Duto Hardono

Variation & Improvisation for ‘In Harmonia Progressio’

Variation & Improvisation for ‘In Harmonia Progressio’ by Duto Hardono is part of a series of work that focuses on sound loops as a fundamental element of his performance – a metaphor that Hardono employs as he examines the human condition, such as time and temporal spatiality. Unlike other works, where he generates sound using analog cassette tapes, this performance uses the human voice. Participants are instructed to vocalize ‘In’, ‘Harmonia’, and ‘Progressio’ – words that make up a Latin phrase which means “progress inside harmony”. Each voice is modified for intonation, pitch, and amplitude in a minimal musical composition. This performance transforms voice and language with the sound of the improvised composition filling the space. It is a raw process of action and reaction that requires the performers to be physically and cerebrally attuned to each other, resembling the primordial forms of human communication. The performance was realized at S.M.A.K, Gent; a version in Bahasa Indonesia at MACAN, Jakarta, and was part of a series of musical and sound compositions that Hardono developed during a residency at the NTU Center for Contemporary Art Singapore in 2016.