Hundred Years Gallery, London
21/10/2019
by WZ vocal duo, part of Art Licks Weekend 2019
A collaboration with vocalist, composer, and sound artist Yifeat Ziv
More than voice.. workshop, 21/10/19, 3 to 5pm
8 different mother-tongues, 12 voices/lungs, 24 ears - listening together to the sonority of language, our voice is an extension of our listening experience “. Yifeat Ziv
A workshop and a performance exploring the vocalic and somatic dimension of speech.
Workshop
We explored voice, language and translation through exercises relying on free improvisation and deep listening practices. We explored how voices encounter other voices and other languages in the unique acoustics of Hundred Years Gallery space. We experimented with the vocalic and phonetic qualities of the various mother tongues at our disposal on the day.
As a vocalist I hadn't been using my voice for a few years but the exercises and the score made ipmrovisation with and through language pleasurable, connecting and liberating. Yifeat and Emmanuelle directed the group with generosity, kindness and expertise and provided a very accepting and nonjudgemental space for exploration. I had a sense of wanting to do this process in this group each day, as a practice in itself. (D.E, workshop participant)
Performance
WZ shares some of their original free and structured vocal compositions on the edges of and in between languages (English, French, Hebrew). This included a participative piece developed with the 12 workshop participants.
WZ (Waeckerle and Ziv vocal duo)
is interested in exploring the vocalic and somatic dimension of speech, the saying rather than the said, focusing on those aspects of the voice that exceeds language, in an attempt perhaps to reconnect the word to its vocalic roots.
They perform regularly as part of London’s experimental music scene, where they met in 2018, as well as nationally and internationally through their individual art and music practice. Together they explore the encounter between two feminine voices, floating in translation on the edges of and in between languages, in both free and structured forms. This was the first public outing of they work together.
Listen to WZ on SoundCloud here