"Cello Powder (The Complete Works for Cello) is a 'durational' project in two parts," Veliotis informs us. For the first part, the recording, "the sonic range of the cello is divided into 100 quarter tones. Every quarter tone is recorded for one hour. During this hour volume and timbre change from soft to very loud plus pure tone to noise and back. The 100 one hour drones will be mixed into one audio file – all 100 files will sound simultaneously – called The Complete Works for Cello and pressed onto a limited amount of CDs." In performance, "the cello used in the recording will be destroyed (turned into powder) in front of a live audience while The Complete Works for Cello is played back through speakers. The powder will be used to fill jars of approximately 250ml labelled, numbered and sealed. Every jar will be accompanied by a Complete Works for Cello CD. The number of discs available will be equal to the number of jars, the rest of the CDs will be destroyed in front of the audience."
Via la reseña en Paris Transatlantic:
"its sheer overwhelming power has to be experienced to be believed. Imagine playing all your Phill Niblock records at the same time and you're still nowhere near. Even at normal neighbour-friendly volume, this'll have your furniture moving around the room; crank it up and it sucks all the acoustic life out of whatever space you happen to be in – try screaming out yourself and listen to your voice disappear. On (good) headphones it's the perfect travelling companion, totally blocking out the perennially annoying sounds of fellow voyagers' mobile phones and leaking iPods, not to mention all traffic noise (in short, I wouldn't recommend it if you're riding a bike – I've tried it and it's fucking scary..). And when it stops, suddenly, it's as if the ground has fallen away from under your feet. Then, miraculously, the ear, having been blasted open for a full hour, suddenly discovers the extraordinary world of sonic detail in the world around us. Curiously, then, Veliotis's 60-minute wall of sound ends up doing exactly what John Cage wanted his 4'33" of "silence" to achieve."
Escuchalo, descargalo, prepárate para ser pulverizado.
