ALGA MARGHEN – RECORD LABEL PRESENTATION & PERFORMANCES

Established in 1996, the Alga Marghen Label specialises in twentieth-century composers, avant-garde artists and ‘experimental historical obscurities and outsiders’. Argos archived the catalogue of the label, and hosts a talk. In Bozar there is a performance evening scheduled featuring artists from the label.
The still relatively recent catalogue of this Italian-based record label represents an impressive collection of highly diverse musical genres and sonic art spanning a period of seven decades. Led by Emanuele Carcano, Alga Marghen is a highly subjective archive, a catalogue compiled on a purely personal basis that contains both sound poetry (Henri Chopin, Bernard Heidsieck, François Dufrêne) and prototypical noise (Robert Ashley, Philip Corner), atypical contemporary classical music (Walter Marchetti) and the work of Ghédalia Tazartès, which is often described as ‘extraterrestrial world music’. In short, the Alga Marghen catalogue represents a collection of highly individual figures who, particularly when viewed retrospectively, exercise a great deal of influence in strengthening the links between music, sonic art, the visual arts and mixed media, including primarily performance, video art and literature. The Alga Marghen catalogue can be listened to in the Media Library at Argos. And viewed: the limited edition releases often contain marvellous gems designed by artists. Argos, in association with Bozar, is presenting an evening when several leading figures from the label will appear. The focus will be on the audio and video artists closely linked to the Fluxus movement. The next day, a lively discussion richly illustrated with visual and audio material will take place at Argos, looking at the origins, current position and future importance of Alga Marghen. This event is a co-production with Bozar Cinema.

This event is part of OPEN ARCHIVE #2 - REFLECTIONS ON CONTEMPORARY ART, MEDIA CULTURE AND ARCHIVING

Subevents

• Alga Marghen Label Night #1 - Performances by Anton Bruhin, Rhodri Davies, Ghedalia Tazartes and Ben Patterson. Videos by Joe Jones, Robert Filliou and Ben Patterson
• Alga Marghen Label Night #2 - An Illustrated Introduction in Alga Marghen Records: Emanuele Carcano in discussion with Ive Stevenheydens