Asylen for slide projectors and tape music by Rolf Enström (music) and Thomas Hellsing (images) As an artist, I’m fascinated of objects created in our industrial society, objects which has seen it’s best days and finally has been thrown away - details from devices that has been separated from their original context, and therefore they’ve lost their meaning. However, I believe things bear a sort of resemblance of their earlier context. The shape of the object looks well adapted, but it’s impossible to find out it’s original purpose. You can get the similar experience from wandering around in an abandoned house. Who used to live here? What kind of thoughts did they have? What did they use to do? You can see a note on a piece of paper. Why is it there? This is the subject of The Asylum, but the onlooker is not given any answers on his questions. The answer is a new riddle. The Asylum has no plot in the strict sense of the word. In fact, it tells a story, but the plot must be invented by the onlooker himself. We provide the audience with the framework. The images in the Asylum are made by graphic film. The colours in the images are either from slides or paintings on the film. The origin of the black and white images stems from ordinary photographic negatives, processed in many steps. During this process the frames of the photos has disappeared, which means more freedom in using the film screen. I have invented this technique together with the composer Rolf Enström, and we have used it throughout our previous works; Fractal (1984) and Luftreflex/Luftskalle (1988). We have experimented with different methods of working in combining sound and images. In combining these two forms of art, amazing things happen especially if you try to explore the possibilities. In our collaboration we have always made great efforts to let the music and the images act as equals. The Asylum is a piece for 9 computer guided slide projectors and tape music. The size of the film screen is the equivalent of 70 mm film. The piece was composed in 1992 and it was premiered at the Stockholm Electronic Music Festival. Thomas Hellsing

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