Frontiers, borders, demarcations – words that may be seen as a challenge by some, who desire to immediately transcend or erase such notions through their ravenous, omnivourous appetite. Others, however, strategically impose their own limits, be it from a set of questions to answer, a set of methodologies or aesthetics to explore and refine, or from the choice of materials or instruments used, thus consciously scaling back limitless horizons of choice they are faced with in order to create a starting point within a self-defined universe of possibilities.

The artists here have all set their own frontiers, pushing them in directions that would be unimaginable without limitations to exactingly pursue. Although each works in his own sphere, they intersect with one another in multiple ways due to a common rigour taken in exploring the materiality of sound, the grains and textures that so sharply come out in minimalist works, and the effects and challenges of using limited sound sources.

Using their obsession with company logos as a starting point, Diamond Version explore Daily Short Message Information Culture, their phrase to describe the relentless slogans we are bombarded with: “We collected these slogans and started reading them, without knowing the companies. In this amount and concentration they become absurd”. Plunging Raster-Noton’s classic, ascetic, minimalistic aesthetic straight into the heart of corporate culture, they are joined by Atsuhiro Ito, who has carved out a light/sound performance niche using the Optron, a fluorescent light tube, as an instrument. Sound is packaged in an entirely different way by Emptyset, who examine grain and silence through analogue compressors, amplified by Joanie Lemercier’s play with particles of light. Bringing in an orchestra of 808s, 606s, and 303s, TM404 digs into the range of effects and challenges of classic hardware, while Opium Hum’s hazy drones round out the night.

The performances of Diamond Version, Emptyset, and TM404 will reverberate in the Panorama Bar later this same night, courtesy of the Soundwalk Collective. Using custom made contact sensors that are carefully-placed on the building’s various components, the Collective captures the vibrations produced from the performing artists' sets, thus capturing the venue’s resonant structures. The Berghain itself becomes a musical filter and instrument as these resonances are processed and played-back in real-time. This intervention is part of Soundwalk Collective's ongoing projekt Last Beat, that resonates the architecture of the Berghain, playing the material structure of the building as a musical instrument.

Diamond Version - Mission Statement from Mute on Vimeo.