The echo of shared loneliness
Karaoke is the digitophysicomusical work of Paul Sears, which offers the observer-listener a reflection on the concepts of social media, influencers and followers, loneliness and community, on the stories we tell ourselves and how we communicate them.
The artist, the performer and the spectator will not experience a simple performance, they will find themselves in the same relational space in which a short circuit will be created that will bring out the tension between individual intelligence and collective intelligence. Technology will be a critical medium to stage the relationships between individuals and systems.
The work Karaoke unfolds in three phases:
- the declamation of a phrase – SOCIAL MEDIA, NOW WE CAN ALL BE LONELY TOGETHER
- musical improvisation
- the coda
The phrase is a short novel: its oxymoron is a mantra to be contemplated, meant to spark each person's own personal big bang of meanings to hurl against the void.
It manifests digitally as a vision test, renewing the license that allows us to drive through the busy streets of digital data. One must know the signs to avoid getting hurt.
Musical improvisation is authentic sharing: among multiple musicians who listen to each other to create together, and between the musicians and the participating audience, who witness a unique musical act that forms in the moment and dissolves like a sand mandala.
When we listen to a familiar piece of music – whether it's Bach or the Bee Gees – we experience the pleasure of known ground, we feel at home.
But when we immerse ourselves in the listening of an improvisation, we find ourselves mapping unknown territory: we become explorers.
In the coda, rap is performed in 3/4 time, rhyming with classical rhetorical figures.
Paul Sears
A British citizen, who lives between Parma and Milan, he has had a long career in the music industry as a manager of international artists and publisher representing artists and producers who have won Grammy Awards, amassed hundreds of platinum records and toured the world at the most renowned festivals. He is also a short story author and translator. With him, they will take the stage:
- Alessandro Benassi, bass clarinet
- Livio Magnini, guitar
- Luca Stignani, rhythms
Known to most as the producer of his cousin Benny Benassi, he has gained decades of experience as a clarinetist of jazz and contemporary classical music.
He is a multifaceted musician, guitarist of Bluvertigo, eclectic producer and composer of soundtracks, theorist of conscious listening, as well as performer of ambient music in the Vibe Landscapes project.
He is a drummer, percussionist who generates rhythms and sounds by combining acoustic instruments with his very personal research in the field of electronics to create highly original rarefied atmospheres.