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Concert Wed Nov 16 2011
A Curious of Crowns: Leif Elggren at Lampo
On Saturday at 8 p.m., Lampo's second (of three) concerts in its Fall series. This time, the nonprofit arts group, in association with the Graham Foundation's Madlener House (4 W. Burton Place, Chicago), present aural and textual disorientation from a genuine member of the (invented) aristocracy, one Leif Elggren, king of Elgaland-Vargaland.
Elggren, 61, is Swedish by descent, but it's not his only home. With Carl Michael von Hausswolff, he founded Elgaland-Vargaland, a country consisting of all the areas on the map (geographic, aquatic, digital, mental, and theoretical) not belonging to any other country. From no man's land areas to waterways not patrolled by neighboring countries, Elgaland-Vargaland is peopled by artists and thinkers the world over, each with their own royal title (December's Lampo performer, trumpet improvisor Greg Kelley, is Elgaland-Vargaland's "Minister of Fanfares," for example), and each with their own duty and municipality. Elggren's mind thinks this way -- areas left unclaimed by others, be they piles of dirt on the ground or unclaimed territories in the mind -- will be swept up and repurposed into exquisite aural/visual cartography, alternate histories and untested paradigms.
Elggren's last Lampo performance was in 2007 with Kevin Drumm, a piece entitled "If Other People Exist Then They Are Totally Sealed Secrets (The Voice as an Irregular Sound Generator)," a work for spoken word, electronics, motors and vibrating tin can crowns. This Saturday's performance is simply noted to be "for voice and live electronics." Fans of "lecture"-era Hafler Trio, or people who do chores while listening to Cage's Diary: How To Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse) in the background, take note. And call me; we clearly need to hang out.
Tickets for this event are free but sold out, but the Eventbrite page for this event will let you put your name on the wishlist.
