i loftet hænger disse øjne

for voice and lute or voice and piano

about

I loftet hænger disse øjne (Danish: In the ceiling hang these eyes) was written in collaboration with Danish poet Marcum Holst and was inspired by a work of art titled do it number 82 (2020) by the Chinese artist Cao Fei. do it number 82 was made for Hans Ulrich Obrist's do it (home) project, and in it, Cao Fei suggests the viewer "count how many eyes are at [their] home."

In a post featuring the work on Obrist's Instagram page, its idea was related to the presence of knots in the wood of wooden homes. This resonated very strongly with Eli and Marcum, who went on to write I loftet hænger disse øjne — first the text, and then the music — about these eyes that have seen everything.

acknowledgements

I loftet hænger disse øjne was premiered on 13 June 2021 by Ensemble Mare Balticum at Odeum, Lund, Sweden.

lyricist

Marcum Holst

composition year

2021

duration

3′ 15″

instrumentation

Voice

Lute

or

Voice

Piano