From June 22–25 in Los Angeles, Jaeger-LeCoultre will have the pleasure of welcoming guests to The Golden Ratio Musical Show. Presented in an inspiring open-air venue, the spectacular sound and light show celebrates the Golden Ratio – the unique mathematical formula that defines the aesthetic harmony that we, as humans, are instinctively drawn to. The ground-breaking British musician TØKIO M¥ERS has composed a new soundtrack especially for the show, commissioned by Jaeger-LeCoultre through its Made of Makers programme.
Presenting Design in a New Cultural Context
With The Golden Ratio Musical Show, Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to expand the cultural conversation around design and watchmaking, exploring their elemental links through the lens of the Reverso watch, which is widely acknowledged as an icon of 20th-century design. The 1931 Cinema, the show’s specially designed setting, offers guests a deep immersion in the style and ambience of the Art Deco period, when the Reverso was created. Enhancing the experience, refreshments will be provided by the nomadic 1931 Café. Constructed in an open-air setting at Westfield Century City on Santa Monica Boulevard, the outdoor concept also pays homage to the world’s first drive-in movie theatre, which opened in 1933 and spawned a new form of entertainment that was to become deeply embedded in American popular culture.
An Enthralling Sound-and-Light Show
The centrepiece of the 1931 Cinema is The Golden Ratio Musical Show, a spectacular sound-and-light show projected onto a giant screen of falling water. The 10-minute production tells the story of the Golden Ratio in four chapters, tracing the path from the observation of nature and the hidden harmonies that connect its most beautiful forms, to the scientific examination of the mystical properties of beauty and the quest to define their geometry, which led to the discovery of the mathematical formula 1.618, also known as Phi (φ). It continues by exploring how this ‘golden number’ or ‘divine proportion’ has marked cultural history, architecture and art and concludes by presenting the Reverso, created at the height of the Art Deco movement, which expresses the spirit of the Golden Ratio with utmost eloquence.
A Specially Commissioned Soundtrack by TØKIO M¥ERS
For The Golden Ratio Musical Show, Jaeger-LeCoultre commissioned a soundtrack from the ground-breaking British musician and composer TØKIO M¥ERS, who is gaining worldwide recognition as one of the most original artists to emerge in recent years. A graduate of the Royal College of Music, celebrated for his experimental fusions of classical music with cinematic, hip-hop, dance, ‘90s soul and other influences, TØKIO M¥ERS is also a gifted pianist and percussionist, and a performer of immense range and dynamic power. Through compositions that transcend time and genres, he creates dialogues between the past and present, redefining what classical music can be.
Having taken inspiration from time spent at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in the Swiss Jura Mountains, TØKIO M¥ERS says that he wrote the new piece “with the explicit intention of amplifying the emotional impact of the digital projection”. He describes the work as “a short symphony in four chapters, or movements, that takes the listener on a powerful journey”. Amplifying the Golden Ratio theme, he translated the number 1.618 into a tempo of 161.8 beats per minute. “I incorporated the Golden Ratio as the driving tempo throughout the piece. I’ve never written in this tempo before and it’s a wonderful tempo to write in,” he says.
First Stop on a World Tour
The Golden Ratio Musical Show begins a world tour in Los Angeles, following its debut in Shanghai. The event opens on June 22 with an invitation-only gala, during which TØKIO M¥ERS will give a live performance of his soundtrack. He will be accompanied by the acclaimed L.E.Orchband, a Los Angeles-based collective of world-class musicians from leading orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic. Following this, TØKIO M¥ERS will perform a concert of his other work, complete with the signature lighting that makes his solo performances so dynamic.
During its Los Angeles season, the 1931 Cinema will be open free of charge to the public from June 22-25, offering the opportunity to experience design and watchmaking in an entirely new cultural context. The space will be open throughout the day from 10 am–10pm, with The Golden Ratio Musical Show beginning at 7pm and running on a 20-minute cycle until 10pm.
Following its Los Angeles season, the 1931 Cinema and The Golden Ratio Musical Show will travel to London and Dubai during 2023.
