Gemeinsam ist allen Arbeiten eine Neuinterpretation traditioneller Notationsformen. Alte und neue Technologien werden, wie es auch im Begleittext heißt, genutzt, um unkonventionelle Ergebnisse zu ermöglichen. Im Zentrum der Arbeiten, die ausdrücklich als Material zur Aufführung gedacht sind, steht das Interesse an erfinderischen Strategien des Musikmachens, der Koordination von Handlungen und der Übersetzung von Ideen in klangliche Praxis. Smallest functional unit wurde 2020 von Ute Wassermann, Tony Buck, Mazen Kerbaj, Magda Mayas und Racha Gharbieh gegründet mit dem Ziel, internationale Komponistinnen und Komponisten mit unkonventionellen Partituren zu veröffentlichen und aufzuführen. An “Graphème – Volume 5″ beteiligt sind Khabat Abbas, Benjamin K Bacon, Stéphane Clor, Mareike Dobewall, Jez riley French, Pedro Filho, Pheobe riley Law, Kate Milligan, Linda O’Keeffe, Ryan Ross Smith, Daniel Studer, Marina Tantanozi, Michael Vorfeld, Barb Wagner und Eliad Wagner. Ihre Hintergründe reichen von experimenteller Komposition, Improvisation und Soundart über Informationsdesign, Medienkunst und ökologische Forschung bis hin zu intermedialen und installationsbasierten Praktiken.

@ Smallest Functional Unit | Bandcamp

“Welcome to the fourth edition of Grapheme: a collection of scores by composers and artists intent on sharing and collaborating with performers in the realisation of adventurous and creative sonic experiences. The pieces presented in this edition range from simple to complex. Some are more open to freedom of interpretation and some are more specific, but all are offered in the spirit of collaboration with the performer who interprets the work. The scores within this volume draw on compositional concepts that are as varied as they are imaginative. Featuring photo-montage, graphs, illustration, timelines and grids, each piece offers the performer the chance to explore their own interpretation of the structural frameworks suggested by the composer. Representing kaleidoscopic approaches to sound and the gestural organisation of materials, these works, each different in their own way, share a sense of cooperation with the performer, which, while becoming more prevalent in contemporary music, is still quite removed from the more traditional relationship between composer and interpreter. The thematic and timbral materials offered for exploration are a true collage of ideas, motives and themes. They represent a meeting of creative initiations and responses, composed with rigour and, often, humour. Time is also represented in multi-faceted ways, whether linear, spatial or cyclical, offering the performer various ways to navigate the ideas: to overlay concepts of time as well as material, contributing to a kind of open and imaginative expression of time, material and space. Each composer’s score can be seen then, as a starting point, suggesting ways to begin: works unfolding as they are performed — often neither fully concrete, nor free of form or trajectory. Today more than ever it seems we need to reassess what it means to create, to collaborate and to find new ways of working together. These ideas of music composition and performance move towards new models through which we can truly come together as creative forces, not only with reflection and refinement, but also with spontaneity and freedom. The works in this volume, as in the previous three volumes, are here to be performed. Play them, explore them and realise them in any way you find imaginable. We are excited by the possibilities of performers creating a collaborative space between the composer and – in the rendering of these works – with audiences and listeners”. (smallest functional unit)

Cover-Artwork: Julie Mehretu

@ smallest functional unit

“smallest functional unit was founded in 2020 by Tony Buck, Mazen Kerbaj, Magda Mayas, Ute Wassermann and Racha Gharbieh with the aim of performing and publishing unconventional, hybrid notational formats and graphic scores by international composers. The publication will appear as Graphème, a series with a thematic focus on experimental notation. The dominant, traditional, western notation is only one aspect among many forms of expression in the field. We are interested in unconventional notational formats and graphic scores, as these represent visions of sound that are open to diverse, idiosyncratic ways of interpreting and working. Works in which improvisation, composition, interpretation, performance and sound art merge require relevant modes of representation. ” (smallest functional unit)

@ Smallest Functional Unit | Bandcamp