fabric of sorrow
Golnaz Shariatzadeh
Monday, December 11, 2023 // 7:30 pm (doors at 6:30 pm)
National Sawdust // 80 North 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Tickets: $20 advance/$25 door
fabric of sorrow is a large-scale fantasy inspired by the current revolution in Iran. It begins inside an architecture made of skin and flesh. Standing upright from people’s pain and sacrifice, the architecture is a perpetual machine that turns the pain into ethereal spaces.
Golnaz will be presenting the second chapter of this work for saxophone, electronics and experimental animation through MATA Presents 2023.
Golnaz’s Artist Statement
I am a composer, improviser and an interdisciplinary artist from Shiraz, Iran.I think of sound as a tactile force that has the potential to convey stories that viscerally engage the audience. When combined with images, sound has the potential to be both in its most haptic form and to communicate concepts concretely. Inspired by works of Jan Svankmajer, Quay brothers and Czech stop motions, my experimental animations create semi-fictional worlds that are inspired by images, icons and memories mostly from my childhood. I incorporate my music as a psychological force that adds a new dimension to my images. Synthesizing these two mediums allows each to transcend the other in ways that are unpredictable and liberating. My latest work Animal for experimental animation and music premiered by ensemble Recherche unfolds an experience of immigrating at a young age. Animal paints a visceral journey through a transitional space: A creature stuck in a room doesn’t know what or where it is. Its body grows and melts the room, transforming it to a smooth wall of fabric that liberates the creature at the end.
Artist Bios
Golnaz Shariatzadeh
Golnaz is a composer, improviser and visual artist. She creates sonic spaces inspired by visual forms. Her music explores the unfamiliar territories of sound and is heavily influenced by film. Her works have been performed by ensembles such as Elision ensemble, Ensemble Recherche, Nadar Ensemble, TAK ensemble, line upon line, JACK Quartet amongst others. She is currently a PhD candidate in composition at Harvard University studying with Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku.
Thomas Giles
Called “insanely clever” (ClassicFM UK) and “breathtaking” (New York Music Daily), Thomas Giles is a saxophonist working at the intersection of contemporary performance, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaborations. To date Giles has premiered more than 200 new works, many of which are dedicated to him. Recent premieres include works by Augusta Read Thomas, Marcos Balter, Marc Mellits, and Nicola LeFanu. Giles has enjoyed close working relationships with some of today’s leading composers e.g., Meredith Monk, David Lang, Charles Wuorinen, and the American indie-rock duo Wye Oak.
Frequently performing across the United States and beyond, Giles has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Roulette Intermedium, Constellation Chicago, SFJAZZ, Princeton Sound Kitchen, Harvard University, as well as internationally at Bachfest Leipzig, Heidelberg Kulturzentrum, Münster Musikhochschule, Szczecin International Saxophone Festival, Utrecht Bartholomeus Gasthuis, and the Citè de la Musique de Strasbourg. Giles can be heard on the New Amsterdam, Albany, Lakeshore, Armazi, and Mark recording labels.
