Concert–Camilla Barratt-Due: Hemo

Kunsthall Stavanger and Nymusikk present Hemo – an experimental performance by and with Camilla Barratt-Due.

At the heart of the event is a newly built instrument – designed as a heart outside the body. This artificial heart creates music through air, pressure, pseudo-blood, and algorithms. Along with an accordion and live programming, a soundscape is formed where the biological and the technological converge.

The piece is inspired by the novel 'The Red Star' (1908) by the Russian philosopher and scientist Alexander Bogdanov. In this sci-fi narrative set on Mars, blood transfusions are used not just for healing, but also for sharing emotions and rejuvenating society. Blood becomes a symbol of community and solidarity.

Bogdanov was a thinker who merged politics, science, and fiction. He proposed that the sharing of blood could enhance societal solidarity – a concept he also tested in reality as a means for bodily rejuvenation and social unity. Bogdanov's ideas span speculative fiction and political philosophy. He imagined a post-human future where collective effort merges nature and technology. On Mars, the inhabitants have advanced computing networks and calculation systems that mirror modern climate science. Although Bogdanov was later dismissed by Soviet authorities, his thoughts are still pertinent today, particularly in the fields of ecology and technology.

In Hemo, Canilla (Camilla Barratt-Due) plays music for her artificial heart. She employs sensors that detect air and pressure in the circulating pseudo-blood, creating sound in real-time with the SuperCollider software. The outcome is a vibrant and sensory piece – a sort of auditory circuit – where the lines between human and machine, individual and collective, are erased.