Special Events: Leif Inge - 9 Beet Stretch

There are few musical works that speak to the imagination as does Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. But although almost everyone in the Western world can easily hum its melody, this classic composition has not yet given away all its secrets. This is demonstrated by Norwegian artist Leif Inge by digitally stretching out the piece to a length of 24 hours, unveiling its unknown and unheard dimensions. A marathon performance which is sure to provide a peculiar perception of time. In the words of a participant : “I thought I was a fly trapped in honey.”

Leif Inge’s (NO) monumental work in sound, 9 Beet Stretch has become emblematic of his work as an artist, even if it spreads across a great variety of forms, fields and crafts. Context and idea are given equal importance in an open play which emphasises the quality of bisociation rather than linear association; a play on the context and the definitions used to define it which functions as a cultural statement in such way that the resulting work is often hard to brand in one field rather than the other. Leif Inge’s work has been shown globally in venues like BizArt Art Center, Shanghai; Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico; Wien Modern, Vienna and Diapason Gallery, New York.