Hajnal Németh

2 Songs, 1 End

Anti-concert, 30', Galerie Photo Edition Berlin, 2009

Presented by Desney Bailey

“2 Songs, 1 End” was an anti-concert done by a jazz singer following instructions. Having sung the last sentence of a song, she stood silent for 30 minutes in the spotlight, while the audience could read the lyrics of a song projected line by line above her head, repeating in a loop.

The abrupt silence that broke the piece which had begun as a concert, together with the repetitive text, had an impact reflected in the confusion, interest, and then boredom of the audience. This reaction gradually became the gist of the show as the singer’s position was transformed from performer into observer.The elements of the title can thus be defined as: “End” meaning the end of the concert or the singing, making way for the 2 “Songs”. One is rhythmically and repetitively projected on the wall in the form of lyrics, while the other – which we might call the choir – is the reaction of the audience, coordinated by the given situation, including the indifference that sets in after a while, or, conversely, the intensifying interest /in the singer who is silently and observantly standing there, for instance/.The projected lyrics were those of Amanda Lear’s 1977 song “I Am A Photograph” – the solo of reproduced reality as a counterpoint to the choir of manipulated reality.

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View: Galerie Photo Edition Berlin, 2009

Photo: Hajnal Németh