Ursonate 1986

“Ursonate 1986 is the result of a transference process which utilizes computer and video technology to transport a 1932 phonetic poem, Ursonate, by the German artist Kurt Schwitters into a contemporary context. The poem is recreated by translating the original German phonetics into English for performance by a Macintosh computer. In the early 20th century, Dada artists who experimented with phonetic poetry were exploring the concepts of pre-language and pre-consciousness. The title of Schwitters' piece, Ursonate, translates as a primordial sonata. In Ursonate 1986 video and computer technologies, extensions of the nervous system, are used to parallel and extend Schwitters' attempts to excavate the roots of language and to articulate the primordial.” - Hans Breder