About this event

Rie Nakajima & Pierre Berthet ‘Dead Plants and Living Objects’

Rachael Gibson ‘Into My Heart an Air That Kills’.

Curated by Lola de la Mata and Kepla.

We are very excited to host Brussels/London based duo ‘Dead Plants & Living Objects’ AKA Rie Nakajima and Pierre Berthet, and restage Rachael Gibson’s ‘Into My Heart an Air That Kills’ which received its world premiere by London Symphony Orchestra last autumn.

Acoustic shadows vibrate, touch and call out to one-another at ‘Sound Objects’.

Offering immersive environments, both acts engage in small gestures to reveal an often overlooked sonic world. Reshaping the space and its air volume, we partake in their playful approach in embodied listening.

Rie Nakajima is a sculptor living in London, creating sounds using a combination of motorised devices and everyday objects for both performance and installation. She has presented her work internationally in art spaces ranging from Cafe Oto (London) to STUK (Leuven) and ShugoArts (Tokyo), as well as a major solo exhibition at IKON gallery, Birmingham in 2018. She is a member of O YAMA O, and frequently collaborates with artists such as David Toop, Max Eastley and Angharad Davies.

Pierre Berthet is a musician and installation artist from Belgium. Having studied percussion at Brussels Conservatory and Liege Conservatory with Fredric Rzewski, Berthet brings his music experience to sculpting sound objects and site specific installations, in music venues, galleries, outdoor spaces and more. As well as duetting with Rie, Pierre has worked extensively as a percussionist with renowned minimalist composers Arnold Dreyblatt and Tom Johnson.

Rachael Gibson is a Merseyside-based composer and guitarist, currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Liverpool. Her research explores how alternative notation practices and audio-visual technology can be utilised to examine the connection between the body, touch and performance. Recently, Rachael has participated in the LSO Soundhub Scheme (2024/25) and the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme (2023/24). Her work has been performed by ensembles including Riot Ensemble, Pixels Ensemble, and House of Bedlam.

Rie & Pierre will also be running family workshops at Crosby Library as part of At The Library’s Now Playing summer programme on Tuesday 4 August from 11am until 4pm. For more information and to book onto the sessions please visit https://atthelibrary.co.uk/