The Transition Pieces: Chant I

Gérald Arev Kurdian has begun a new cycle of musical composition. With The Transition Pieces – presented under the name Hot Bodies – he combines pop and experimental approaches. Kurdian explores the fluidity of identity and bodies, as well as the transformation of contemporary civilizations, through the lens of their own gender transition. 

The first chapter of this cycle is entitled Chant I (Glitches, Fairies, and Warrior Goddesses), and functions as a kind of 21st-century hymn, an oratorio for the post-internet era. This series of electronic music pieces draws on both Western and Anatolian folk traditions, as well as our contemporary digital culture. They are intended for the human voice, as well as for synthesized voices, piano, bass, synthesizers, and vocal processors. Together, they form the sonic diary of a body in transition, navigating a world in a continuous state of unrest. 

Chant I (Glitches, Fairies, and Warrior Goddesses) gives rise to a folklore beyond the internet: to music that is both collective and transformative, given shape by ‘audio glitches’ and nonlinear musical paths. Built around simple, almost hypnotic or magical melodies, these songs stimulate our emotional memory. They guide us to an alternative state of being: a rite of passage toward a dimension in which symbols and images slowly disintegrate.  

• Gérald Arev Kurdian, also known as Hot Bodies, is a multidimensional musician, performer, and DJ. Kurdian graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy in visual arts and perfected his practice in the Ex.e.r.ce 07 postdoctoral research program at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier under the guidance of Mathilde Monnier and Xavier Le Roy. His performances embody the possibility of combining the practices of music composition, performance, and documentary filmmaking. Since 2017, Gérald Arev Kurdian / Hot Bodies has been developing HOT BODIES OF THE FUTURE!, a performative and musical research cycle exploring alternative sexualities and queer micro-politics. First presentations of this work, between 2017 and 2020, included HOT BODIES_STAND UP, a solo performance on ecosexuality; HOT BODIES_CAMP, a collaborative installation with a group of car mechanics; HOT BODIES – CHOIR, a series of workshops on restorative justice through choral singing; HOT BODIES_CLUB, a collective event with workshops, conferences, film screenings, and DJ sets celebrating and making visible the vitality of queer scenes and their allies; and Gærald, a manifesto project for electronic music, which released its debut EP I-V in 2020. Kurdian previously performed at Kaaitheater with X! (un opéra fantastique) in 2022.