WHITE SONG

Hajnal Németh, “White Song”, 2017, video version of the performance, HD, stereo, 13’
In the picture: Christian Bringzen (guitar)
Video still by Ágnes Pákozdi

Video released in 2017, a recorded version of the performance „White Song” by Hajnal Németh.

Performed by Christian Bringzen (guitar), Peter D’Elia (vocals, guitar).

The performance “White Song” is based on the transcript of Roy Harper’s song “I Hate The White Man” (1970), and based on the significance of the comma as a punctuation mark.

In his song, Harper sings out his hatred in refrains giving a detailed and profound account of destructive acts committed by white populations against the rest of the world. Harper is a musician who strongly criticises Western societies, while being a British white man himself. He raises a very ambivalent question while he seems to be caught in his origins.

From this song Németh abstracted single parts from the refrain and in some cases changed the white colour to red, yellow or black. But a much more minimal, yet major improvement is the insertion of a comma between colour and man, which completely changes the meaning of the sentence, and thus the statement of the song. This way, hate does not apply to humans anymore, but refers to some object or to the colour itself.

„For I hate the red, man, in its evergreen excuse / And I hate the white, man, in its doctrinaire refuse / For I hate the yellow, man, and its plastic excuse / And I hate the black, man, it turned itself loose.”

Read the related interview by Helen Romakin with Hajnal Németh.

Hajnal Németh, “White Song”, 2017, video version of the performance, HD, stereo, 13’
In the picture: Peter D’Elia (vocals, guitar)
Video still by Ágnes Pákozdi

Hajnal Németh, “White Song”, 2017, live version of the performance, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, 2017
In the picture: Christian Bringzen (guitar), Peter D’Elia (vocals, guitar)
Photo by Barbara Antal

Hajnal Németh, “White Song”, 2017, spatial installation with colour projection, variable dimensions
Exhibition view: New Budapest Gallery, Leopold Bloom Art Award exhibition, 2017
Photo by Times G. Juhász

Hajnal Németh, “White Song”, 2017Video version of the performance, HD, stereo,13′
Based on the song “I Hate The White Man” by Roy Harper, 1970
Performed by: Christian Bringzen (guitar), Peter D’Elia (vocals, guitar)
Camera: Ágnes Pákozdi
Sound: Jens Heinzel, Bence Korompai
Recorded at CHB – Collegium Hungaricum Berlin

Hajnal Németh, “White Song”, 2017
Spatial installation with colour projection, variable dimensions
Textbook: transcript of Roy Harper’s lyrics I Hate The White Man (1970), music stand, white folder
Sheet music 1: composition Versions Of Hate ( No.1) by Albert Orgon (2016), an adaptation of Roy Harper’s song I Hate The White Man (1970), music stand, black folder
Sheet music 2: composition Versions Of Hate ( No.2) by Christian Bringzen (2017), an extension of Roy Harper’s song I Hate The White Man (1970), music stand, black folder
Black acoustic guitar, guitar case, colour projection
New Budapest Gallery, Leopold Bloom Art Award exhibition, 2017