Sound Compositions : Stefaan van Biesen
Working as a sound artist in Europe, making soundscapes for installations and composing sound compositions for theater plays, dance performances, video's and art projects. Making field recordings during projects in several cities. Lectures and workshops about silence, walking and sound.
T H E . F O R J A Z . V A R I A T I O N S [ 2 0 2 0 ] .
The Forjaz Variations by Stefaan van Biesen for the exhibition 'caminhando à flor da pele' of the Portugese artist Rosario Forjaz (Made of Walking III at La Romieu France 2017] at Museu Noguiera da Silva Braga 2020. Slow walks.
Full CD available on Band Camp: https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/the-forjaz-variations
L E A F L E S S . V A R I A T I O N S [ 2 0 1 8 ] .
Leafless Variations [the Unity of Polarities] is a duo performance by two female dancers: Lina Efstathiou [Liquid Dance Studio Athens] and Eleftheria Rapti. The performance is based on on two props made by Annemie Mestdagh and Stefaan van Biesen. Both dancers participated during the Platform Project in May 2018 in Athens.
Stefaan van Biesen [concept] appeals to the experiences of a person to explore a public space. The fundamental fact of moving in time and space. Scanning the environment in relation to others. It is a combination of letting go and remembering. He assumes that the divine wisdom of the body knows what to do. All information is present in the body. Saved impressions and experiences are an emotional archive that can immediately be tapped or addressed to. For Stefaan van Biesen the essence of a performance is a meaningful ritual, a sacral event. No banal action without any meaning. He does not see it as a form of improvisation, rather as a state of being. In our archetypal gestures, the human legacy of our culture and civilization is shown to the viewer as an appealing memory bank. The attribute is a nomadic object that the participant can use to get started. It is an invitation to a feeling thinking.
The duo performance is a part of the edition of Analogio Festival, September 21-27, 2018, with performing arts from around the world. Analogio Festival has been annually organized since 2005 and in 2018 its focusing on Asia /Far East, including a tribute to South Africa, with workshops from international artists and in collaboration with the Unesco's International Playwright's Forum (IPF/ITI).
L I Q U I D . D A N C E S [ 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 ] .
[Suite of 3 compositions] for Lina Efstathiou [Liquid Dance Theater] Athens Greece.
During Made of Walking summer school in Delphi July 2017, there were several talks and meetings with dancers. Lina Efstathiou of The Liquid Dance Theater in Athens is now working on a dance play. 3 music compositions by Stefaan van Biesen (assisted by Peter Maes) will become the musical layer of a dance performance and choreography by Lina Efstathiou. The soundtrack of 'Liquid Trees' is used for an upcoming dance solo at a dance festival in Athens.
Full CD available on Band Camp: https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-dances
E N . B A L A D E . A V E C . R I M B Ô [ 2 0 1 7 ] .
Media walk & sound compositions La Romieu France.
A new made media walk and sound compositions. 'En Balade avec Rimbô' in La Romieu France is based on texts written by Christian Porré. A reflection on the life of the poet Arthur Rimbau. The theme is the cat Rimbô. The sound walk is made by the Milena principle [Geert Vermeire, Stefaan van Biesen and Annemie Mestdagh] together with the art oganisation Le Bouc Qui Zouke.
The team of 'Rimbô': Graphic support by Annemie Mestdagh ⋈ Sound Compositions and visuals by Stefaan van Biesen ⋈ Technical realisation by Geert Vermeire ⋈ Voices by: Anne Jouan, Maryse Strzelecki, Bernadette Chabbert, Michèle Litzler, Martine Ferradou and Marie-Hélène Vigneron [Lectourne à voix Haute] ⋈ Texts by Panko [Christian Porré] ⋈ Practical support by Belinda Porré. Realisation the first week of April 2017.
http://www.enbaladeavecrimbo.fr/
Full CD available on Band Camp: https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/en-balade-avec-rimb
B R E A T H E (Inhale the City) [ 2 0 1 7 ] .
Neme Arts Centre Limassol Cyprus 2017. 'Breathe' [a sound piece for the Puerto Rican performer Marielys Lely Burgos] 2016.
A score for dancer and choreographer Marielys Lely Burgos [Puerto Rico/New York/Athens]. Performance at NeMe Arts Centre Limassol Cyprus 04.02.2017. Electro acoustic sound composition 'Breathe, inhale the city' 12' remix by Stefaan van Biesen/the Milena principle 2017.
P H I L O C T H E T E S [ 2 0 1 6 ].
Sound compositions for a travelling theater play 'Philocthetes', directed by Sissy Papathanassiou, Athens Greece 2016. 2 pieces of 5 new sound compositions by Stefaan van Biesen. 1. 'Ouverture' & 3. 'Bird Island'.
Directed by Sissy Papathanassiou, Athens Greece 2016. Electro acoustic sound composition with field recordings. Composed, mixed and produced by Stefaan van Biesen/the Milena principle 2016.
D R A G O N F L Y . M O V E M E N T S [ 2 0 1 2 - 2 0 1 6 ] .
[Dragonfly Movements] Stefaan van Biesen. Sound Composition for art installation 'Fly Ways' 2012-2016 ['Wanderlust' Art borgloon, 'Passages' La Romieu France 2016, 'Fly Ways' Santorini Art Factory Greece 2016. Composed, mixed and produced by Stefaan van Biesen.
CD 'Dragonfly Movements' available on Band Camp:
https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/dragonfly-movements
H Y T H L O D A E U S [ 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6 ] .
Sound compositions of: "Hythlodaeus 2015" [Cities and Memory, Oxford UK].
CD 'Hythlodaeus' available on Band Camp: https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/hythlodaeus
Soundscape 'Hythlodaeus 2015': texts 'Unfolding the City', [a poem by Geert Vermeire], a fragment of 'Siren' [by Stefaan van Biesen]. Voice by Stefaan van Biesen. Field recordings by Geert Vermeire and Stefaan van Biesen. Soundscape composed, mixed and produced by © Stefaan van Biesen for the Milena principle.
Making a soundscape 'Hythlodaeus 2015': during the Milena principle 'Sea Born' project in Venice 2015, Geert Vermeire and Stefaan van Biesen made field recordings in Venice and later in Antwerp. They used this digital material to make a soundscape for the Utopia sound project of Cities and Memory. The theme was the map of Utopia made by Ambrosius Holbein in 1518. The Milena principle soundscape created by Stefaan van Biesen.
On 22 May 2015, more than 50 sound artists and musicians from across the world will reimagine one of the greatest works of English literature, using sound. The Cities and Memory: Utopia project creates something new from the words of Thomas More and the collective imagination of artists around the world – an entirely new Utopia of sound. Using a woodcut map from the second edition of Utopia from 1518, sound artists each took a small section of More’s imagined country of Utopia, and created a new soundscape imagining how that place (and the society living in it) might sound.
H E A D [ 2 0 1 4 ] .
[Stefaan van Biesen/Fading Photographs]. Compositions of field recordings on location in Europe as a musical diary of traveling through Europe during sound projects with the Milena principle [Leipzig, Dresden, Venice, Lisbon, Athens]. Composed, mixed and produced by Stefaan van Biesen.
CD 'Head' available on Band Camp: https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/head
M O U N T A I N S [ 2 0 1 6 ] .
[Stefaan van Biesen/Fading Photographs]. Compositions of field recordings in Europe on location as a musical diary of traveling through Europe during sound projects with the Milena principle. Composed, mixed and produced by Stefaan van Biesen.
CD 'Mountains' available on Band Camp: https://b-hive.bandcamp.com/album/mountains