…” Tribute to Bruno Munari”

Økapi is Filippo Paolini, an Italian turntablist and sample cutup artist. Filippo has recorded several solo albums, as well as recording in the duo Metaxu and with the trio Dogon. He has performed live for national Italian State radio broadcasts (RAI) with renowned avant-turntablist, Christian Marclay and collaborates with numerous international artists such as Mike Cooper, Peter Brotzmann, Mike Patton, Matt Gustafson, Zu, Damo Suzuki, Andy EX, Kawabata Makoto, Metamkine… ØKapi’s album releases illustrate his unique and edgy use of turntables and computer beyond the hip-hop school of chopped up music, creating music that veers from orchestral to lounge with quirky experimental electronics that maintain a delicate and spacious sound throughout.

Opera Riparata (Fixed Opera) is a tribute to Bruno Munari and to his Broken Opera (created with Davide Mosconi).
Starting from the original text written in 1989 by Munari and Mosconi, the musician Økapi and the visual artist More*Tv*V de-structure and re-compose 40 famous Operas, following the contemporary framework of digital remix (cutting, breaking down, juxtaposing and overlapping).
While Munari and Mosconi’s monumental game/engine forecasted several performers and the whole scenic equipment, the Fixed Opera re-handles the same elements of the Opera language using only digital audio and visual instruments.
The possibility of digitalizing amongst every kind of cultural product, and the easiness of their retrieval turns that “availability of the whole music history” described in the original project into something which today is more real than ever, and brings Munari’s words into a new level, more prophetic than visionary as well. The Fixed Opera implies two different parts: studio session and live performance. In the first step, Økapi and More*Tv*V work on parallel paths mashing up the 40 Operas in short audio/visual portions of 1’11” time length each. The strictness of the writing mode is controverted in the latter part, when these rational and individual means meet, crash and melt, following the logic and the spontaneity of contemporary improv modules.
Just like in a child’s play, the Fixed Opera, though following strict principles and methods of academic composition, at the same time thrives on keeping itself close to the aim of staying free from ties and rules. It therefore suggests curiosity as a way of knowledge and creation but also as a transgression from primary forms to reach an unexpected result.