The Brief
Off World is an experimental electronic project led by Sandro Perri and Lorenz Peter, in collaboration with a host of guest instrumentalists and producers. Prior to forming Off World, Perri composed and produced records in a wide range of genres, from ambient to avant-garde, techno to tropicália. His album Impossible Spaces was nominated for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize, and was named as one of the best albums of 2011 by Pitchfork. Off World’s debut LP, 1, was released in 2016 on Constellation Records, and forms the first part in a trilogy that also includes 2 (2017) and 3 (forthcoming).
Which abstract visual artwork would you recommend?
The abstract period of Lawren Harris. He was a member of Group of Seven, known primarily for their landscape paintings. In that context, Lawren was ‘the wild one’.
Which floral artwork would you recommend?
I would be happy to stare at Georgia O’Keeffe flowers all day. Recommended just for pleasure.
Which film about a myth or legend would you recommend?
Secret Honor, directed by Robert Altman. A character study of Richard Nixon, though it’s not about history or politics. It’s a painfully intimate, one-man, one-room setting in which the character sort of erodes in real time. Not physically, but spiritually. Great film.
Which non-fiction book would you recommend?
The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje. Several long conversations between Ondaatje and Murch, and not just about film. Beautiful talkers.
Which futuristic album, composition or song would you recommend?
Anything by Asa-Chang & Junray. Fifteen years ago I thought they were fifteen years ahead of their time. I still don’t hear anything like it. Highest recommendation.
Which essay would you recommend?
Give My Regards to Eighth Street by Morton Feldman is a collection of his essays on music (mostly). I enjoyed all of them. A hugely innovative composer and musical thinker.
Perspectives
The following questions relate to our Perspectives column, in which two writers respond to an artwork that they are experiencing for the first time.
Can the search for meaning in art lead us to dead ends?
The more a work tries to push itself onto you, the more you might feel the urge to figure out why it would try to do that. Or you tune out. Art that doesn’t push also doesn’t require its meaning to be found.
Do film adaptations of books or video games devalue the original?
Adaptations typically move downstream, but easier is not necessarily worse. A work transferred from one medium to another will always carry the burden of comparison.
Rule of Three
The following questions relate to our Rule of Three column, for which each article includes a trio of artworks that share an association with a single word.
Which artworks and organisations associated with the word ‘Narcissism’ would you recommend?
I can’t think of a more enjoyable piece of narcissism than ‘I Am a God’ by Kanye West. He twisted his ego into fascinating shapes. It’s crass and I hear a kind of softness in it too.
States of the Arts
The following questions relate to our States of the Arts column, for which each article includes four artworks that share an association with a single nation or territory.
Which Indonesian song would you recommend?
‘Tonggeret’ by Idjah Hadidjah. I love her voice, the slippery rhythms and the off-mic atmosphere. It’s Jaipongan, which is a blend of ‘traditional’ and ‘pop’, if that kind of information is important to the reader.
The art of discovery
The following questions relate to Silent Frame’s aim to celebrate the art of discovery.
For you, is artistic discovery a private or shared experience?
Both, equally, mutually, and independently. Like the relationship between breathing and photosynthesis.
What question would you like to ask other Silent Frame interviewees?
What question about art are you sure you’ve found the answers to?
More to discover
Off World: Listen to tracks from Off World’s albums 1 and 2 on their Bandcamp page here, visit their page on the Constellation Records website here, and Sandro Perri’s website here. Listen to Sandro Perri and fellow Off World member Craig Dunsmuir discuss the album 2 on an episode of Kreative Kontrol here.
Today’s recommendations: Lawren Harris (article by Jason McBride for Toronto Life), Georgia O’Keeffe (website), Secret Honor (Mubi page), The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film (excerpt), Hana (song by Asa-Chang & Junray), Give My Regards to Eighth Street (article by Victoria Miguel for BOMB Magazine), I Am a God (song), Tonggeret (song).
Also on Silent Frame
