Title picture

Dressed In Sound - Sharper Than A Needle

textile sound ensemble live music, textile art, performance Klaus Erika Dietl, Karen Modrei, Stephanie Müller, Lisa Simpson, Stefan Wischnewski

Premiered to a sold-out audience on 23rd February 2025 at the Therese-Giehse-Halle, Münchner Kammerspiele

Dressed In Sound is a textile-machine ensemble initiated by Stephanie Müller (Rag*Treasure) together with Klaus Erika Dietl. What began as an experiment with sewing machines, knitting machines, and spinning wheels soon grew into a collective dedicated to exploring the intersection of textile practice and sound art.

Photos: Florian Freund

The Lab Week

In summer 2024, with funding from BBK Verbindungslinien, Müller and Dietl organized a week-long laboratory at the Munich art and culture space iRRland2. The lab ran from 29 July to 4 August 2024. Textile artists Karen Modrei, Lisa Simpson aka Agente Costura, and Stefan Wischnewski were invited to join. In collaboration, they explored, modified textile machines into resonant instruments, and created new sound sculptures.

The week was also shaped by a strong spirit of knowledge sharing: Thomas Mayer aka residuum introduced open-source approaches through Pure Data programming, while Fabian Zweck from BR contributed his audio engineering expertise.

Also key to the lab week was Anna Blumenkranz: she contributed to guiding the aesthetic and research context of the laboratory, shaping how the experiments unfolded, contributing with her expertise in e-textiles, wearables, creative technologies, and the pedagogy of making.

The Textile-Machine Orchestra – Sharper Than A Needle

From the lab week and expanding practice emerged Sharper Than A Needle. This textile machine orchestra is the ensemble's lagerst-scale project to date, weaving together amplified sewingand knitting machines, spinning wheels, movement, and live video. The piece premiered to a sold-out audience on 23rd of February 2025 at the Therese-Giehse-Halle, Münchner Kammerspiele.

The production gathered the entire ensemble and choir, accompanied by guest performers and technical collaborators, creating an immersive sound-and-textile landscape that blurred the boundaries between concert, performance, and installation.

A reprise of Sharper Than A Needle is scheduled for 3rd of June 2026, extending the project’s trajectory and allowing new audiences to experience the textile-machine orchestra live.

Photos: Florian Freund - Stefan Wischnewski, Lisa Simpson, Karen Modrei

The LP

Building on the premiere of Sharper Than A Needle, the ensemble is currently working on a live album. The recording captures the energy of the textile-machine orchestra in performance. Mixing and mastering are handled by Colin Djukic, and the release will appear on the label Rheinschallplatten. The album launch is scheduled to coincide with the reprise on 3 June 2026, making the return performance not only a live encounter but also a record release celebration.

Video: Klaus Erika Dietl

Further Stations

After the premiere at Münchner Kammerspiele, the project continued in several satellite formats and locations:

Booking & Contact

For bookings, collaborations or more information:

Links

 
last change: 04/10/2025 – Imprint / Contact