Werner Cee & Betina Obrecht

Both Blue Marble Blues and Noah’s Spaceship were originally part of “Cloud Songs”, a collection of poems by Bettina Obrecht. They present dystopian visions of life that is no longer sustainable on an Earth destroyed by greed, media, and technology. While Blue Marble Blues is a sentimental reminiscence of our lost planet, Noah’s Spaceship seems to offer a solution: finding a new, virgin planet where humanity can be free and the elements are not yet subordinated to a mindset of profit and power. Still, Earth can never be replaced, and reconquering our home planet might be the better solution.

Werner Cee created the soundtrack for both pieces, with all sounds originating from his self-built electroacoustic ch’in (Chinese zither). He recorded the texts with Neville Tranter, an acclaimed Australian-Dutch actor and puppeteer.

In Blue Marble Blues, simple, atmospheric ch’in chords prevail, reminiscent of a keening song for our former home. Combined with Werner Cee's photos of flowers and night landscapes alongside the dystopian text, it creates an ambivalent atmosphere of beauty and destruction. Some photos were taken with an infrared camera, capturing a reality as valid as our own but invisible to human perception.

In Noah’s Spaceship, the ch’in again creates an ambivalent atmosphere between hope and despair. Felix Obrecht's astrophotography contrasts with Werner Cee's images of discarded bomber planes in a Tucson museum and the “Biosphere II” project in the Arizona desert. This costly U.S. experiment to create a self-sustaining biotope ultimately failed due to the human factor and a grotesque underestimation of nature's complexity.

Bettina Obrecht  Since 1990, the author Bettina Obrecht has published more than 60 books for young people and adults, has written numerous radio plays and features and sound art pieces and her lyrics in German and English language are part of visual/sound art projects such as „Als die Welt eine Scheibe war“. She also translates literature from English and Spanish into German. She has received a number of grants and been nominated for the German Youth Literature Award. She is a member of PEN Germany. 

Werner Cee The sound artist Werner Cee has realized numerous large scale sound/light installations, e.g. Art Festival Herrenhausen, House of the Federal Press Conference Berlin, Donauseschingen Music Festival, Beethoven Anniversary, Castles of Kronberg/Eppstein/Königstein, ZKM Karlsruhe. For decades he has produced sound art for radio and his works have won many international awards such as Prix Italia (2010/2020), Grand Prix Nova/Bucarest, Computer Space/Sofia, Pierre Schaeffer/Pescara etc. His works have been presented at numerous international festivals. 

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