Cory Arcangel uses his work to explore the practices and myths that have built up around Internet culture, pop music and experimental music. In processing visual and audio material for his works, he not only uses and adapts available computer programmes but also develops his own programming to do so. To produce this two-screen video installation, titled ‘A Couple Thousand Short Films About Glenn Gould’, Arcangel spliced together nearly 2000 clips of amateur musicians’ performances taken from video-sharing websites such as YouTube.
Each note of the score jumps between individual clips of different musicians, with each screen carrying a separate melody line. The final effect is an almost hallucinatory montage – a flood of images. Canadian pianist Glenn Gould (1932-1982) – celebrated and renowned as an interpreter of Johann Sebastian Bach’s work – used the technique of piecing together various recordings to produce his commercial records, hence the title of the project is paying homage to him. Similarly, Arcangel allows anonymous guitarists, keyboard players, tuba players and other enthusiasts from around the world to unintentionally collaborate in recreating the 1st variation of Bach’s masterpiece, the Goldberg Variations.
Following Outset’s donation to the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Cory Arcangel had his first major institutional survey at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin in 2011. ‘A Couple Thousand Short Films About Glenn Gould’ formed the focal point of the exhibition.
