Oro:orð was screened at Tabakalera (Donostia) at the Cybernetics of the Poor festival in June 2020 - take a look: 

https://online.tabakalera.eu/eu/bideo/orooro-12-ekitaldiko-opera-alex-mendizabal/

Text and Icelandic Translations by Erin Honeycutt
Music and Euskara Translations by Alex Mendizabal
Video by François Pisapia


(Screenshot)

Watch introductory video

Read the Full Libretto 


Oro:orð is simplified communication forms within a libretto, music, water, bubbles and images in twelve acts. It may take different forms such as (but not only) installation, radio play, internet or operatic stream, underwater publications. Oro:orð is inspired by the Icelandic Basque Pidgin, a trading language used by whalers in the late 16th - early 17th century. It is written in Icelandic, English, and Euskara (Basque language) and is composed of ‘acts’ based on paintings produced in the year 1616 from around the world, reflecting on the long arrival of the current state of globalization.

ARTIST BIOS

Erin Honeycutt (*1989, Atlanta) writes poetry, exhibition reviews, and a variety of texts in collaboration with artists. She has read text at Kadett (Amsterdam, 2019), IÐNO Theater (Reykjavik, 2019), FotoTallinn (Tallinn, 2019), Dzialdov Gallery (Berlin, 2019), Reykjavik Arts Festival (2018), DA Space (Heraklion, 2018), Beyond Human Impulses (Athens, 2018), and Pólar Festival (Stöðvarfjörður, 2017). She studied Art History (MA, University of Iceland) and Religion (MA, University of Amsterdam) and now lives in Berlin. 

François Pisapia (*1990, Montreal) is an artist and filmmaker living and working in Berlin. His artistic practice moves through sculpture, installation, photography, performance and video. Pisapia completed a BFA in Design from Concordia University and graduated from the Städelschule film class of Douglas Gordon, having also studied with Laure Prouvost, Gerard Byrne and Wu Tsang. His work has been screened and exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Art (Glasgow), Staedel Museum (Frankfurt), Mal Seh'n Kino (Frankfurt), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Czech Centre (New York) and Centre Clark (Montréal).

Alex Mendizabal (*1961, Donostia) has from childhood composed scores for ensembles, orchestras, soloists, stone and paper players, choirs, etc. In 1996, he stopped writing and began building and playing his own instruments. Some works include: Interposed Counterpoints, Dagherrosounds, underwater concerts, Saving Time Service (all classic music unabridged in 1 minute), micro musics, Imitation Project, Blind Cinema, sound installations, silencing mute films, Fraudulent and Freudulent cinema, Music Upsidedown etc. He is the founder of different groups such as Curva Chiusa, Monnezza Sonora, Zine Animau, Convention, Marching Band, Senior Orchestra, Dissociazioni Unite AR. He has played in such places as Serralves (PT); Music Biennale, 25FPS (HR); Visitazioni, M.A.C.R.O., Biennale Venezia (IT); Pepete Lumiere, Nantes, Baionne (FR); Anthology Film Archive, San Francisco Cinemateque, Whitney Museum (US); La Casa Encendida, Museo Reina Sofia, MACBA (ES); Rotterdam Film Festival (NL); Ertz, Tabakalera, Larraskito (Basque Country); Cafe Otto (UK).