Augustin Maurs
Out of Tune: Favorite Songs of Dictators and Political Leaders (2024)
Performance
Photo: Annika Larsson
Some songs don’t sound the same once they’ve been performed by politicians or co-opted by ruling powers. In his parodic recital Out of Tune, Augustin Maurs treats such songs as found objects, placing them in a cabaret setting where the act of singing itself is problematized. Playing with musical and political dissonances, the evening deals with the connections between popular, populist, and totalitarian forces.
The concert-performance’s set list features the favorite songs of infamous dictators and authoritarian political leaders of the past and present, which Maurs liberates from their political appropriation. For the Austrian national elections—where there is a good chance the far-right party will gain power—the artist also presents a song associated with an Austrian politician known for antidemocratic tendencies and abuse of power.
Augustin Maurs (1975, Aurillac, France) is a musician, composer, and interdisciplinary artist who explores how music relates to nonmusical elements and how it passes through media, stories, and bodies. His practice ranges from performative interventions, concerts, and collaborative installations to curatorial projects. His works have been presented, among others, at the Berlin Philharmonic; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; 2018 Busan Biennale; 2019 Ljubljana Biennale; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; and the 2022 Bergen Assembly. He lives in Berlin.
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24 on the basis of Being Out of Tune: Favorite Songs of Dictators and Political Leaders, presented at the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts 2019
With the kind support of the Institut français d’Autriche
20.9., 28.9., 22:00
Orpheum
Orpheumgasse 8
8020 Graz ♿
18/14 euros
Duration: 60 min.
Piano: Quentin Tolimieri
Percussion: Til Van Der Vloedt
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24 on the basis of Being Out of Tune: Favorite Songs of Dictators and Political Leaders, presented at the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts 2019
With the kind support of the Institut français d’Autriche