PULSE

Jurjen Alkema & Enric Monfort (Black Pencil)

PULSE consists of 48 oak cabinets that produce sound and light, in response to a music composition by Enric Monfort, Black Pencil and Jurjen Alkema. In this way, music becomes a visual experience that transforms Schipperplein into a technological installation: The trees of Schippersplein in Almere form a network for the boxes that all function as individual sound sources. The sound travels around the installation. The geometric field with trees is an intriguing contrast between chaos and structure, between rhythmic and organic shapes, which is given an extra spectacular light effect by 48 LED strips in the natural landscape.

The oak cabinets are a concept by artist duo Jurjen Alkema and Andrea Dröes (installation [tik]). The music for the installation is made by Black Pencil's percussionist, Enric Monfort. The artistic development of PULSE is a collaboration between Jurjen Alkema and Black Pencil.

PULSE was realized with the support of Fonds Podiumkunsten and the Municipality of Almere. Photography: Fabian Landewee

About the artist

Black Pencil is an Almere music company of five musicians that has frequently performed in classical halls and on stages and festivals in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Spain, Ireland, Turkey, Denmark and Venezuela since its founding in 2010. Black Pencil programs its own concert series in Amsterdam and Almere, and collaborates with Land Art Flevoland and Schokland UNESCO World Heritage. Recent projects bring the band together with the world of virtual reality, theater, dance and landscape art.

Jurjen Alkema (1976) is a visual artist and audiovisual designer. He worked as a designer and as an autonomous artist for a large number of different theater productions, festivals, concerts and museums such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, harpist Remy van Kesteren, The Hague Highlights light festival, Metropole Orchestra, ASKO Ensemble. Until 2021 he was part of the collective Blauwe Uur, with which he was active for Amsterdam Light Festival, Van Gogh Museum, Light Night Leeds, Luminale Frankfurt and a large number of theater, pop and dance festivals.

Credits

Composition: Enric Monfort
Sound technology: Arjan van Asselt
Light technology intern: Thomas Holtrust