Rhythm Ace & Slingerland

Rhythm Ace & Slingerland, a co-production by Ni-Vu-Ni-Connu Productions and Galerie Max Hetzler, is one of numerous collaborations between longstanding friends Albert Oehlen and Sven-Åke Johansson, following from their 2003 album Shotgun Wedding, also featuring Mayo Thompson of Red Krayola. This album explores how art influences music, and vice versa – a question often explored in Oehlen’s work.

The idea originated from Johansson’s visit to the artist’s studio in 2018. Oehlen showed the drummer his collection of rhythm machines, American and Japanese, from the 1960s onwards. Oehlen explains: “I collect old drum machines because I fnd the contradiction fascinating that you collect devices that can do as little as possible. A drum machine is more attractive to me the more limited it is.”

Johansson responds to Oehlen’s musings and collection by creating the performance for Rhythm Ace & Slingerland. Johansson says of the performance: “The situation was an extension of my being and also that of this device. It is a win for both: man and machine. So the experiment was successful.”

Credits

Sven-Åke Johansson
Albert Oehlen

1. Rhythm Ace & Slingerland, part 1 16:54
2. Rhythm Ace & Slingerland, part 2 15:13