Music Current 2026: Ressi/Benes Duo - 'Game Over' (Concert)

11 April 2026 18:00

Szilard Benes (HU) – clarinet
Christof Ressi (AU) – electronics, video, programming

In game over the clarinet player uses an orientation sensor to navigate an avatar through sprawling 2D game worlds. The performer is invited to explore the environment, interact with various computer-controlled entities and exploit the game mechanics to provoke unconventional musical structures. The game worlds are collages of well-known vintage video game genres, such as side-scrolling platformer, top-down dungeon crawler, isometric pseudo-3D RPG. Because all of these elements can co-exist in close proximity, the perception of space is constantly challenged. The audience is taken on a journey over a wide range of emotional and musical states, from subtle sound experiments to psychotic episodes. There is no winning or losing. The performance is a reflection on the role of the individual within a system of constraints and searches for the expressive potential of rebellion against predefined rules.

terrain study II is a work for solo performer and virtual reality system. The performer, wearing a VR headset, can move freely on the stage, with their field of view being projected on the screen and the sound rendered in 3D. The VR headset is used as musical interface in its own right, translating the position and orientation of the performer to musical parameters. In addition, the performer can interact with various objects and non-player-characters. In the beginning, the 3D game environment is reduced to the absolute minimum, but over the course of the piece the space undergoes several dramatic transformations, ultimately questioning the division between the self and the other.

Programme

Christof Ressi - game over, 2020, c30'
Christof Ressi - terrain study II, 2026, c.30'

About the Artists

Christof Ressi and Szilard Benes specialise in audio-visual concept improvisations, exploring new strategies for musical interplay and interaction in custom-made digital environments. Both musicians share a desire for pushing boundaries: Inspired by contemporary music, free jazz and also klezmer, Szilard Benes is always striving to extend the sonic possibilities of his instrument. Christof Ressi develops ambitious live-electronic setups and computer programs that allow for spontaneous manipulation of sound and video. Together they search for new means of expression which they believe to find in the confrontation of different media, adhering to a very personal and open-minded definition of music.

www.christofressi.com/projects/ressi+benes/