photo: Håvar Goa

Identity Pitches

Identity Pitches is a book of conceptual musical scores and an audio visual performance by Stine Janvin and Cory Arcangel. Based on the knitting patterns for traditional Norwegian sweaters known as Lusekofte, the performance serves as a live manifestation of the book published in 2022 by Primary Information.

Utilizing three of the most popular designs (Setesdal, Fana, and the eight-petal rose of Selbu) of this ubiquitous garment, Janvin has created scores by mapping the knitting patterns onto the harmonic and subharmonic series, and integrating the tuning principles of traditional Norwegian instruments such as the mouth harp, lur, and willow flute. The resulting scores delve into the history of Norwegian folk music tunings, the Lusekofte sweater and their intersection with the cultural identity of the country over the last millennium.

In its live format, Arcangel and Janvin perform these scores along with a fiddle ensemble accompanied by a visual presentation, designed and programmed by Arcangel using a custom “deep-fried” coding script. Mirroring the structure of the book, the performance includes stories, and conversation.