What is intelligent dance music? How does 3D work in music clips? In 5+1 questions for … sound artist VELVE you can learn more about the artist and her audiovisual artwork “X TO THE MILLION”, which she will present live during the Long Night of Museums Berlin at the temporary bauhaus-archiv.
VELVE, the Long Night of Museums at the temporary bauhaus-archiv is entitled the “Sound of Bauhaus”. At midnight you’ll be presenting your audio-visual Gesamtkunstwerk “X TO THE MILLION”. What exactly can we expect to see?
“X TO THE MILLION” is as you say a “Gesamtkunstwerk”, a total artwork, consisting of songs and videos. At the temporary bauhaus-archiv, I’ll be performing and singing songs from this concept album. Meanwhile, there’ll be videos with 3D elements playing on two video screens – so it’s going to be pretty immersive and danceable – but it will also provide food for thought. Many of my songs are a little dystopian and ironic, they hold a mirror up to society. I hope to evoke associations and images in the viewers’ minds which they can immerse themselves into and make some sense of.
In an interview, you described your music as “intelligent dance music”. What did you mean by that?
“Intelligent dance music” is a subgenre term from the 1990s which my album refers to. You can dance to it, but at the same time, my texts and statements are political. For example, the song “Change” is a parody on egomaniacal tyrants. With my album, I try to question conventions and look for other approaches to doing things.
“My videos are like abstract sculptures.”
How did you come up with the idea for “X TO THE MILLION”?
I find mathematics fascinating, and “X TO THE MILLION” works like a mathematical function. The X is a placeholder, for which I can insert a term and continue building a utopia in the song in an arbitrary, value-free manner. The videos have two levels which are both important to me. I wanted to depict deserted landscapes and unpopulated cities in black-and-white which possess a timeless and nostalgic character – we’re all familiar with these images from the coronavirus lockdown. The second level comprises 3D-rendered Xs in flashy colours which multiply and become a positive, dynamic element. My videos are like abstract sculptures.
What’s the starting point for your compositions – the music, an image or something entirely different?
I think it’s both – the auditory and visual elements evolve, intertwine and strengthen each other simultaneously. I would wish that the viewers perceived the music and videos as equally important parts, but I know most people are more captivated by the images.
What connections do you see between your audio-visual artworks and the Bauhaus?
First of all, on a very personal level, I own a little black notebook with the word “Bauhaus” embossed in silver – that’s where I write down my ideas. The mathematical and functional aspect of my concept album “X TO THE MILLION” is another connection.
I also think that everyone – back then and today – has the wish to be free, appreciated and creative. But for many people right now, it’s just about surviving. How can you be free and creative if you’re living in survival mode? In our society, every single person should have the possibility to become acquainted with the topics I just mentioned. Music can play a role in this, but unfortunately, too often music is squeezed dry in the name cost-cutting.
We always conclude our 5+1 Questions by presenting an object from the vast Bauhaus-Archiv collection which our guest can freely associate. This is yours:
Your choice is a little eerie because I’ve recently been very much into these mini spinning tops – so what I see is a spinning top. Whenever a top spins, I instinctively have to smile because it demonstrates the playful lightness of nature. I also like how the perfection of the colour spectrum is broken by the imperfect shape of the top.
In her radical electropop songs, the singer, composer and producer VELVE portrays possible utopias for a new type of social interaction. She is currently under contract as a music producer with the British-American label Bosworth Music. In 2016 she received a platinum award for her vocals on the song “Die Welt ist fertig“ on the album “Niveau weshalb warum” by the German group Deichkind. In 2021, she received ten international nominations for the video art which accompanies her music, such as from the London International Musicvideo Award and the Toronto International Women Filmmaker Award.