mikro

Mikro is a series of improvised performances with microscopes and microphones, using the immediate surroundings as raw material.

Gilje uses a microscope to examine and capture the textures of the various materials found. The captured textures are added to a continuously changing video loop, new images replace old ones. Organic, mineral, synthetic, processed, dead or alive material come together in a flicker bonanza.

The modus operandi for the sound in the project Mikro is very similar to and inspired by HC Giljes video processing.

The sound comes from manipulating found materials - metal, paper, plant material, stones, and other objects to reveal their textures and resonances.
The sounds are very quiet and so have to be amplified with different kinds of microphones: miniature mics, contact mics, ultrasonic detectors etc.
The sound is then processed digitally in the computer. Different audio buffers can pass audio to each other so that feedback loops are possible within the software as well as through the loudspeakers and microphones.

The form of the performance comes from the interaction between the players, the material, and the performance space.

The first performances took place in 2007. It premiered at Paradiso, Amsterdam in the spring, followed by a tour in the autumn (Bergen Kunsthall, Laznia Gdansk, DNK Amsterdam, TAG den Haag, IMAL Brussels).

In 2016, a new performance was commissioned for the Dark Ecology journey, beginning of June 2016, presented in Kirkenes, Norway.
It was also presented at Kristiansand Kunsthall on September 3rd 2016 in HC Giljes solo exhibtion, as part of punktfestivalen.

In 2023 we picked up the collaboration for three performances in Norway (Moss, Drammen, Oslo).