The Archetype Sessions are an electro-acoustic journey into the suspenseful origins of emotion and mysticism. Yukari Uekawa – saxophonist and player of the Indonesian suling flute – wanders through an environment of spatial sound objects (8 channels), with spirit-like sounds made by Rutger Muller.

Uncanny, ambiguous and paradoxical atmospheres emerge and morph throughout the space, surrounding the listeners and confronting them with symbols of the primitive mind, our collective subconscious – in which harmony and dissonance were still powerfully entangled.

The video below shows Exorcism, a different (and louder) work by Yukari and me, but it should give you an impression…

The ancient Greek word ‘archetype’ roughly translates to ‘original pattern’: elementary particles of behaviour, nature and the cosmos. In Jungian psychology, archetypes (in the form of characters, dreams, figures, gods, etc.)  are symbols on the map of our psyche.

At a fundamental level, beneath all our complex differences, we carry very similar motivations and fears. By acknowledging we are flawed and incomplete, we open ourselves for the exploration of all the universal forces that make us human. 

But, according to Jungian psychology, the only way to acknowledge our blind spots is to actively confront the shadow of our psyche – which inevitably follows whether we want it or not.

Yukari Uekawa (website)

Interdisciplinary performance artist Yukari Uekawa (JP/NL) developed an artistic vision based on contemporary saxophone studies, Indonesian gamelan, free improvisation, Butoh dance and Japanese traditional dance. 

Yukari studied saxophone at the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima (JP), CNR de Lyon (FR) and Conservatorium van Amsterdam (NL).

She further specialised in contemporary music at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (BE).

Rutger Muller

Rutger Muller (NL) is an electroacoustic composer focused on the spectrum of mysticism, the sonic landscape on the edge between meditative and dissonant sound.

By zooming in on the timbral microcosms of music (materials, forms), he creates ‘sound spaces’ influenced by avant-garde classical music, free jazz, ambient, dub, noise, techno and traditions like Japanese Noh. Rutger gained an MA in Music Technology at the HKU (NL). 

Bookings: rutger@rutgermuller.nl or ​+316 50 82 45 71​, thank you!