Abstract / About the project

At the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study(Harvard University), Cambridge, MA, USA, Camilo Mendez is composing two new chamber works using prepared musical instruments. One will be part of the compositional cycle BURSZTYN, and the other will be part of Spatio-Temporal Cartographies. The piecies is a Lecture and Portrait Concert Performed by Yarn/Wire.

BURSZTYN is inspired by the series of sculptures titled Minimáquina (Eng. Tiny machines) by Colombian artist Feliza Bursztyn (1938-1982). Her work deals with the idea of recycling scrap metal to assemble new objects (Sculptures). The works of this cycle are scored using prepared musical instruments or ‘impossible objects.’

Spatio–Temporal Cartographies is the result of a collaboration with photographer Cathy Pyle. The works of this cycle are inspired by photographs taken at a house clearance and antiques centre in Surrey (UK). This cycle also uses prepared instruments, but the compositional focus is in exploring non-linear formal approaches. Each work consists of sections that can be performed in any order, but always as single movements.