Manuel Stagars Treasures and Adventures. Music for an Exhibition

Manuel Stagars (b 1974 in Zurich, lives and works in Zurich), a Swiss artist and musician active in California since 2002, composed a film soundtrack for a selection of eleven works from the collection of the Glarus Art Association. The paintings by Stäbli, Castan, Steffan – primarily landscape paintings from the second half of the 19th century – served both as a point of departure and as an inspiration for his composition. The pictures are presented in the exhibit as film stills of an imaginary story supported by the music, the protagonists of which are a man, a woman, a boy, and a fisherman (e.g., Vieux Pêcheur by Felix Vallotton). While there is no given linear plot, the music submerges the art-historically heterogeneous compilation of paintings in an emotionally charged atmosphere and suggests a narrative connection between the works that otherwise would hardly be brought into relation with each other. That the combination of music and pictures is not an invention of today is confirmed by the historical dioramas which, before the birth of film (1895), presented a multimedia spectacle through the use of light and music.
Manuel Stagars, who enjoyed a classical education in music and composition, was himself present at art exhibitions starting the middle of the 90's. He staged various installations which he refers to as Audioboxes – actual sensory spaces in which sounds, specially created scents, and light effects generated using colored foils created an environment for synesthetic experience. He also composed soundtracks for a range of artists, such as for Olaf Breuning's videos Woodworld (1998) and Chris Croft (1999). Manuel Stagars now also works for the commercial film industry. His experiences in the areas of film, art, and music combine in the exhibit in Glarus into a multimedia spectacle.
Visiting curator: Christoph Lichtin
A CD produced by edition fink with the film music appears in conjunction with the exhibit, in addition to an accompanying folder with a text by Christoph Lichtin and images of the paintings from the collection of the Glarus Art Association (design: Elektrosmog, Zurich).