work. In the process of the performance the flute sounds as a pyrophone, activating the air in the flute using fire instead of breath, but is inevitably destroyed in the process. The title 'Black Noise' as a technical term in signal processing refers to an absence of perceptible sound (as opposed to white noise). This silencing, or the absence of perception, reminds us of the precarity of human existence. Blackening also refers to a stage in the philosophy of Alchemy.

curated by Graham McKenzie (artistic director hcmf)

XN is a partnership project between the Moers Festival and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (= hcmf//) (UK). The project focuses on improvisation and brings together genres such as jazz, free improvisation, composition, and electronic music, with a particular emphasis on new, emerging artists. hcmf//, the largest international festival for contemporary music in the UK, provides a platform for innovative programming, offering artists worldwide opportunities for presentation and development. By fostering collaborations and artistic synergy, XN strengthens the European network of the new music scene.

XN is funded by the Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten mbH (GVL) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) with the support of the Goethe-Institut.