JG Thirlwell: Silver Mantis

Silver Mantis

Silver Mantis is a 50 minute electro-acoustic presentation, performed with software and sampling, theremin and prepared piano.

It is an immersive multi channel composition which allows for an elastic performance.

After my recent densely structured work with chamber ensembles, the inspiration behind Silver Mantis was to create a work incorporating live re-composition and improvisation into its structure, one which could expand and contract fluidly with flow and spontanaeity from pre-ordained building blocks of sound.

Incorporating musique concrète and electronic sound along with live instrumentation, the composition is dynamic, cinematic and diverse with stylistic left-turns, creating a tension between time and anxiety.

I perform it with a projection created exclusively for the project by acclaimed Swedish visual artist Sten Backman.

Silver Mantis has been performed at Roulette Intermedia in NYC, Cafe Oto in London, 2220 in Los Angeles, Colchester Arts Center UK, Melbourne Recital Center, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Timacua Arts Foundation in Orlando, Elastic Arts in Chicago and elsewhere.

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JG Thirlwell is a composer/producer/performer based in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Melbourne, he moved to London in 1978, then relocated to NYC in 1983, where he has been based ever since. As well as his own name, he works under many pseudonyms including Manorexia, Foetus, Xordox, Steroid Maximus, Baby Zizanie, Hydroze Plus, Clint Ruin and Wiseblood.

He has released over thirty albums. If there is a common thread to his varied musical styles, it is a dramatic intensity and an evocative, cinematic quality. Thirlwell has also featured as producer, remixer, collaborator or arranger for a wide variety of artists including Karen O, Noveller, Zola Jesus, Helm, Mivos Quartet, Melvins, Swans, Nine Inch Nails, Lydia Lunch, Coil, Z’s, The The, Simon Hanes, Tony Oursler, Nick Cave and many more.

JG has completed commissions for Kronos Quartet, Bang On A Can, Alarm Will Sound, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Alterity Chamber Orchestra, Experiments in Opera, Zephyr Quartet, Great Learning Orchestra, Dither, Jeffrey Zeigler, William Basinski and more. He is also an acclaimed graphic artist. In 2010, he received a fellowship from New York Foundation of the Arts in sound / composition. He has created sound installations which have exhibited in Santarcangelo, Kaliningrad and Gotland, and is a member of the freq_out sound art collective. He performs live with a chamber ensemble, with his multi-channel electro-acoustic “Silver Mantis” project and with his electronic project Xordox.

JG also creates the musical score for the Emmy-winning FX show Archer, and for Adult Swim / Cartoon Network show The Venture Bros, for which he was nominated for an Annie Award.

www.foetus.org

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Center for New Music, 55 Taylor Street, San Francisco, United States

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