Asuna Plays: 100 Keyboards
Asuna is an artist active within the Japanese avant-garde and experimental music scene. He has been creating music and installation works from a very young age, starting during the late 1990s. Over the years he has become a pioneer within the experimental ambient, drone and improvisation scene in Tokyo, influencing and collaborating with many other Japanese electronic musicians.
One of his most celebrated projects goes by the title "100 Toys," a performance that uses many tiny toys to create a multi-layered and fascinating plastic universe of drones, loops, sonic moire and occasional pop implosions. The project demonstrates how simple, mass-produced objects can become instruments for complex and deeply absorbing sound compositions when arranged and activated with care and intention.
At FAQ Festival 2021, Asuna presented his "100 Keyboards" show at the Azijnfabriek on Friday the 5th of November. The performance filled the industrial space of the former vinegar factory with layers of overlapping tones from dozens of small electronic keyboards, each contributing a sustained note or chord to a slowly evolving harmonic field. The effect was immersive and meditative, drawing listeners into a dense yet transparent cloud of sound that shifted gradually over the course of the performance.
The 100 Keyboards concept exemplifies the kind of work that FAQ Festival seeks to present: experimental in approach, accessible in experience, and transformative in the way it asks audiences to listen. By using familiar, everyday objects as the basis for serious artistic exploration, Asuna bridges the gap between the playful and the profound, inviting listeners to reconsider the sonic potential of the world around them.