The composer and musician Sven Kacirek has worked with Tschaikowski's "Nutcracker" music in many different ways in the past years. I have developed this sound installation together with him, it was displayed in the foyer at Kampnagel (Hamburg) in winter 2012, where hundreds of people were lingering, waiting for the doors to open for the show of Antje Pfundtner's contemporary Nutcracker choreography.
Our idea was that Sven Kacirek plays his re-composition of one piece in four separate layers of instruments. The video artists Agnieszka Krzeminska has recorded his performances on piano, marimba, percussion, and vibraphon. These videos are played back on four screens, positioned on a 10m square, each guarded by a nutcracker. Nothing can be heard. As soon as curious people enter the space in between the nutcrackers, proximity sensors in the nutcrackers' eyes dynamically activate the sound.
Music: Sven Kacirek
Conception and idea: Andi Otto, Sven Kacirek
Programming: Andi Otto
Sensor technology: Byung-Jun Kwon
Video: Agnieszka Krzeminska