E01 - Florence Cats & Lilja María Ásmundsdóttir, AIR

Florence Cats / Lilja María Ásmundsdóttir (Belgium / Iceland)
“air” (2025)




“air” is part of the triptych air, water, fire, composed by artists Florence Cats (theremin, voice) and Lilja María Ásmundsdóttir (hulda, voice). Finding inspiration in the qualities of the natural elements, the new duo explores a wide range of frequencies, hybridizing electronic sounds and strings with breath and whistle.

“I was in Reykjavik in November when I received the invitation to take part in The Listening Biennial. I immediately had the vision of recording outside, the space, the whistling silence of the air. Air carries sound, air is the medium of sonic vibrations and, somewhere, we breathe sound every day. My first intention was to make field recordings, but it was very windy and my cheap equipment wasn't suited to the weather conditions. I was also fascinated by the way Icelanders internalize the vastness of the open air, one can feel it in their gaze, art and music. Having attended a concert by the musician and artist Lilja María Ásmundsdóttir, I felt a direct resonance and offered to collaborate with her on my next visit. When I returned in February we played together and the connection proved to be sensitive, musical and telepathic. We decided to work on a tryptic, drawing inspiration from the energies of air, water and fire that shape Iceland and correspond in us to the three alchemical foci. I'm also an acupuncturist, placing needles at precise points on the body to attune inner energy movements to celestial and terrestrial flows.” (Florence Cats)

Florence Cats' work evolves between sound, music, poetry and visual art. Her research concerns the elusive, in relation to perception and notation. She plays the theremin experimentally, interacting with voice, breath, water, radio and tiny handmade instruments. She is also acupuncturist and art curator. In 2023, she was selected as a Belgian emerging sound artist. Her releases are based on field recordings, resulting from free processes, open to nature or to other artists: shell I (Ediçoes CN, 2025), Ys (2022), We are now approaching Mo i Rana (Ftarri, 2024) and Correspondances (Frissons, 2021). She was part of The Asocial Telepathic Ensemble (Corvo Records, 2021) with the piece In the air.

Lilja María Ásmundsdóttir is an artist, composer and performer from Iceland. Her practice is centered on explorations of collaborative creativity. Working with sculptural elements of sound and matter, she creates installations, audio-visual pieces, and performances. The works are actively designed to facilitate continuous processes that highlight how ideas surface from correspondences with materials, between individuals, and in context to one’s surroundings. Her works include the sound and light sculpture Hulda which was nominated for the President’s Student Innovation Award, and the living sound sculpture Lurking Creature which she developed in collaboration with the dancer Inês Zinho Pinheiro.