Identity Pitches: Stine Janvin & Cory Arcangel with String Noise

Saturday, February 4th at 8pm, ISSUE and Primary Information are pleased to present the NYC premiere of Identity Pitches at Flamboyán Theater at The Clemente in the Lower East Side. In Identity Pitches, Stine Janvin and Cory Arcangel will debut performances of scores and an audiovisual performance based on the knitting patterns for traditional Norwegian sweaters known as Lusekofte. The performance serves as a live manifestation of the book of the same name, recently published by Primary Information. The scores will be performed by an ensemble consisting of Janvin, Arcangel, and the renowned violin duo String Noise, composed of Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris.

Utilizing three of the most popular designs (Setesdal, Fana, and the eight-petal rose of Selbu) of this ubiquitous garment, Janvin has created scores by mapping the knitting patterns onto the harmonic and subharmonic series, and integrating the tuning principles of traditional Norwegian instruments such as the mouth harp, lur, and willow flute. The resulting scores delve into the history of Norwegian folk music tunings, the Lusekofte sweater and their intersection with the cultural identity of the country over the last millennium. Mirroring the structure of the book, the performance will include stories, and conversation.

Cory Arcangel is an artist based in Stavanger, Norway. Arcangel explores, encodes, and hacks the structural language of video games, software, and machine learning. In 2014, he established the merchandise and publishing imprint Arcangel Surfware, which opened its flagship store in Stavanger, Norway in 2018. His work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum, New York; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Barbican Art Centre, London; Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami.

Stine Janvin is a vocalist, performer, and sound artist based in Stavanger, Norway. Janvin works with the extensive flexibility of her voice, and the ways in which it can be used to channel physicality of sound. Often drawing from electronic music, folk music, and contemporary media, she creates audio visual works for variable spaces from theaters, to clubs and galleries, and more recently websites and digital platforms. Recent presentations include Performa Telethon, New York; Munch Live and CADS, Munchmuseet, Oslo; Deutschlandradio Kultur, Daadgalerie, and CTM Festival, Berlin; Kunsthall Stavanger, Stavanger; Rokolective, Bucharest; Wiener Festwochen, Vienna; ISSUE Project Room, New York; and INA GRM, Paris.

String Noise, New York’s most daring violin duo, is composed of violinists Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris. Recognized for their distinct blend of disparate genres, from arrangements of songs by punk legends to conceptual minimalist treatises by Alvin Lucier, they have expanded their repertoire with over 50 new works since their debut at Ostrava New Music Days in 2011. Nearly a decade later, they continue to break down the boundaries of traditional expectations and inspire innovative compositions, displaying formidable virtuosity, integrating multimedia art, electronics, improvisation, video projections, opera and dance.Premieres by String Noise include works by George Lewis, Christian Wolff, Michael Byron, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier, John King, Phill Niblock, Caleb Burhans, Catherine Lamb, David Lang, Petr Kotik, Du Yun, Annie Gosfield, Bernhard Lang, John Zorn, Greg Saunier, Alex Mincek, Tyondai Braxton, James Ilgenfritz, Richard Carrick and others. String Noise has recorded for Northern Spy Records, Dymaxion Groove, Black Truffle Records, Cold Blue Records, New Focus Recordings, Infrequent Seams, Chaikin Records, Nouveau Electric Records and Astres d’Or and has been featured on WNYC, WKCR, WFMU and BBC Radio.