The performance Important Message from the Public is a musical interaction with a civil emergency system. Four times a year in Sweden, a nation-wide alarm system called Viktigt meddelande till allmänheten (Important Message to the Public) is tested. Consisting of of air horns situated on top of buildings, the alarm is tested at 3 PM the first Monday of the last month in each quarter of the year and has two parts: Important Message (short siren, short silence, for two minutes) and No Danger (long siren). All horns play at the same frequency, corresponding roughly to a G tone.
A small orchestra gathered at the main avenue in Göteborg to engage in a musical dialogue with the siren. The orchestra performed an intro (starting at 2.55 PM) and then responded to each horn signal with a new pair of tones, letting the sirens get the last word with No Danger.
With Ida Hallgren, Hampus Pettersson, Lalya Gaye, Kavita Thomas, Eva Hambe, Pierre Gander, Dan & Anna. Acknowledgements to Räddningstjänsten in Gothenburg.
Performed (2005) at Kungsportsavenyn in Gothenburg. Film screened at Video Lick, Atalante (2006).
