Sound Check Live: Quasar

Besides his career as a solo musician, Thomas Köner also has provided the musical accompaniment for silent films and regularly takes part in live shows in combination with German experimental film maker Jürgen Reble. Earlier collaborations include Pulsar (6 projectors), ChRoma (24 projectors) and Alchemie, featuring a ten-metre film loop subjected to chemical treatment and destroyed at the end of the performance. The duo also presented Tabula Smaragdina (IFFR 2001): Reble projected a print of a film to which he had applied layers of chemical substances. Eschewing traditional notions of rhythm and melody, the soundtrack underscored the tensions in the pulsating colours and shapes. The Köner/Reble partnership was invited for a 3D film programme organised by the Louvre in Paris. On another occasion, the Louvre invited the duo Köner/Reble back to do a live performance in the framework of a programme focusing on the Apocalypse. Due to extenuating circumstances, this idea never came to pass, but for the Rotterdam Film Festival they will now première it, within the context of `Sound Check’. With their uncompromising, hard-bitten attitude, the Quasar project promises to be an extremely dark film. The sound will be a combination of Köner’s music and ambient sounds from neighbouring film theatres. The image will consist of minimal scratches on black film.