In the video you can actually see Bismarck falling. The former German Chancellor shatters into pieces on the ground, then reassembles as a 3D figure, only to explode as a statue at the end. “Sink The Bismarck” is the name of the piece of music accompanying the video, which Munich artist and musician Kalas Liebfried composed for his campaign “Amp Wall Monument Confrontation”.
This took place on June 12, 2021 at the Otto von Bismarck statue on the Bosch Bridge in front of the Deutsches Museum. Back then, Liebfried had stacked 21 guitar amplifiers in front of the monument, which were played by seven guitarists. The goal? To draw attention to the imperialist, nationalist and colonialist contexts in which Bismarck moved as founder of the empire and host of the Berlin Congo Conference.
Unlike the video, the real statue survived the confrontation with the guitar amps. Also the music too Liebfried’s action has stayed, because you can now listen to the whole thing on vinyl under the title of the same name. In November is “Amp Wall Monument Confrontation” as a cooperation of SVS Records and Para appeared. Para is a “non-label organization for sound” that Liebfried runs with Anja Lekavski and Jakob Braito and that docks onto “other organisms” such as labels, radio stations or magazines. With the intention of enabling artistic productions beyond the usual market channels. The five-part “Ambient Drone Composition”, which is doubled on the album with remixes by Lamin Fofana, FRKTL, Elsa M’bala, Cedrik Fermont and Jay Glass Dubs, doesn’t really sound suitable for radio either.
In “It Took The Night To Disbelieve” it slowly swings up, shimmering. In “Engine Of Future Ruins” the machine rumbles forward in the form of scratchy and squeaky chords. Things get quiet and atmospheric in “Imperial Ghosts”, but not without noise. In “Sink The Bismarck” the whole thing gets dynamic again, muted chords, electronic feedback overturns. And with “Breathe The Frequency” the whole thing ends quietly and ethereally.
In the remixes, the pieces get a new, interesting twist through reverberation, distortions and other alienations. So the work on the monument continues. And if you want, you can also take part yourself. In addition to an essay by Damian Lentini, the double LP also includes the score.
Kalas Liebfried: Amp Wall Monument Confrontation, available via svsrecords.bandcamp.com