Forma

Matt Stokes

Cantata Profana is a six screen video and sound installation by Matt Stokes. Focusing on the physicality of extreme metal vocalists and the ability of their voices to immerse a listening, and transcend both the individual performer and group. Created in partnership with British composer Orlando Gough, artist and musician Tim Kerr and six grindcore vocalists, Cantana Profana interweaves extreme metal music culture with classical choral traditions to create an unexpected union.

Vocalists featured include: Anders Bakke (She Said Destroy, Norway), Chris Butterworth (Kastrated, UK), Dente (Rompeprop, Netherlands), Alex Hughes (Hatred Surge, USA), Alex Jockel (Krupskaya, UK), Der Kurt (Paroxysm, Germany).


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Cantata Profana

Credits

Cantana Profana was created by Matt Stokes in 2010. Commissioned by Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Germany. Produced by Forma. Supported by De Hallen Haarlem, Netherlands and Arts Council England.

Previous presentations

2015
Dilston Grove, London, UK

2011
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK De Hallen Haarlem, Netherlands

2010
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany

Cantata Profana is a six screen video and sound installation by Matt Stokes. Focusing on the physicality of extreme metal vocalists and the ability of their voices to immerse a listening, and transcend both the individual performer and group. Created in partnership with British composer Orlando Gough, artist and musician Tim Kerr and six grindcore vocalists, Cantana Profana interweaves extreme metal music culture with classical choral traditions to create an unexpected union.

Vocalists featured include: Anders Bakke (She Said Destroy, Norway), Chris Butterworth (Kastrated, UK), Dente (Rompeprop, Netherlands), Alex Hughes (Hatred Surge, USA), Alex Jockel (Krupskaya, UK), Der Kurt (Paroxysm, Germany).

https://forma.org.uk/assets/_large/Matt-Stokes-Cantata-Profana-installed-Photo-Nils-Klinger-1.jpg

Installation view, Matt Stokes, Cantata Profana, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, ​2011. Courtsey the artist; Lüttgen, Cologne; Workplace Gallery, Gateshead and ZieherSmith, New York. ​Photo: Nils Klinger

https://forma.org.uk/assets/_large/Matt-Stokes-Cantata-Profana-installed-Photo-Nils-Klinger-2.jpg

Installation view, Matt Stokes, Cantata Profana, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, ​2011. Courtsey the artist; Lüttgen, Cologne; Workplace Gallery, Gateshead and ZieherSmith, New York. ​Photo: Nils Klinger

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Matt Stokes, born in Penzance, Cornwall, has lived, studied and worked in the north east of England since 1993. Stokes’s practice stems from a long-term inquiry into subcultures, particularly musical ones and he is interested in the way music provides a sense of collectivity, acting as a catalyst for particular groups to form, and shaping people’s lives and identities. Recent solo exhibitions include Energy Flash - The Rave Movement, HKA, Antwerp, Belgium (2016); Objects To See Further: In Focus, The Mining Institute, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK (2015); Madman in a Lifeboat, Matt’s Gallery, London, UK (2015); In Absence of the Smoky God, Site Gallery, Sheffield, UK (2014) and Give to me the Life I Love, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2012). Matt Stokes is represented by Lüttgen, Cologne, Workplace Gallery, Gateshead and ZieherSmith, New York.

Background image: Installation view, Matt Stokes, Cantata Profana, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, 2011. Courtsey the artist; Lüttgen, Cologne; Workplace Gallery, Gateshead and ZieherSmith, New York. Photo: Nils Klinger

Credits

Cantana Profana was created by Matt Stokes in 2010. Commissioned by Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Germany. Produced by Forma. Supported by De Hallen Haarlem, Netherlands and Arts Council England.

Previous presentations

2015
Dilston Grove, London, UK

2011
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK De Hallen Haarlem, Netherlands

2010
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany