The Fugue State is a performance-installation existing at the intersection of baroque-inspired composition, sculptural intervention, and site-specific spatial activation. The work continues Bultheel's investigation of collapse as a sonic and political condition, inspired by Emil Cioran's A Short History of Decay, interwoven with texts by Etel Adnan, Walter Benjamin and Henri Michaux.
The performance centers on a vocalist that personifies Benjamin's Angel of History, trapped in a profound fugue state—disoriented and struggling to reconstruct which historical fragment she has landed in. This mirrors our contemporary moment where history seems out of joint. Through conversations with three musician-guides, the Angel slowly unravels her location, piecing together meaning from scattered historical debris.
The central sculptural element is a tower-like construction, engraved with medieval apocalypse imagery and contemporary protest graffiti, serving as instrument, altar, score and archaeological site. The Angel deciphers inscriptions and sonic traces while musicians respond through newly composed music drawing from medieval fugal systems infused with contemporary textures
