Recent activity: Heavy Mental Superheroes
On January 17th I participated in the performance meditations Heavy Mental in the ORF´s Funkhaus, organised by Ö1´s Kunstradio.
Together with artists Josef Trattner and Esther Vörösmarty, I performed 3 Heavy Mental meditations for live audience in the studio as a part of the international birthday celebration of Art itself.
After the performances we played a live concert on air for 40 minutes at Ö1.
Josef Trattner as Batman, Esther Vörösmarty as Batgirl and Runar Magnusson as Elvis.
Recent activities. A 7 ” release.
Late last year I released a split 7″ on the Icelandic label Móatún7 (sold out). On one side was my work “Unreasonable Fables Of Isolation & Insecurity” and on the other side Icelandic artist Futuregrapher with the track “Far Beyond The Stars”. You can get the digital release on the Móatún7 bandcamp site and other online retailers and streaming services.
Edition# Live
Edition# (Coppier&Magnusson) played a concert in Brønshøj Watertower on the 5th of September 2019 to mark the ending of their 10 speaker soundinstallation ‘Edition#1 – A soft fall’ that had been playing in the tower over the summer, as the opening installation in the new artspace Urum – Institute for Efterklang in the old watertower in Brønshøj a suburb of Copenhagen. An amazing structure with a massive reverb, one of the longest in Denmark with up to 40 seconds.
The 2 hour long concert was played on the same 10 speaker soundsystem using a Monome Aleph and a Sequentix Cirklon sequencer controlling a MacBeth Elements analog synthesiser that was processed via a specialised software as a main soundsource. Other soundsources were Lom Electroslush electromagnetic listening device, a thunder maker and contact microphones placed in various places in the tower. Sounds from the audience moving around the tower is also a part of the general soundscape.
The concert was recorded with 5 microphones and we are in the process of editing the recording for a future release.
With support from the Danish Art Foundation. #statenskunstfond #kunstgørenforskel.
Mika Vainio – Triode Kuvaputki
I am very happy to be a part of this exhibition.
A tribute to the late great Mika Vainio (of Pan Sonic).
Triode Kuvaputki (53 min, one minute for each year of Mika’s life).
In 1999, Finnish electronic arch experimentalists Mika Vainio and IIpo Vaisanen, embarked on their legendary Around the World Tour as Pan Sonic, along with artist Edward Quist as visualizer and documentarian. The collaboration culminated in the seminal film Kuvaputki (Cathode Ray Tube). In 2017, a tragic accident in Normandy, France took Mika Vainio’s life, leaving behind a monumental body of work. His work with Ilpo Vaisanen as Pan Sonic, and numerous solo works and collaborations across the art world, illustrate his influence over a generation. After asking some of Vainio’s sound art contemporaries, and the emergent drivers of the new generation, to contribute a soundscape in Mika’s memory, Quist reinterpreted some of the film ‘s methods as a kind of spiritual sequel for a post Vainio landscape. Twenty years after Kuvaputki, with a poignant capstone composition by Ilpo Vaisanen, and Dirk Dresselhaus as die Angel, Triode Kuvaputki is intended to be as ever evolving a work as its progenitor.
Soundtrack Featuring:
die Angel (Ilpo Väisänen and Dirk Dresselhaus)
Alyssa Auvinen (LDY OSC)
Johannes Auvinen (TIN MAN)
John Duncan
Paul Kendall
Runar Magnússon
Chris Latina (Article Collection)
QVORG (Derek Gruen and Edward Quist)
Edward Quist (embryoroom)
Brian Ratigan (NonFilms)
Chandra Shukla (XAMBUCA)
51717
Mo H. Zareei (mHz)
Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið did a little interview about Edition#´s first installation Edition#1 – A Soft Fall. Exhibited over the summer in the magificent Broenshoj Watertower. Icelandic only.
Edition#1 – A Soft Fall
Edition# presents Edition#1 – A Soft Fall.
Location: Urum – Institute for Efterklang.
Brønshøj Vandtårn (Bronshoj Watertower), Brønshøjvej 29, 2700 Brønshøj, Denmark. http://www.facebook.com/urummmm/
Time: Opens on march 15th at 4pm. Will be running almost every thursday & friday from 1pm – 5pm until august 1. There will be some gaps where it will not be playing. Check Urum.dk or the facebook event for information.
Edition#, consisting of Runar Magnusson and Yann Coppier, are attempting to reveal the depths of the water tower to its listeners. Together they create a non-intrusive and warm room in the massive concrete, reverberant structure, filtering out the sounds from the outside while exploring the foundations of what makes this alien yet functional piece of architecture a unique place to experience using one’s ears.
Edition#1 – A soft fall played on 10 loudspeakers in a place where the sound constantly plays with its own shadow, painting the walls with swirling sound while bursts of noise and percussive elements reveal the room like lightnings would do in total darkness.
The exploration will consist of three parts: an installation to set the fundaments for a new world, a concert to bring new life to it, and a virtual release to keep it alive in a parallel universe.
Futuregrapher & Runar Magnusson
Futuregrapher & Runar Magnusson announce a collaboration.
– album out 2019!!!! Looking forward to it and to let you guys hear it!!
Photo by Kristinn Þeyr Magnusson
Some reviews about Reptilicus & Senking – Unison
http://www.idieyoudie.com say: ” The experimentalist nature of the collaborators also makes for some notable variety in songs and approaches. The way that sustained tones coalesce out of the substrata on “For Decades” before being filtered back into pure ambience is unlike anything else present, acting as an impassive glacier in the midst of its more rhythmic neighbours. “Independent Access to White Noise” borders on twee-IDM in its initial moments of melody, but rapidly subverts those tropes with broken rhythms and tweaky sequences that criss cross the track in unpredictable ways.”
Sideline says “Unison is an album you’ve to listen to several times. It’s sophisticated and sometimes deeply experimental, but I like its accessibility. The great sound treatments and IDM touch mixed with some down-tempo cadence are getting the tracks fascinating. The work is filled with great analogue effects, deep-vibrating sequences, cold sound treatments and a constant mix between industrial- and space-like sounds. ”
A Miscellany Of Tasteful…say: “This collaboration bore fruit in the recording you hear here. A lot of the material is reminiscent of early Industrial experiments (think more about early Cabaret Voltaire than Throbbing Gristle or NON), yet with a far crisper, dynamic sound. Reptilicus has since become augmented with Rúnar serving as third member, and it is our hope that this unit continue to record.”
Flux says: A perfect example of experimental electronic music with a cause and direction, Unison offers way more than interesting sounds and cerebral solutions. Any track has its own story and can be enjoyed for its musicality, be it hidden or clearly displayed. A good measure of human emotions and electronic coldness conjures a moody sound, in which light and darkness have their say. The expertise of the involved artists allows us to experience both an artistic piece of music, both an enjoyable affair with genuine musical elements.
Ragnheidur Eiriksdottir at Morgunbladid says:
Arnar Eggert says:
Recent release: Reptilicus & Senking – Unison
At the time, production for modular-synthesizer documentary I Dream of Wires was under way. Reptilicus, Senking and Rúnar Magnússon were among the first wave of artists featured for the project. Praveer Baijal of Yatra-Arts introduced the bands to William Blakeney, executive producer of the film, and a session was organized at Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton, Ontario. The legendary studio was founded by the Lanois brothers and the site of numerous classic recordings, among them many of Brian Eno’s and Daniel Lanois’ ambient series in the 1980s.
A collection of vintage modular synthesizers was made available for sonic exploration, among them EMS Synthi A, ARP 2600 + sequencer, Moog 15, Minimoog, Roland System 100 + sequencer. Reptilicus also brought their P-synth, a drone machine built by Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson (Godkrist), electricity wizard and guitarist of such bands as Kukl and Þeyr.
The bands were privileged to have Bob Doidge (Crash Test Dummies, Cowboy Junkies), at the mixing desk, and enjoyed the assistance and deep expertise of Dean Batute when operating the vintage gear. Director Rob Fantinatto filmed the Saturday session which featured in I Dream of Wires: Hardcore edition.
Afterwards, Senking and Reptilicus, with Rúnar Magnússon as a third member, worked on the raw material in a truly trans-European fashion from their respective locations in Cologne, Reykjavík and Copenhagen. The result of their collaboration is the album Unison.
Current activities: Edition#
Lately i have been working on a new project called Edition#. (webpage in the making)
Edition# is a collaboration between the two sound artists Yann Coppier (F/DK) & Runar Magnusson (IS/DK).
Working with sound installations, digital art, recordings & performances.
First installation will be opened in 15th. of march 2019 in Copenhagens new art space Urum – Institute for Efterklang. Located in an old watertower. A fantastic building with a mindboggling acoustics. Its challenging and fun to work there.
