Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:44699 alt.emusic:731 comp.music:379 rec.music.synth:10053 alt.cyberpunk:3108 Path: utzoo!bnr-vpa!bnr-fos!bigsur!bnr-rsc!dgbt!ulysses!garym From: garym@ulysses.UUCP (Gary Murphy) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,alt.emusic,comp.music,rec.music.synth,alt.cyberpunk Subject: Re: Performance Art Project Message-ID: <7595@ulysses.UUCP> Date: 29 Nov 89 17:16:52 GMT References: <1211@amethyst.math.arizona.edu> Reply-To: garym@cognos.UUCP (Gary Murphy) Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada Lines: 56 In my previous incarnation as a computer artist, I was involved in many such shows in the Toronto and Hamilton area. These events were invariably orchestrated by our premier Happening Architect Udo Kasemets, so I can't really relate much detail about the problems of the show, the funding &c, but I can describe some of the more successful participants in these events. Easily the most popular item we ever displayed was David Rokeby's various environment pieces. These permit audience interaction in mass or may be controlled by more 'serious' performers. His first big hit was an item called Narcissus, which consisted of a 'well' made from old circuit boards - the well captured sounds in its immediate vicinity and ran these through various frequency shifters and the like. The effect was very subtle and it was a joy to see people when they finally discovered what the source of the sound was (themselves). His second big work, and I forget the name he uses, consists of four homebuilt cameras which relay the stage scene to an Apple II where the signals are parsed for the formants of movement. These are then mapped to a DX-11 (?) FM synthesizer. One performance consisted of two installations, one in NY and another in Paris, networked over phone lines: once familiar with the kinds of movement to sound mappings, one could be in NY and, from the sound, imagine the activity happening on the Paris floor. This work has the advantage of including the audience (cameras in the lobby) or of being controlled by one or more dancers (close feedback loop!). One of my own more successful shows was actually a score by Marcel DuChamp, which I performed as part of the centennial last year. This involved a Lionel model train which passed under a hopper collecting stones and then dumped the stones on an A:D converter. The converter then passed the digital values to a PC where they were converted to pitches and durations. In one version, the resulting score was displayed on a monitor for the pianist (Gordon Monahan), and in a second version, we used the signals to drive a homebuild 16x4 audio mixer connected to continuously varying sine-wave generators. The audience had a huge train layout to browse and the whole room became both stage and (what do you call where the audience sits), one of my favourite themes. In a nutshell, I guess I'm recommendings the all-at-once, trade-show pandemonium presentation style, where each participant is free to focus on any aspect and the aspects placed and chosen to fit. I've never been fond of the attitude that, "we are artists so shut up and listen!", and I've always found Udo's format of multi-ring circuses to be a perfect vehicle. -- Gary Murphy decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!garym (garym%cognos.uucp@uunet.uu.net) (613) 738-1338 x5537 Cognos Inc. P.O. Box 9707 Ottawa K1G 3N3 "There are many things which do not concern the process" - Joan of Arc -- Gary Murphy decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!garym (garym%cognos.uucp@uunet.uu.net) (613) 738-1338 x5537 Cognos Inc. P.O. Box 9707 Ottawa K1G 3N3 "There are many things which do not concern the process" - Joan of Arc Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com