Heinrich Mucken

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heinrich Mucken is the name of a group of artists who, based on experimental compositions, developed their own style in the areas of sound performance , sound installation and new improvisation music.

In August 1982, the group “Das Heinrich-Mucken-Saalorchester” was created from the second workshop: Experimental Music in Schloss Gnadenthal (Kleve). The workshop participants remained active together as an artist group until 1988; the name was shortened in 1985 to "Heinrich Mucken".

Heinrich Mucken: Performance Herbert , Kleve 2007

Origin of the name

Heinrich is the name of a rubber carnival mask that was part of every performance in the first few years; Mucken is a musician's word for spontaneous interaction and association with the term 'aufmucken'.

Performances, concerts and instruments

Since it was founded, the Heinrich Mucken group has been interested in contemporary noise - including classical instrumentation. Performances by the Heinrich Mucken group were always one-off concepts in which the composition and the staged process were prepared by individual artists. The group discussed the concepts in preparatory meetings and then implemented them on site. The local conditions were always included in the staging, so that a performance could never be repeated at another location.

Besides musical instruments in the usual sense, everyday objects were used to create sounds. These included street brooms, leaf rakes, zinc buckets, steel pipe sections, table tennis balls, chairs, tables, water, stones, children's toys, ...

Artistic creation

In the course of the performances, objects were often created that the artists viewed as an after-effect of the sound or an effect on the location.

For example, during the multi-day performance of Ainan Adabau (Folkwang Festival 1987) at Essen Central Station, frottages were created on panels of fabric that capture the musically processed locations. Over the course of the multi-day campaign, the frottages were exhibited in a vacant business space inside the station.

For the Doindedische performance ( Documenta 8 ), specially made chairs and tables made of uncoated square steel tubing were used. The chairs and tables served as sound objects and at the same time had a kind of stage design effect. The chairs are now in the collection of artists' chairs in the Lüdenscheid Municipal Gallery.

Improvisation and noise music

What is music and what is not was heatedly discussed in the group. Three points of view were worked out which, in retrospect, constitute the core of the artistic work as a group:

Heinrich Mucken: Table concert project Babylon, Kassel 1986
  • Improvisation is instant composition. It lives from the fact that the musicians actively listen during the game, are absolutely present in the interplay and include the surrounding situation. A virtuoso mastery of instruments is less important than the open attitude of the musician towards the fellow players and the environment. ( Babylon table concerts - Kassel 1986 )
  • Noise is music if the noise is made with musical intent. With this in mind, ideas like this arose: 500 table tennis balls roll down a sloping tunnel, are swept up with street brooms and then collected again. ( Ainan Adabaus - Essen 1987 )
  • Noise is music if a musician defines it that way. The noise does not have to be created by the musicians themselves, but the environment can be included in the musical idea. The environment becomes the main actor and main noise generator, the musician can withdraw as an observer or actively participate. A concept of this kind ( 24 hours of music anywhere in the world ) was discussed in 1985 but not implemented. This attitude can be found in many performances between 1985 and 1988, for example: Sketches on sedentariness, supporting program for Documenta 8 - Kassel 1987

Members who are active in the spirit of Heinrich Mucken

Claus van Bebber
born 1949, freelance artist since 1979, already engaged in experimental music in the 1970s. The spectrum of his work today includes wood and stone sculptures, excavations and landscape installations, improvised music and sound performances, etc. a. with Paul Hubweber, Paul Lovens , Jaap Blonk , Carl Ludwig Hübsch . His record concerts have become widely known. Claus van Bebber lives in Kalkar.
Helmut Lemke
born 1953, works as a sound artist on the topic 'How does a place sound?'. In many CD and book publications he has described the dimension of experience of sounds and made them tangible. He was involved in the redevelopment of the Phonetic Art course at Hull College of Art and Design (England). Preferred sound instruments are long strings. Helmut Lemke lives in Todmorden (England) and Bielefeld (Germany).
Dieter Schlensog
born 1953, who was responsible for the early cassette recordings of Heinrich Mucken, founded the NURNICHTNUR label in 1983 and in the following years developed his recording technology into a professional recording studio.
In addition to the works of Heinrich Mucken, NURNICHTNUR now sells important recordings by international sound artists and musicians. Dieter Schlensog lives in Kleve.
Michael Vorfeld
born 1956, light artist, photographer and percussionist. As an internationally sought-after artist, he works on light and sound performances in connection with space and architecture. He works in numerous collaborations with musicians and visual artists, as well as theater and dance ensembles. Michael Vorfeld lives in Berlin.
Hans Wilhelm Specht
born 1956, improvisation musician, room and sound installations, site-specific sound performances. Member of the Ensemble Freie Musik (Bielefeld), regularly collaborates with visual artists. Hans Wilhelm Specht lives in Gütersloh.
Henning Schweichel
born 1954, improvisation musician, site-specific sound performances, sound installations and acoustic documentation. Member of the Ensemble Freie Musik (Bielefeld), regularly working in cooperation with visual artists. Henning Schweichel lived in Werther (Westphalia). died 2014.

Artist (selection)

who were involved in or otherwise influential in more than one activity of the group:

  1. Claus van Bebber
  2. Karl van Betteraey
  3. Michael Breihahn
  4. Clemens Drissen
  5. Robert Hanusch
  6. Jürgen Hess
  7. Paul Hubweber
  8. Kerstin Marlen Kühn
  9. Helmut Lemke
  10. Heiner Linne
  11. Leo Neikes
  12. Willi Oster
  13. Peter Petersen
  14. Petra Radomsky
  15. Winfried Radomsky
  16. Dieter Schlensog
  17. Joachim Black
  18. Henning Schweichel
  19. Klaus Seelig
  20. Hans-Wilhelm Specht
  21. Michael Stuhlmiller
  22. Michael Vorfeld

End of group activity

The group was not disbanded. In preparation for the 25th anniversary of the group's founding in 2007, a blog discussed the question of whether Heinrich Mucken is alive and whether Heinrich Mucken is art. Joint appearances under the name Heinrich Mucken are no longer expected, but collaborations between individual artists in the group are common.

Appearances and performances

  • Aug 1982, Kleve, Schloss Gnadenthal , performance
  • Jun 1983, Barsinghausen, calm and hectic , performance at the summer jazz meeting
  • Aug 1983, Vlissingen, Muziek voor Buiten , performance series in the city and on the beach
  • May 1984, Kranenburg, Vollmond 5: 7779 , performance
  • Jul 1984, Frankfurt / Main, Wednesday break - lunch break , performance on Liebfrauenberg
  • Aug 1984, Coesfeld, horde music , performance series in the city and at the train station
  • Nov 1984, Kleve, Radhaus , Performance
  • Mar + Jun + Sep + Dec 1985 Winnekendonk, symposium seasons , 4 performances, cooperation with visual artists
  • Aug 1985, Gütersloh, Old Weaver's Blues , performance in the Alte Weberei cultural center
  • Jun 1986, Marl, Floprise , performances in the Glaskasten Sculpture Museum
  • Aug 1986, Bielefeld, Heinrichtungen , performance on the Klosterplatz
  • Sep 1986, Leverkusen, Ent / Er / Ing: Junker Heinz ... , performance in Morsbroich Castle and in the castle park
  • Oct 1986, Paderborn, Drumbet Und Feg , performance on Westernstrasse
  • Oct 1986, Kassel, Babylon , performances in Hall K 18
  • Nov 1986, Dortmund, your word carries the sound of images through the city , performance in Westpark
  • Nov 1986, Dortmund, Dos Muckenos , performances in the Jatz cultural venue at Westpark
  • May 1987, Xanten, Ukodo Ku , performance on the museum forecourt
  • Jun 1987, Essen, Ainan Adabaus , performances at the Folkwang Festival
  • Sep 1987, Kassel, Doindedische , performance at Documenta 8
  • Sep 1987, Kassel, sketches on sedentariness , performance series in the supporting program of Documenta 8
  • Mar 1988, Willich, Dahoernsischaunsisndasnukunz , performance for the BBK annual exhibition at Neersen Castle
  • Aug 2003, Kleve, 100 Years Lemke / Schlensog , performance in Schloss Gnadenthal
  • Aug 2007, Kleve, mucken25 , performances in Schloss Gnadenthal

Publications

  • 1982, now we start , audio cassette
  • 1982, I still blown the beer bottle every now and then , audio cassette
  • 1982, Linn , audio cassette
  • 1983, five thirty , audio cassette
  • 1983, Vokaleros , audio cassette
  • 1983, drunk & tied up , audio cassette
  • 1983, can be switched off , audio cassette
  • 1982–1984, Hits The World , audio cassette
  • 1984, Someone seems to be moving in the apartment next door , Super8 film
  • 1984, Summer , Video
  • 1985, Long Night , audio cassette
  • 1986, Mucken Miezen Mäuse , book project
  • 1986, Heinrichten , Video von Heinrichtungen , Bielefeld, released in 1987
  • 1986, Junker Heinz and Mätzli , sculptures by Ent / Er / Ing: Junker Heinz ... , Leverkusen
  • 1986, Various relics from Babylon , Kassel
  • 1987, sculptures and various relics by Ukodo Ku , Xanten
  • 1987, Various relics by Ainan Adabaus , Essen
  • 1987, Various relics from Doindedische , Kassel
  • 1988, For CD and LP Dry Lungs IV - International compilation : Dasiset , studio production
  • 1990, chronology , 188-page book (incl. Seasons single), black and white copies , handmade, signed
  • 2006, hall orchestra - Mercy Valley Days , 8 CD box
  • 2007, Hall Orchestra - Mercy Valley Knights , CD-Extra
  • 2012, Made In China , new edition of the only studio production Dasiset from 1988 on the occasion of 30 years of Heinrich Mucken , mini CD

Exhibitions

  • May 1987, Xanten, Jahreszeiten , exhibition in the regional museum
  • Dec 1987, Kleve, 1st Salon of Artists , exhibition in the Museum Haus Koekkoek
  • 1988, Heinrich Mucken shows works , project for Galerie Paranorm / Artcore Gallery in Berlin
  • Dec 1988, Kleve, 2nd Salon of Artists , exhibition in the Museum Haus Koekkoek
  • Dec 1989, Kleve, 3rd Salon of Artists , exhibition in the Museum Haus Koekkoek
  • Oct 1990, Kleve, Behind Glass , exhibition and performance in the shop
  • Jul 2004, Bedburg-Hau, sound laboratory , presentation of Heinrichten Video-DVD from 1986 in Artoll
  • 2017, Listen Backwards to Advance , Bury Art Gallery, England

Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ There are NURNICHTNUR publications among many others with Ricardo Arias, Jeff Gburek, Anna Homler , Stephan Froleyks , Joachim Zoepf , Matthias Kaul , Hainer Wörmann, Carl Ludwig Hübsch , Claus van Bebber, Erhard Hirt , Dietmar Bonnen , Michael Vorfeld, Paul Hubweber , Helmut Lemke.

Web links