Cells (Glass Spheres and Hands)

This piece is inspired by the installation of the same name by the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois. The installations in the Cells series (1986–2008) – each exploring a distinct theme – are imbued with a spiritual and mystical aura. In 2017, I composed the work Precious Liquids for clarinet and string trio, which references the installation of the same name by translating the materiality of the individual objects into compositional structures and the material itself. Cell (Glass Spheres and Hands) is made of glass, marble, wood, metal and fabric, and measures 86 x 86 x 83 inches. The properties of these materials and their constellation within the installation space are examined and explored compositionally. In doing so, ‘archaeological’ methods – as I employ them in my Hegra series – are also applied: the uncovering of layers, the interpretation of the diagonals within the layers, and microscopic zooming in on objects. In this context, reference is also made to the concepts of ‘discontinuity, rupture, threshold, boundary, series and transformation’ (Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge); these categories play a decisive role in the engagement with this source of inspiration.

studio recording by NeoQuartet