Krakenwalzer

This live electronic performance is not a waltz, but a drowning. His familiar gestures dissolve - slowly sinking into a bed of liquid noise. Echoes of an empire perforemerge, only to sink again immediately, distorted beyond recognition, hovering between majesty and decay. Beneath the surface: a Strauss murmur, distorted and spectral, flickering like a fading memory. Drones rise like tidal forces, enveloping the audience with silent violence, gentle pressure and dark mockery. Multi-channel signals flood into the pond, into loudspeakers, into the open air. In this flooded waltz, everything breathes through tentacles.

OCT.opus 25

The team of artists that go by the name of God’s Entertainment will be depositing a huge octopus replica in the pond near the Karlsplatz to offer us a new interpretation of Strauss’ waltzes.

This artistic ersatz for an octopus, representing an intriguing symbiosis between Strauss and cultural studies expert Donna Haraway, is designed to give us a completely new perspective on the waltz as such, with lively and provocative interpretations opening up unprecedented emotional and intellectual vistas on the music of Johann Strauss. With the help of an array of supporting artists, Strauss himself will conducting OCT.opus 25 and dancing to his own music. On five weekends, the project will be electrifying its audiences with humour, temperament, concerts, performances and dinners.