Live In The Void

Live In The Void is not a-live
Live In The Void is a non-living musical act
Live In The Void is a disembodied musical performance aiming at: a distortion of time; a rejection of space
Live In The Void is a migratory shift towards aural imagery
Live In The Void is an anomalous mutation of a socio-political resistance
Live In The Void is a music, exiled into cyber-(un)reality

Live In The Void is a response to a cultural phenomenon known as the ‘Iranian Underground Music’; a defiant movement that emerged as a result of two decades of state oppression following the 1979 revolution in Iran, facilitated by the advancement of internet and the accessibility of satellite media in the late 1990’s.

As an enabling tool to subvert the authoritative power of the theocratic state, the Internet has been realising the emergence of a (virtual) community, providing a platform for musicians and audiences to bypass the state control over production and consumption of ‘illegal’ music in Iran. Confined to restrictions of the online (cyber) space, this music has also been significantly evolving detached from its physicality (for its lack of real-world interactions, mainly due to remaining restrictions on performance of music as such, etc. in Iran).

In order to investigate this issue of immateriality, Live In The Void alters and distorts the conventional necessities of the live musical performance, in an attempt at translating it into the vocabulary of the contemporary media.

With generous contributions from:
Małgorzata Drohomirecka
Rouzbeh Rashidi (Experimental Film Society)

Special thanks to:
Maryam Mansouri

Live In The Void has been shown at the Pejman Foundation: The Room (2020), OTO Project Space in London (2016), the Arab* Underground at the Fusion Festival in Lärz, Germany (2015) and the Transmètic : Ordonnance at the Lewisham Arthouse in London (2015).