Göteborg Art Sounds 2012

In addition to this we hosted seven concerts and workshops in the Västra Götalands Region. This edition of the festival featured concerts in a jazz club, in a church, on a boat, in a shopping mall and in one of Gothenburg’s oldest theatres, in public squares, in a bus, at a museum, in a massive art hall and in a converted warehouse. We presented improv mixed with electronica and drone, noise and pop music, club music and contemporary composition, sound installations and DJ-sets. We hosted talks about democracy in Europe, about graffiti as an art form, about monarchy and about Audience Development. There were open rehearsals and workshops with artists from all over Europe. There were oceans of calmness and pitch black waves of sound and everything in between.

During seventeen days (counting all of the concerts and workshops we’ve hosted in the region surrounding Gothenburg) we presented 57 artists from nine countries. During those seventeen days, 170 people performed on one or more of the 23 venues used for this edition of the festival and somewhere around 5000 people attended the 2012 GAS-Festival in and around Gothenburg.

Throughout the three festivals we had the project GAS RELAY MEETING 2012. The concept was easy enough. Start out with a trio, consisting of musicians that have never previously performed together in this specific constellation. Over the course of three festivals the trio evolved from a trio to a quartet, a quintet and finally, at the Kalv Festival in August, into a sextet. The musical content relied on improvisation with additional passages of written music. Danish percussionist and composer Lisbeth Diers was appointed Artistic Director for the RELAY MEETING and created, in dialogue with GAS, the line-up for the concept. Diers also performed on all four occasions as part of the initial trio constellation. This was a unique opportunity to see some of the finest European improvisers around, performing together in the same room. The concerts were also preceded by open rehearsals the audience could gain an insight into the creative process involved in creating and developing a concept like this.

Participating artists

A Hypnagog Evening [SE] | Amazonas [SE] | Amongmachines [DK/NO] | Andreas Tilliander [SE] | Ann Ighe [SE] | Autofiction [DK] | Barrie James Sutcliffe [CA] | Cardew Ensemble [IT] | Cecilia Åse [SE] | Christian Skjødt [DK] | Christina Molander [SE] | Dungeon Acid [SE] | Entra Fest [SE] | Flemming Agerskov [DK] | Gageego! & Carolina Falkholt [SE] | Gun Lund [SE] | Gianandrea Gazzola [IT] | Gianandrea Gazzola & Roberto Dani [IT] | Helena Bunker [SE] | Henrik Rylander [SE] | Herman Müntzing [SE] | Humcrush & Sidsel Endresen [NO] | Jacob Kimvall [SE] | Jan Bang [NO] | Josefine Cronholm [DK] | Kangding Ray [FR] | Karin Nelson [SE] | Kraft [SE] | Kristin Danielsen [NO] | Lars Carlsson & Mimitabu [SE] | Lars Carlsson [SE] | Leverton Fox [GB] | Lindblad Ensemble [SE] | Lisbeth Diers [DK] | Malin Krutmeijer [SE] | Marc Ducret [FR] | Mazur/Bang/Jørgensen [DK/NO] | Midaircondo & Michala Østergaard Nielsen [SE/DK] | Moussa Diallo [FR] | Multiple Piano Project [GB/IT/SE] | Niklas Rydén [SE] | Nordic Live Electronics [DK/SE] | O’-Janá [IT] | Olof Melander Lange/Paraform Group [SE] | Per Gross [SE] | Petter Ottosson [SE] | Philip Jeck [GB] | Philip Jeck & Sidsel Endresen [GB/NO] | Public Sounds [DK/SE] | Roberto Dani [IT] | Staffan Hjalmarsson [SE] | Stefanie Sixt & Markus Mehr [DE] | Stephan Mathieu [DE] | Supersilent & Stian Westerhus [NO] | The Pitch Frozen Orchestra [DE/NL/NO] | Thomas & Snotrics [SE] | Thomas Martin Ekelund [SE]