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Cantata Profana. A six-channel video and audio installation, first presented as the central work in a solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany.

Cantata Profana was a major commission that continued Stokes’ long-term enquiry into how music subcultures shape life-styles and identities, and an exploration of how common perceptions from both within and outside of associated communities may be reconsidered. Cantata Profana was developed in collaboration with leading British composer Orlando Gough through constructing an experimental workshop for six extreme metal vocalists from Norway, USA, UK, Netherlands and Germany. The workshop investigated how vocal techniques employed in extreme metal music culture, which rely on abrasive noise and texture, could be interwoven with accepted choral techniques such as European polyphony or staccato to create a unique and immersive vocal work. Cantata Profana further investigated the predominantly unchartered territory of the conveyance of diverse emotional expressions by extreme metal vocalists when producing oral sounds. This was captured by using multiple video cameras to film each individual vocalist during a recording session of the entire group performing the composition. The final installation, consisting of mono speakers placed atop six large video screens placed in a semicircle, creates an impression of live performance, submersing the viewer both aurally and visually. This further questioned the ability of extreme metal techniques to transcend the listener, performer and group in ways that challenged conventional choral music. Cantata Profana was commissioned as the central work for a solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Germany, receiving additional funding from Arts Council England. It has achieved both public and critical acclaim for its distinctiveness and experiential nature. The piece was sought and exhibited by BALTIC Centre of Contemporary Art to complement the Turner Prize 2012, and was a key work in Stokes being shortlisted for the Jarman Prize 2012. Selected reviews include Kunstbeeld (No.4, 2011: International Art Magazine), Avro Kunstuur (20.04.2011: Cultural programme for Netherlands national television) NRC Handelsblad (31.3.2011: Netherlands national paper).