Greta Oto (2022)
Greta Oto is the title of the concert by Papillons d'éternité (Matthieu Ehrlacher and Tânia Carvalho). A sound experiment, a musical journey and a vehicle into the night. A hypnotic ride that takes you on an endless, dense, wide and, above all, fragile road.
OPENING THE EYELIDS.
When we cannot describe things with words, we simply have to illustrate them. Using images and metaphors to explain the events we are unaware of as well as the genuine and transformative experiences we encounter throughout life.
That's right, somehow we have to tell ourselves what we see and the reason for what we feel and the best way is through the world of images.
To imagine this music is, therefore, to evoke an image.
Greta Oto is also the name of a butterfly, a lepidopteran famous for the transparency of its wings. Known as the glass or mirror butterfly, it has another important peculiarity: this insect makes long migrations, journeys that are too long for ordinary butterflies.
Greta Oto here is a journey, a leap into space, a light in the darkness, a butterfly with transparent wings flying through the limits of consciousness.
But where does this journey take us?
To a territory of somatic expansion.
No point of departure and no specific place of arrival.
Time and rhythm dilate.
Now, think of eyes with glass eyelids.
Think of mirrored eyelids.
Think of eyes for which there is neither light nor darkness.
CLOSING THE EYELIDS
The experience appeals as much to the sound as to the visual. Matthieu and Tânia's musical proposal evokes sounds that seem to come from other worlds, from an inscrutable garden, from an ocean of ether. They are songs improvised on a structural basis, which are unleashed without beginning or end, because in the most important journeys, the most important thing is always the journey, never the point of departure or arrival.
Everyone knows that the shortest way between two points is a straight line.
But what about the longest?
Greta Oto is the longest possible route between two points.
Ready?
Relax your muscles.
Turn off the mind switch.
Enter, with all the tranquility in the world.
Inhabit this space with panoramic attention.
Welcome to a concert of concerts.
Welcome to a journey of journeys.
Welcome to an evening of evenings.
Julián Pacomio
Creation and performance Papillons d'éternité
(Tânia Carvalho & Matthieu Ehrlacher)
Ehru, shruti box and effect pedals, voice Tânia Carvalho
Soprano, alto and baritone saxophone, clarinet, synthesizer and effect pedals, voice Matthieu Ehrlacher
Sound design & Technical direction Juan Mesquita
Executive Direction Vítor Alves Brotas
Administration and finance Janine Lages
Communications Coordinator Maria João Bilro
Logistics Leonardo Garibaldi
Production Agência 25
Coproduction residencies Fábrica da Criatividade/Município de Castelo Branco, O Espaço do Tempo
Project funded by Government of Portugal – Ministry of Culture / Directorate-General of Arts for the biennium 2021-22