Elision - Richard Barrett: Dark Matte

DARK MATTER, scored for an ensemble of 19 performers (including soprano, electric guitar and a vast array of percussion) plus live and pre-recorded electronics, sets secret Egyptian texts carved on the walls of sarcophagi in the pyramids of 2400BC - possibly the oldest known religious texts in the world - alongside fragments from Lucretius and other Greek writers on the nature of matter, the stars and other worlds and ending with Samuel Beckett's 'Sounds'.

For the first performance of the work Barrett collaborated with Norwegian artist Per Inge Bj�rlo; the site was transformed into multiple architectural/ acoustical spaces. Viewers/listeners were invited to form their own imaginary narrative and to create a pathway through a labyrinth of installations and sound-sources.