Geisslerlieder, or flagellant songs, originated as songs of self-penance that roaming bands of flagellants would sing as they wandered the German countryside during the bubonic plague outbreaks of the 14th century. The impetus to these songs serve as the inspiration for this audiovisual piece, which combines the electronic degradation of a harpsichord piece into an electronic reduction composed using Supercollider with a surreal collage created by datamoshing video files together.
Erich Barganier is a composer, artist, and multi-instrumentalist hailing from St. Petersburg, Florida, who currently resides between New York City and Montreal. He writes chamber, orchestral, film, solo instrumental and electronic music that explores experimental technology, the edge of noise, improvisation, generative processes, and new forms of notation. His process has been greatly inspired by the creative methods outlined in Andre Breton’s manifestos of surrealism. Barganier strives to develop his works with these methods in mind, which include collage and automatic writing, among many others. www.barganiermusic.com