Mnemosyne Space–
2003 (Canada), rev. 2004 (St. Petersburg, Russia), 2005 (Canada), 2007 (Puebla, Mexico)
Mnemosyne Space is an interactive performance installation of indeterminate length that explores themes of fragmented memory. As its source materials it uses Henri Pousseur’s composition Mnemosyne I for voice and unspecified instruments (1968), and the Freidrich Hölderlin poem Mnemosyne (1802) on which Pouseeur’s composition is based.
Structurally, the installation articulates two spaces: the first, a large paper box used as a space for music performance, and second, an area surrounding the box filled with numerous paper banners featuring faintly printed text taken from the Hölderlin poem. Each time an audience member enters the paper box, one of the musicians exits and does not return until the audience member exits. The result is a fragmented and mobile presentation of the musical material, always crumbling apart and restructuring itself.
performance space in Shmeritev Palace
audience participants
turning banners, Puebla
post-it responses
performance box for ensemble
William performing inside paper box
Pousseur fragments
Hölderlin text
post-it responses