Sharper Than A Needle

On February 23, 2025, the polling stations close at 6 pm. One hour later, the first stitch is set in the Munich Kammerspiele. Sewing foot, carriage, flywheel and pedal set the pace. The Therese-Giehse-Halle is transformed into a sounding textile workshop: In the interdisciplinary project Sharper Than A Needle, textile machines and haberdashery are transformed into musical instruments. A sewing machine choir tunes in to the silky threads of the spinning wheel, a knitting machine weaves electronic rhythms and an oversized sewing box becomes a beat machine.

Video projections reveal details of the machine’s activity, while the sounds produced are translated into movement and dance.

Very few people know that sewing machines are used to make music. Yet there is a small but globally networked scene. One nucleus can be found in Munich: The textile sound convention Sharper Than A Needle was initiated by Stephanie Müller and Klaus Erika Dietl, known for music projects such as SEWICIDE, beißpony and the international collective ALLIGATOR GOZAIMASU. For years, they have been working at the interface of textile art, experimental pop and sound art, often in queer-feminist contexts. They focus on creative handicrafts as a networking tool. With their unconventional performances and happenings, they question production conditions and at the same time create multi-sensory worlds.

The convention is being realized in close collaboration with Lisa Simpson aka Agente Costura, Karen Modrei and Stefan Wischnewski from the Dressed In Sound ensemble. Together, the ensemble members will explore the acoustic spectrum of their textile machines.

They will be supported by guest artists such as wheelchair dancer Sema Schäffer, percussionist and dancer Ángela Muñoz Martínez, noise sculptor Max Weisthoff, experimental filmmaker Dafne Narvaez Berlfein and textile artists from the Beyond Textiles network. Further technical refinements by Thomas Mayer aka residuum and Fabian Zweck.

Klaus Erika Dietl

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Florian Freund

Stefan Wischnewski

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Florian Freund

Lisa Simpson

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Florian Freund

Karen Modrei

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Laura König

Stephanie Müller & Klaus Erika Dietl

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Stephanie Müller & Klaus Erika Dietl

Lisa Simpson & Stephanie Müller

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Florian Freund

Stefan Wischnewski & Lisa Simpson

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Max Weisthoff

Klaus Erika Dietl

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Florian Freund

Karen Modrei

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Stefan Freund

Stephanie Müller

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Florian Freund

Lisa Simpson

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Florian Freund

Stephanie Müller & Klaus Erika Dietl

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Stephanie Müller & Klaus Erika Dietl

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