Danae Valenza

In 1963, the prolific jazz pianist Mal Waldron suffered from a near-fatal breakdown that catastrophically wiped his memory and ability to play piano. He slowly regained his skills by listening to his own records, and studying his own oeuvre. The world was recreated through his own creations; what had so suddenly become history quietly regained its place in the present, though of course it too had changed.

The Windows Became A Glass Drum fuses the narratives of Waldron, the artist, and two pianists, each at different stages of remembering and forgetting All Alone, the title track of Waldron’s post-recovery record. Here, Valenza creates a composition dedicated to the labour of remembering, to learning and re-learning. Can we find a productive place in the borderlands between the two? Can the rift be considered an opening?

The work consists of a two-channel video installation and sculptures in the shape of doorways or windows. They obscure the films, constantly cropping our view as we move around the room. In that way they pose a contrast to the intimacy of the film where two women are playing piano alone in their homes. As witnesses to these scenes, we become aware of our position, and how it determines our horizon.

Featuring Felicia Neilsen and Sue Tenander.

Danae Valenza (b. 1985, Adelaide) is an artist based in Stockholm.

Work

The Windows Became A Glass Drum, 2020
Steel, plexiglass, HD Video

Location

Havremagasinet, Boden
21.11–14.2