Sandglasses

About

Sandglasses explores the acoustic, visual, and symbolic meanings of a sand timer as a phenomenon. The piece is inspired by the simultaneous launch of several sandglasses of different capacities and durations. This is materialized musically through a polytemporal canon played by four cellos, which pass through their entire registers at different rates. The musical idea is visualized by cylinder screens made of tulle, onto which video images and special lighting are projected. These projections extend and transform the performers’ presence on stage, creating fictions and immersing spectators in layered perceptual experiences. The relationship between music and image is structural, derived from an initial design shared by the composer and video artist. The transparent tulle and lighting regulate the density of relations between the cellists’ gestures and the video images, turning the cylindrical scenography into a three-dimensional bridge between video art and music.