Lydlaboratoriet: Art Music Denmark and Strøm collaborate on forward-looking sound art-project

Lydlaboratoriet shall activate the cultural heritage of sound art

In spring 2023, Art Music Denmark and Strøm held the event “Lydskatten åbnes!” (Eng. “The Sound Treassure Opens!”) where it was possible to experience some of the work by the legendary sound artist Gunner Møller Pedersen which either hadn’t been performed for decades – or ever. Prior to that, Strøm also worked with Møller Pedersen and has digitalised over 100 of his works, so we won’t risk loosing them.

The project “Lydlaboratoriet” is happening in continuation of this project. Møller Pedersen has lend numerous of the machines and electronic instruments that he’s used to create his own works, such as the legendary “A SOUND YEAR”. In addition, DTU, among others, has also donated various musical apparatuses. The equipment has been obtained in collaboration with  Maple Pools.

Now, new artists and composers will get access to the music equipment, which have influenced devades of, among other, Møller Pedersen’s work and sound art in general 40-50 years ago. Over the next three months, the musicians Anton Friisgaard and Guðjón Andri will experiment with the machines and explore which opportunities and expressions they can derive from them. For that purpose, a room in Musikhuset København has been made avialable for the two musicians.

The ambitions for the project

With the project, Strøm and Art Music Denmark wish to both preserve and at the same time activate the cultural heritage which is related to the electronic equipment that’s been used decades ago.

Through the preservation of the musical machines, the aim is to avoid that our memory of the history of sound art in Denmark will be lost.  However, an even more important aspect of the project is to look forward and examine how the availability of this heritage can influence experimental electronic music and sound art in the future.

About Strøm

Strøm is Denmark’s institution for electronic music which works for and with the electronic music scene. By working closely with actors from the electronic music scene as well as concert-, education-, knowledge sharing- and networking-activities, Strøm stimulates and catalyzes the genre in Denmark.

About Art Music Denmark

Art Music Denmark (formerly Snyk) is one out of four Danish genre-organisations which are financed by The Agency for Culture and Palaces with the aim to create good conditions for each of their fields.  Art Music Denmark works with contemporary music, classical and sound art.