“Feasts of Fear and Agony”: of expressionist poetry to kinetic typography.
When Paul van Ostaijen wrote his ‘Feesten van angst en pijn’ (Feasts of Fear and Agony, 1918-1921), he was looking for a new language detached from narrative meaning. Through the use of handwriting, colours and experimental arrangements on the page, he suggests that his poetry does not necessarily have to signify anything concrete.
The Antwerp composer Bram Van Camp has been fascinated for ten years by this collection of poems. Because the text does not suggest any inherent meaning, he determined to flesh out the interpretation musically.
In order to reinforce the visual aspect of Van Ostaijen’s poetry, video artist Klaas Verpoest and typographer Jo De Baerdemaeker have created a distilled and synchronized performance of the handwritten poems.
Composition: Bram Van Camp
Music Performance: Het Collectief o.l.v. Vykintas Baltakas
Soprano: Liesbeth Devos
Kinetic Typography: Klaas Verpoest and Jo De Baerdemaeker
30.01.2013: De Casino, Sint-Niklaas
23.03.2012: Blauwe Zaal – deSingel, Antwerpen
Met de steun van de onderzoeksraad van de Hogeschool Sint-Lukas Brussel