CACT E-STUDIO
Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri (b.1974, Greece) is a composer, sound artist and performer based in Berlin, Germany. In 2008, she completed a Ph.D. in Composition at the University of California.
The implicit freedom of experimentation, the ability to produce meanings, to provide experiences and to create situations, are all basic features of Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri’s work. Most of her projects focus on the construction of musical instruments –or rather sound objects– created through a discreet and affectionate process of deconstruction and denunciation of objects. Her strong foundation in music education and her knowledge on composition allow her to operate the items that she creates with complete comfort. In addition to that, she tends to explore varied aspects of performance such as audiovisual, interactive and performative installation. Ephemera and static elements, the object and subject, the material and immaterial are renegotiated and subsequently acquire a new identity. The objects created are instruments that can operate under the active human process as any conventional musical instrument. However, in many cases they operate autonomously revoking and questioning the role of the performer, as well as exploring the functioning possibilities of the instrument without the involvement of the performer. The sonic compositions generated through the interaction of objects with different mechanical devices and other media, create environments in which the viewer mobilizes his audiovisual sensors in order to penetrate into an experience that impels not just a simple visual exploration but also a more active and thorough process of hearing the sound production. The pure and simple forms of her compositions, achieved through the reduction of materials and media, suggest the artist’s minimalistic disposition that seeks out the pure and direct emotional and intellectual involvement of the viewer. The exploration of space and time and their audiovisual substance equally become key elements in Papalexandri’s works as their severity increases through the continuous and excess flux highlighting the concept of reality’s fluidity.
