Pavel Büchler

Jair Lanes

Venue

Les Grandes Locos

Metropolitan area

Born in 1952 in Prague, Czech Republic
Lives and works in Manchester, United Kingdom

Teacher, writer and artist, Pavel Büchler often describes his practice as a tendency to “make nothing happen”. Through audio, video, textual and sculptural installations, he has developed a conceptual body of work centred on language, technology and the moving image. Through processes of erasure, reworking and replacement, he investigates questions of experience, work and communication through art.

The sound installation LIVE is based on 351 records of jazz, rock, pop, folk and classical music from Pavel Büchler’s collection, that were recorded between 1957 and 1998 in various locations around the world — from huge open-air festivals to tiny clubs. The music tracks have been removed, and the artist has retained only the contributions made by the audience at concerts. Broadcast in the toilets of the old factories, the tracks, mixed and overlaid, resonate with whistling and applause. The work, which also exists in the form of a vinyl disc, reflects all the emotions of a crowd attending a concert.