[ performance at Williamsburg Art neXus ]
Video
Image
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a narrative of movement and thought through realtime sound processing, improvised voice and dance
After discussing our artistic sensibilities and various opinions on dance, music, performance, etc, we agreed that too many of the artists we know work in isolation (which is hard to avoid, given the difficulty of coordinating schedules, meetings, technology, etc). So we decided to break that trend and give collaboration a whirl. Drinking beer, flying kites, avoiding rabbits, we first discussed nebulous ideas and then some more specific ones, coming up eventually with our current project, which has of course inspired more ideas that will hopefully lead to further collaboration.
The project has grown out of a long-entertained idea that Megan's internal struggles with the music in her dancing ought to be recorded and somehow demonstrated. This unceasing monologue includes the names of the steps and the desperate attempts at counting them, but also the cerebral flotsam of worries about school, grocery lists, etc. These words and sounds have volume, texture, and urgency which often occlude the music she's supposed to be dancing to. While struggling with a piece this voice is insistent and persistent; when she catches the current, they just encouragingly guide her along.
We've realized that the monologue, by virtue of Megan's process of unfolding a piece, or maybe enfolding into it, is itself inherently musical. Externalizing these internal yammerings replaces the need for something pre-recorded; instead, the process creates its own soundtrack, improvisational just as learning a new piece can be in many ways unpredictable. As he manipulates her words, breaths, and shouts, Brian recreates and interprets the textures of her mental condition.
Of course, whether voice reflects dance or dance reflects music becomes increasingly confused; both evolve symbiotically to a point, hopefully, where the divisions are indistinguishable. This way, the monologue takes over, becoming the process and the result at once.
- the 'tattva' system
- more on the ideation process
Thanks to
Douglas Repetto, Paul Hogan, Luke DuBois and the CMC, Marina Cashdan, Marissa and WAX, Tristan Perich and Travis DiRuzza, Eugene Kim, David Currie, Jesse Shapins, and Justin Wall
After discussing our artistic sensibilities and various opinions on dance, music, performance, etc, we agreed that too many of the artists we know work in isolation (which is hard to avoid, given the difficulty of coordinating schedules, meetings, technology, etc). So we decided to break that trend and give collaboration a whirl. Drinking beer, flying kites, avoiding rabbits, we first discussed nebulous ideas and then some more specific ones, coming up eventually with our current project, which has of course inspired more ideas that will hopefully lead to further collaboration.
The project has grown out of a long-entertained idea that Megan's internal struggles with the music in her dancing ought to be recorded and somehow demonstrated. This unceasing monologue includes the names of the steps and the desperate attempts at counting them, but also the cerebral flotsam of worries about school, grocery lists, etc. These words and sounds have volume, texture, and urgency which often occlude the music she's supposed to be dancing to. While struggling with a piece this voice is insistent and persistent; when she catches the current, they just encouragingly guide her along.
We've realized that the monologue, by virtue of Megan's process of unfolding a piece, or maybe enfolding into it, is itself inherently musical. Externalizing these internal yammerings replaces the need for something pre-recorded; instead, the process creates its own soundtrack, improvisational just as learning a new piece can be in many ways unpredictable. As he manipulates her words, breaths, and shouts, Brian recreates and interprets the textures of her mental condition.
Of course, whether voice reflects dance or dance reflects music becomes increasingly confused; both evolve symbiotically to a point, hopefully, where the divisions are indistinguishable. This way, the monologue takes over, becoming the process and the result at once.
- the 'tattva' system
- more on the ideation process
Thanks to
Douglas Repetto, Paul Hogan, Luke DuBois and the CMC, Marina Cashdan, Marissa and WAX, Tristan Perich and Travis DiRuzza, Eugene Kim, David Currie, Jesse Shapins, and Justin Wall
Exhibition
Computer Music and Motion
Williamsburg Art neXus, Brooklyn
2003 April 6
Works & Process Inter-Arts Festival
Columbia University
2002 May 6
Computer Music and Motion
Williamsburg Art neXus, Brooklyn
2003 April 6
Works & Process Inter-Arts Festival
Columbia University
2002 May 6