Inside, Crystals and Circuitry

Jules Reidy makes song cycles which abstractly deal with devotional love, transcendence and death of the self. Known for their rich, immersive sonic world-building and magnetic performances—using spatialised guitar, electronic processing, and non-traditional tuning systems—Reidy turns to installation for the first time with Inside, Crystals and Circuitry, loosening the narrative impulse of song.

The title takes inspiration from Peter Wollen’s speculative science-fiction film Friendship’s Death (1987), in which the android Friendship poetically describes themself as being “inside, crystals and circuitry,” despite their outwardly human appearance, voice, and gesture. Set in a hotel room in Amman during the ‘Black September’ in 1970—the Jordanian state’s offensive against Palestinians—the film is a meditation on humanity’s tendencies towards violence and destruction, in which the figure of the android turns the tension between form and essence into an ethical argument.

Here, sonic fragments are refracted through a field of glass and reflection, echoing that ambiguity. What is seen and heard is inseparable from the acts of looking and listening. Inside, Crystals and Circuitry refuses narrative closure; it stages dissonant encounters—a collision of worlds carried by microtonal friction rather than by contrasting intact sonic holding patterns—and thereby replaces the demand to decode with a demand for attention.

The multi-channel installation unfolds across the foyer and adjacent exhibition spaces of Mint alongside work by photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková. Jules Reidy will perform live at the opening of the exhibition. The night continues at Cues with music selected by Jules Reidy and Krzysztof Bagiński (DJ-set).

Jules Reidy performs in contexts such as CTM, Unsound, ReWire and Big Ears festivals, and has recently released on Thrill Jockey, Black Truffle, Shelter Press, Editions Mego and Longform Editions. Outside of their solo work, they collaborate with artists such as Judith Hamann, Sam Dunscombe, Ivan Cheng, JACK Quartet, Zinc&Copper, and the Pitch.

Inside, Crystals and Circuitry

Artistic concept & music: Jules Reidy

Scenography & curation: anorak

Technical assistant: Marcus Pal

Commissioned by: anorak for September Sessions Stockholm

September Sessions was initiated in 2023 by art organisations Index and Mint with an ambition to celebrate the diversity of the Stockholm art scene and to create a platform for international curators, temporarily transforming the city with programs at new and unexpected places. The four-day festival presents exhibitions, performances, concerts, film screenings and social gatherings, this year hosted by the local organisations Accelerator, Beau Travail, Bonniers Konsthall, Filmform, IASPIS, Index, Konsthall C, Liljevalchs, MEGA Foundation and MDT. Alongside these events, the festival presents Houred Time at Mint, Antics and Cues, curated by anorak.