The Paper Ensemble is the brainchild of artist and composer Jochem van Tol. Ever since his time studying art and music in The Hague (at the interfaculty now known as ArtScience), Van Tol has been exploring the sonic potential of paper – with astonishing results. #17, the group’s seventeenth work, is inspired by the idea of a Japanese garden. The audience is seated throughout the space, in a ‘garden’ of paper sculptures in various shades of white, blue, grey and black. Six performers build, work and play, creating sounds reminiscent of the rustle of leaves, the wash of waves and even whale song. Ranging from close and intimate to ominously grand, the music seems to bring time to a standstill.
#17 is a further development on #16, the short music film Van Tol and director Jiska Rickels made in 2022. Before that, Van Tol and multimedia artist Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti developed their unique paper instrument sculptures that now once again play a starring role. What is new is that the ensemble also uses different types of percussion and amplification: two percussionists play on wood, metal and stone, and paper sounds are sampled and transformed with a modular synthesiser. ‘Walk, look, listen’ is the motto. After experiencing The Paper Ensemble, you will never look at paper the same way again.