On the Nature of Art

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1pJwOnYrs0&w=854&h=480]

The video shows two Laysan Albatross in a courtship dance.

A word of warning, this writing is probably quite technical, and is more written for my colleagues in movement and sound, both practitioners as well as supporters.

I first saw this video on social media, being shared and admired by senior choreographers for a variety of good reasons. A quick unpack of those reasons may include;

• the movements themselves are very diverse (entire body bobbing, shaking head, beak contacts, raising head revealing full neck etc) and interesting,

• the fact there’s a specific collection of movements

• the rhythmic diversity of the movements themselves (some are poses whilst others are quickly repeated fragments; in music these are called “pauses” (shown by a fermata) and “fragmentation and alliteration” (notated repetitions or close-enough repetitions).

• The diversity of rhythm within the repeated fragments (semi-quavers through to minims, if one cared to quantise the durations, but let’s use more organic language and just say the array of speeds/pulses is on a spectrum of “very fast” through to “sustained”).

• The relational aspects including;

  • call and response within a specific range of movements

  • synchronous and asynchronous phrasing

  • exact unison and phasing in mimicry

  • unison, phasing and counterpoint spectrum

  • sustain and departure (i.e one bird sustains their movement whilst the other changes to another movement)

  • observation (“listening”) and response; which can also be a part of…

  • stillnesses

  • travelling movement and non-travelling movement (towards the end) in relation to one another’s positioning in space (i.e they’re travelling in relation to one another, not external stimulus)

• imagining what is informing the choices being made within this display.

The same analysis could be applied to the sound. Some of the specific sounds made are tied to specific movements, others are not. The percussive sounds are of course directly linked to movement (a beak chattering sound can only be made by chattering the beak!) but others are not; the vocal sounds are made by a different set of anatomy (of course; the vocal anatomy) than the movement and so there are variations of when and how vocalisations come, but still within a paradigm of set relationships.

All the above can also be applied to the sounds components, however there’s additional aspects within the sound which I observe as a composer;

• pitch

• amplitude (or dynamic, or volume, depending on what part of music you’re from),

• timbre (timbral differences achieved in a variety of ways),

• directional projection of sound (are they singing to one another, or the sky above, is the percussive beak-clap high, low, directed at the partner’s face, muffled under the wing, etc)

• micro-detailing of sung phrases (tempo, repetition, pitch and timbral modulation etc)

And I could go into the relationship between the phrases over time (i.e “development” and “exposition” as we like to call it in sonata form); because there is development; specifically in the duration and synchronicity of repeated motifs, the addition of traverse movements etc.

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The thing we can’t observe are the moment-to-moment reasons for making creative choices that inform the use of the tools mentioned above, though we can take a guess.

We do know that this pair is in a courtship performance (note, it isn’t a “dance” because that diminishes the sound component, and it isn’t a “song” because that diminishes the movement component), - deep instincts of survival of the species is at play here.

I think we can also safely say there is a communication going on.

At this point, I’d like to highlight that “songs” are “works of sound” that have vocal components which can be both (or either) linguistic and non-linguistic. In our human species, “language” is mostly understood to be spoken word, but I don’t like to think of this as being the case all the time. There’s written language, sign language too - but I reckon there’s WAY more than mere codification when it comes to “language”. We use colours to communicate, clothes and accessories, interior design, architecture, vocal inflection (timbral and dynamic modulations), directed and non-directed body-language (as differentiated from sign language, a directed body-”word” is in response to a specific individual or group and a non-directed body-”word” could be exemplified by the slouched shoulders of someone suffering depression, or the more excited gait of someone who’s joyful), pheromones and smell (which we try to control using perfume), our choice of car, instruments, profession, drink, food, product, brand. All these things are on spectrums of intention to non-intended (influenced-aleotoricism), directed to non-directed, precise to ambiguous. Over many generations, we have developed an extremely complex, beautifully layered language.

Not to mention creative practices. I could unpack this anthropological perspective of modern environments and phenomena as part of a larger thesis but there’s just not enough headspace/room here!!!

Many living beings have their version of language if once considers that language doesn’t have to be confined to codified sound. What we see as movement and sound (and if we could smell it, pheromones) between these two birds is a language. Probably going the lines of;

“hey, let’s make babies!”

“I dunno, will we make strong ones that will survive this terrible world?”

“well, let’s work this out… “

the conversation probably trails off beyond what we can assume as humans from there. I think humans, in consenting contexts, would probably compare bank accounts/job titles, life-values, health, current economy and culture, so much to consider - or just go for it regardless with less planning and consideration because life happens (though this again is a choice)… until it gets to;

“I think you’re all right, let’s make babies”

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Heaps of awesome artists have taken direct inspiration from nature - and I’m one of them!

I went for a bush walk a while back and was accosted by a female lyrebird. We did a vocal call and response for a few minutes, with some traverse-movement, followed by a “lead and follow” movement modality. It was a deep experience for me… affecting many layers of me. The artist in me was excited to do a full on amazing vocal improv with some movement with a fellow vocal improvisor and mover, but the vulnerable human felt cradled and understood within nature itself. This deeply affecting experience was only made possible by having extended time and solitude with nature. After reading a lot about lyrebirds recently, I think she may probably have seen me as a threat rather than anything of curiosity - but who knows.

This experience of communication with animals (and plants, and our planet), isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s one that’s always existed. Some entire cultures (and aspects of many cultures) have diminished this deep connection with nature to near obsolescence, or (even worse) abstracted the connection itself so far outside of its origin to lose the reality of it.

The colonisation of art by capitalist and classist thinking (including inter-species heirarchy assumptions) have really contributed to this disconnect. Why is some art considered “high art” still, and other art considered “low-brow”?

At all levels of my education, I was taught a broad taxonomy of human language (as defined in the first section of this essay), from the “correct” (note the slight roll of the “r” and slight pause before a punctuated “t” at the end) pronunciation of words through to “acceptable” chords and chord progressions. Some of my darker chords/tones, although considered “brilliant” by some of my mentors, haven’t really resonated well with performers or audiences.

I’ve always written music to find a way of expressing something deep, innate, “natural”, and I’m always trying to reconcile that with the acceptable language taxonomy within our culture… and when I say “acceptable” here, I expressly mean “acceptable by the funding structures of the artform”; funding bodies, artistic directors, curators, financial supporters of the arts.

Unfortuantely, Art has also been increasingly invaded by business and risk analysis thinking… approaching the making of art in professional contexts has changed so much in the last 30 yaers and an increasing amount of red tape, policy, and financial responsibility has been placed on the artist.

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Wouldn’t it be amazing if, like these Albatross, we used poetry through movement, sound and maybe even language, for the purposes of finding a mate, or asserting our social status. Lots of song and dance, a lot less melting glaciers and fishing-net entangled whales, and those loud ferraris. .

There currently exists today cultures that already give such importance to artistic expression. Australia is home to the oldest living culture in the world, and it, amongst other indigenous cultures world-wide, haven’t abstracted inspiration from nature so far as to begin to destroy the environment like western culture has.

The individual Albatross’s performances are fascinating unto themselves, but the art lies within the relationship between their performances - the communication between them.

Just as the Art doesn’t lie just in the stand alone performance of human culture and the stand alone “performance” of nature, it is the relationship between their performances - the communications between them.

For me, the Nature of (Hunan) Art is found in the relationship between the language of humanity and the language of nature.

Weird Artistic Developments

Like so many of us, I have recently reconnected with blood and chosen families due to the Virus.

The anxiety of the potential death of a family member has been enough for many people to create weekly Zoom sessions, or at least get in touch and make casual ongoing arrangements to talk, or meet.

But I can’t help but think that this behaviour should be ‘normal’ - albeit the impetus for it not a global health crisis, but simply cultural.

On a skype call with my dad’s side of blood-family, with people in UK, NZ, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, I began talking about the developments of the business I’m building with Dean, and the art we are making, and how it is affecting me as an artist.

I was abuptly interrupted as my sister burst into laughter because my uncle inadvertently flashed the family with his undies (he was trying to discover the make/model of his laptop by looking under it, and the camera, of couse, got a full view of his crotch). I realised that I wouldn’t be able to share my artistic journey so much with my entire blood-family - just the arty ones.

So I’ve decided to share this with you.

We’re in the midst of making Dean’s next show which is being performed to an invited audience in July - with the purpose of on-selling the show to presenters. I’m writing the music, and acting as executive producer and production assistant (of course). Yesterday, after participating/facilitating in a 4 hour disability accessible creativity workshop, we got home and (after a dinner break) listened to some of the music I’d created for the work and I realised I can’t wait to release some of it (one track - “Trumps Adani” in particular has a pounding relentless intensity that is quite enjoyable to experience in a thriller kind of way), and started making adjustments; I’d like to compose and record a solo double bass transition here, record an improvisation using “natural instruments” (i.e sounds made from found organic objects) there, and extend this section, cut that etc etc… the nitty gritty of making.

But then he (in his aspie way) gave me a full rundown of the synopsis of the character in the work. There is 1 solo character, on stage, for about 75 mins. It’s an intense journey. Listening to him explain the character, its inspirations, the way it develops over the piece, and how that relates to all elements of the work (movement, sound, lighting, costuming, A/V) was just beautiful, and I remembered how much I have to learn from him. I also remembered that my own neurology/state/history is going to effect different approaches to art in me, no less valid.

In the midst of our creative development for this work we’ve also moved into a new studio in Camperdown - we offer 3 zoom yoga classes a week (email me at andrew@weirdnest.com if you’d like to join us! they are “pay what you can”), 1 disability-inclusive creativity class in partnership with Sydney Community Services, as well as casual mentorships/classes. This is part of the forming of a discipline and financial viability for the development of our company, Weird Nest.

We’re halfway through establishing a board - I’d forgotten my strengths in arts company management at that level, and it is a delight to be able to use them again, albeit from a more mature perspective. I have a lot of people to thank for the development of those skills.

As I am not working anywhere else, now both Dean and I are Weird full time.

I’ve got something like 6 or 7 grant applications currently being judged from various sources and I’ve started asking for philanthropic support (I remember in my previous Chronology days, I’d aim for 1 grant or 1 philanthropic ask per day). I am a little clumsy as I’m coming back into it, but I’m quickly adjusting. In saying this, if you read this and have a some curiosity about the details, get in touch when it suits.

It’s really exciting to be returning to full time artist again after having a hiatus for 6 years in publishing and working for other small-medium arts companies (whilst still practicing). I’ve learnt so much, about what to do (and what NOT to do!!!) and to be in a position of multual learning with my partner is very exciting as well (this is his first company directorship).

The photo at the top of this post is of me doing a movement/sound/text improv in a site-specific response/exploration during a disability inclusive workshop in creativity/composition with a movement focus at South Gordon Bay Head.

Now is the time to advocate for the social structure we need

The government and various agencies representing private sector and public sector interests have publicised recommendations to business leaders and individuals on how to navigate the economic crisis resulting from extreme business disruption with aspects both mandated and recommended by our national Australian government, state governments, some local governments as well as global and localised health authorities.

These recommendations have been backed up by truely helpful policies and legislation - and, in true “Liberal” fashion provide businesses with many choices that don’t compromise the basic well-being of individuals, thus somewhat alleviating business of moral considerations of reducing human resources.

However there is a conflict of ethos that can be read underneath the various recommendations and helpful initiatives.

On the one hand, businesses are being encouraged to continue to employ staff (in various degrees which I’ll break down below) even if that means making a loss in order to simply retain staff, whilst on the other being provided the choice to effectively lay off all staff and pause a business by ensuring individuals have a safety net (the recently doubled JobSeeker allowance).

In a nutshell, a business’ response to COVID can be;

• spend reserves on keeping people employed despite their workload diminishing (to nothing potentially)

• adapt the current business model (say, to “development phase” or “digital delivery”) and change everyone’s job descriptions to be constructive and commensurate to their current salaries.

• use up holiday and sick leave, then go onto “leave without pay” 

• restructure (reduce employment, by making positions redundant or reducing the time people are hired for), which may come in conjunction with adaptation. 

• in the arts, one strategy that’s been aired by various funding agencies is to repurpose grants received to pay salaries. Of course, it is up to individual organisations to interpret this, but generally one has artistic contractors and employed admin staff.

A neo-liberal, capitalist response would be to assess adaptation strategies, and go with the least damaging (or most profitable) - which, in many business’s cases, would be to press pause on a business and resurface in a year’s time. Pressing pause by means of reducing expenses to as close to $0 as possible, contracting current clients to “when this is over we will...” and treating deposits for work as more long term (I.e not repurposing, but delaying).

This may mean reducing human resources (to nil or there abouts) either through redundancies or leave without pay. This response is ok as individuals can turn to Centrelink - our federal government has provided that choice.

Yet businesses (particularly from an not for profit (NFP) perspective) are being encouraged to continue paying staff as normal, adapting their business to offer current employees working environments or adapted job descriptions that respond to the new market environment we’ve found ourselves in. A huge risk, and one that the government acknowledges as such because they’ve offered some reprise from tax associated with payroll. The government, however, have also asked business to shoulder some of the risk themselves by offering cheap loans - a poisoned chalice given the lack of certainty for the future.

From a not for profit arts perspective, we’re being encouraged to pay wages (ostensibly, with job adaptation if possible but not mandatory, given reporting and KPI (key performance indicator) obligations are being lifted) without a guarantee of future support when things are on track (which would be impossible to provide). This risk comes without guarantee of future support. At the end of the day, though, the risk is public funds - no personal long term assets (cash or fixed) are being put on the line with these suggestions.

However this means something entirely different in the private sector than the public or NFP sector because in the private sector you’re talking about personal assets being put on the line to support salaries with potentially no return.... reducing the capacity of business owners to cope with the (previously) normal cash flow fluctuations that they’re likely already prepared for.

Some businesses (private, public and NFP) owners are very cashed up so simply paying salaries for a year won’t matter as much for them (no one will have to sell their house, no one will be on the street - although long term future plans may be affected).... but they’re the exception, not the rule.  Same for NFP sector.

There are myriad of issues beyond paying staff, however. Relationships to stakeholders, clients, competitors, market - are all being disrupted.

Not one solution will suit all, and everyone will need to respond in bespoke ways that suit their business.

But you know what?

Fuck it.

Why would we want to preserve the way of life, our social system, our political system, the way it has been?

The major concern of our times - climate change - which boils down to the relationship between Humanity and the Earth - which is intrinsically connected to our exploitation of the Earth, linked to our lack of moral compass in relation to the Earth - which is intrinsically connected to the social systems in which “business” “for profit” “not for profit” “Liberal” “Labor” “communications” “stakeholders” all exist.

We have an opportunity to start adopting a new vernacular, a new perspective, new behaviour.

Instead of adapting business operandi, why not examine and adapt what it means to be Human?

There are people doing this - right now - and you will probably know a few of them. Share relevant links in the comments to web pages of those Artists, Philosophers, Groups, Organisations who are investigating social behaviour, particularly through the lens of humanity’s relationship to environment.

I’ve been privileged to be working with my partner, choreographer Dean Walsh, on works that do this (EgoSystem, The Instruments). I’m also part of an incredible community called the Anthropocene Transition Network, led by Kenneth McLeod), who facilitate groups of people to inspire and work on human-environment approach (amongst other things). I’ve been reading, avidly - Glenn Albrecht and Nora Bateson are brilliant thinkers for the time we’ve found ourselves in. I know you will have many other suggestions - put one or two (or more) in the comments - encourage others to read, to listen, to subscribe, to converse, to argue.

Let’s manifest the vision for the future we need and want. Define it, Write it down, Chunk it into understandable bytes and promote it to our leadership. The COVID-19 disruption will be long enough for us, as a broad community, to take a step back and think about where we are going and why, and act Now. If we believe in benevolence and supporting the most vulnerable in our communities - then let’s not allow finance, position or perceived “market value” to determine who gets an intensive care unit (ICU) place. Let’s extend that into the broader thinking of our societal construct and promote permanent legislative change to reflect that value. If we condemn selfish behaviours (such as ignoring viral spread and packing into Bondi Beach) then let’s condemn selfish behaviours throughout our system, not just at a health level. If supporting public health and education, let’s encourage public health and education when there is no crisis.

We are now seeing a response to the current crisis that combines multiple perspectives, desires and philosophies. Let’s examine our approach and decide what we want our modus operandi to be - because let’s face it, we live in a world now in a long term crisis due to humanity’s disregard for Earth, and, if we can learn anything from COVID-19, selflessness and wholistic community-supportive approaches are far more productive in a crisis than hoarding and bickering.

Check-in

We are having a horrible time in Sydney and it is affecting my art.

It’s been a while since I last emailed you, and it’s because I’ve been a little bit over-saturated. A few things are going on.

Today I have a “Showing” of work in progress for a project called Very Excellent Disabled Dancing. I’m writing the music for this performance which will be performed as part of the Kier awards

The work will be performed in Sydney it’ll be at Carriageworks, in Melbourne it’ll be at DanceHouse. Both in March. It is a competition style process, which is unfortunate, but the way the world is I suppose.

I’ve also been working with Dean on a project in Orange - Jam and Bread Ensemble. We had a showing a couple of weeks ago in Orange - intense process to get there but we got there in the end. We’ve got a Bundanon residency with this group lined up next year, and the Orange Civic Centre would like us to produce a performance in October. It is difficult because we’ve been knocked back on funding a number of times for this project so we’re a little despondent about it, but we’ll soldier on.

I’ve also been on a journey of rebellion and activism.

I’ve been so angry at the lack of leadership displayed by our prime minister, but also at the system of denial and power that so reticently approaches the reality of what we are doing to our planet. Because of this, I’ve been doing some things where I feel comfortable. This is in addition to making performance works that respond to this context - which I’m doing with Dean, with Proxima, hopefully with the kids at Bronte next year, as well as our group Jam and Bread Ensemble in orange as well as hopefully with a new group we’re starting with Sydney Community Services next year.

But I’ve had this idea which I’d love your feedback on….

Talking About it

This is a process for individuals, groups (family; couples+. work places, friendship circles, community gatherings like dance groups, music groups, choirs, etc) to get together and share how they’re feeling, check in with one another, and see what they can do to help one another. I’d like to roll this out in my various workplaces next year (Legs On The Wall, Critical Path, Bronte Junior Public School, Sydney Community Services, Jam and Bread Orange, my Proxima team, my Very Excellent Disabled Dancing team, and potentially the team I’m working with at Crossroad Arts).

I think it’s important to frame the discussion by saying it’s a safe time/space for honesty about political, social and environmental issues and how those aspects of our reality are affecting us. As such offering trust that others are speaking their truth, and honouring that by speaking your truth, is important - as is an open, empathetic and trusting approach. I’m not sure if I should write a “framing speech” or “set of rules” - it may be useful for some, but not others.

I know I need to work on the wording of the questions a bit, but this is what I have so far;

———

- Check in; how has the macro context influenced you?
--> environment - changes or stagnations that effect stress for you (psychologically, emotionally, physically)?
--> any proposals for, recently passed or existing laws/rules of our federal, state or local government effecting stress for you (directly or indirectly)?
--> any actions of other entities such as other governing bodies, public or private companies that are effecting stress for you (directly or indirectly)?

- Affirmation; me too?
--> is anyone else affected in a similar way?
--> can anyone else share a similar story of personal stress being effected by the same macro context?

- Sharing; offering research and insights....
--> can anyone share recently published news articles about this?
--> does anyone have any special insights about this?
--> any other resources that can be provided?

- Support; What can we do?
--> broad discussion on what the people present and in the group can do to support one another now, in the future in relation to what has been raised.
--> broad discussion on what the entities represented within the group (i.e companies) can do to support the people now and in the future in relation to what has been raised.

Follow up plans to be made concretely outside of the meeting.

Preferably, things would be documented in a simple format and then shared online for other groups to reference.

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And that’s it.

I’d love your feedback. battmusic@gmail.com

I’d also love to add an artistic layer to it and make it a composition… but I think I’d love to do that to everything lol.

I hope you’re all holding up during this crisis. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

X

Andrew

Touching base....

It has been a long time since I’ve written… well, since March anyway.

I always find myself somehow transforming, and the last few months has been no different.

SPARK Residency - Proxima

In March, Ben, Dean and I spent time in the studio with a Legs On The Wall SPARK residency. It’s a 5-day equivalent (though we spread it over 12 nights over 3 weeks) space residency culminating in a showing. We were concentrating on our work, Proxima, which has had a lot of interest from small festivals, locally and internationally. We were building the choreographic language and the overall arc of it…

We were joined in the studio at one point by Chris Bennett on cello and Mark Oliveiro on synths… We’ll be working more with live musicians as part of the gig because this experiment went well!

One thing I found interesting working with Mark, Dean and Ben all at once was the way that ‘scoring’ took place - albeit loosely, and the non-verbal conversation between composers who’d all had some classical training but in an improvisation and movement context. We all know theories of building form (micro to macro) and having a negotiation of this in a multi-artform context in real time was challenging and interesting.

Ben and I have since been further developing a full script for Proxima. We would have been performing in Bondi Feast but I got a bit too enthusiastic in a training session recently and fractured my wrist - so I’m out of the studio for another 6 weeks whilst it heals properly. When it’s all good, we’ll figure out a performance/showing to invite mates and colleagues to.

Image from SPARK#5, photo by Darinka Maja (Mark Oliveiro, Ben Hinchley and myself pictured debriefing on our showing)

Water’s Edge

In March I did my first bit of work ever for Legs On The Wall as a creative… I was called in at the last minute (literally the day before a gig) to figure out QLab and do some sound design. Of course I hadn’t much going on so I said YES!!!

This gig, with the Inner West City Council’s festival “EDGE”, involved suspending a very large yet quite light steel cube skeleton over a body of water, pontoons going over the water, aerial physical performers, ground (water/pontoon) based performers, scripted text, costume, lighting and of course a huge outdoor sound set up.

After going through the gauntlet of Remote Control’s tech requirements (Dean’s last gig last year) I felt ready for anything - so I did it - smacking together some audio and finessing crossfading and fading between scenes, making the audio cues match up to the performers’ expectations…

Image of “Water’s Edge” by Legs on The Wall March 2019

A Repeated Text

Dean and I had just got back from Orange where we’re starting a new ensemble made up of people living with Down Sydrome (called the “Jam and Bread Ensemble”). We’re making a new work called “Second Nature”… there’s heaps to think about/do/organise there….

But… after we got back from a particularly exhilarating (albeit draining) workshop, I bumped into a couple of mates of mine at a party - Georgia Cranko and Steve Alexander-Wilson, who happened to be curating a performance evening at PACT - a “salon” - called “Dark and Lite”.

Fish to water, I offered a rendition of a nude ave maria (jokingly). 5 days later (2 days before the gig) they took me up on the offer. There was no way I was going to perform a nude ave maria (without context) so I got thinking on what I could do. I came up with 4 options which I circulated to them and a whole bunch of performing arts professionals I know and admire and whittled the choice down to “A Repeated Text”.

For something put together in a day it’s not horrendous - https://vimeo.com/338485373 - but more time preparing would have been great… it was a good experience for me to make and perform a solo with such little time though, and looking at the video now I know how I’ll approach the next last-minute-put-together work….

photo by Dean Walsh, “A Repeated Text” March 2019

Other Works And Projects I’m Working On

Other than “Proxima” and “Second Nature” I’m working (still) on a solo cello work for Chris Bennett… I’m finding it exceedingly difficult to reconcile my desires to transcend the classical composer bits of me with the contemporary performance parts of me when it comes to writing solo acoustic instrument work… which is silly, because I’m really good at solo instrument writing (I think)… I’ve made so many ‘false starts’ - some quite serious, some just a couple of lines…. but that’s the point of this commission; this commission’s brief is to make work that’s significant to the development of my practice.

Last weekend I had my first life modelling gig in a while, this time with Gareth Earnst. He was an absolute pleasure to ‘sit’ for, though the poses were all dance-inspired. It’s for a work he’s intending for quite a large exhibition that pays homage to a friend of his who died from AIDS.

Stuff That’s Coming Up

Given my wrist being fractured, I’ve pulled out of all performances that were coming up, and I’ve nothing specifically planned from August onwards!!! We’ll see how long that lasts…..

An extract of Gareth Earnst’s drawing he made when I posed for him last week….

Adventurous Bodies

It is always exciting to get work up and out there. I released Adventurous Bodies through a platform called DistroKid over the weekend. Today it hit iTunes/ Apple Music so I’m ready to announce it’s available to listen to!

The process of putting it together was quite easy because most of the music is electronic and all of it had to have been recorded for performance anyway, so it was just a case of picking the tracks (which took longer than expected, I’ve written more music for dance and physical theatre than I’d thought), tweaking them, making excerpts if necessary and then mastering it.

You can read more info about it here - https://www.andrewbattrawden.com.au/adventurous-bodies

Pictured is the cover art, which was created by Dean Walsh.

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I started a Spark residency at Legs On The Wall last week. I’ve got the studio 3 evenings a week. I’m there as Flœk, with Ben Hinchley. Dean Walsh is also in the studio with us as a movement/choreographic consultant. Last week we were joined by a mate of mine from uni, Mark Oliveiro, and cellist Christopher Bennett to do some experimentation with improvisation between musicians and movers. We were delighted with the results.

We’re building a work called Proxima which we first performed last year…. we use the audiences phones as the PA system and the sound responds to live data feeds.

The main issue we found last year was that the work was underdeveloped in its content, despite being very developed in its artistry, so we’re back at the drawing board to better-realise the context and subtext that informs all components in the work. The showing at Legs On The Wall is by invite only (it’s on Friday 29 March), but if you’re interested in coming along send me an email battmusic@gmail.com and I’ll organise it.

Pictured is the studio we’re working in…. it’s beautiful, albeit noisy when it rains.

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Whilst this has been happening I’ve also been working more on a solo cello work for Chris Bennett - Vantage. We got to a good place at the end of last year, with an intro, first and 2nd movements written, 3rd movement drafted….. but then we had holidays. When I came back to the score after the break, I realised what a mess the music is - too many ideas, so I’m cutting down on it a bit, simplifying it so it makes more sense.

There’s no particular deadline for the work which means I can take my time… I think the ideas were a little overcooked - ironically I’m going through a similar process with Proxima - simplification, a rediscovery of the premise and deeper investigation of its parts.

….

All in all, it’s been a quietly productive start to the year! There’s a few major plots in the works for the rest of it, but they’re uncertain because of arts funding. We always remain positive however, and if all goes well, I’ll be announcing some future performances and new works in the coming weeks.

In Development: Vantage and Remote Control

Earlier this year Chris Bennett and I started working on a new piece for solo cello and electronics. In June, after I finished working at Limelight Magazine, I started meeting with Chris regularly to collaborate.

With this piece I wanted to draw from a variety of creative methods I’ve learnt from dance and theatre workshops I’d taken over the past few years, so I incorporated movement, improvisation and discussion into the creative process.

We came up with a subject close to both our hearts - that of nourishing the creative spark… both from the day to day “how to make it work” perspective as well as incorporating in our discussion pedagogical, nature vs nurture, and socio-economic factors. We also discussed various music techniques we’re interested in exploring, what we’re strong at, what our weaknesses are…

And I recorded our conversations.

I’m particularly inspired by several works that use recorded voice as the premise of the rhythm and pitch of instrumental parts, so I went through our conversations to find pivotal sentences in the conversation that summed up the overall narrative of our discussion, put these through a spectral analysis and tapped out the rhythms… transposing every-day conversational speech into traditional music notation, I discovered, is very detailed and a lot of fun!

Last week we presented the score in progress to a couple of supporters who have helped by commissioning the work - we’re delighted with the progress.

But the process will take longer than I expected - by now I should know the gestation of a piece like this takes about a year… it’s only an 8 min work, but there’s a lot of detail in its creative approach and I’m thoroughly satisfied with the depth of the exploration. I suppose one can only discover the nature of the work by working on it, so it’s impossible to determine what the creative pathway will be like before beginning to tread it… and each work, it seems, can be unique (if you want it to be).

This piece is self-referential work and as such can be triggering to work through - even though the reality and pedestrianism will be abstractified for audiences, for Chris and I as creators, we imbue personal meaning in the notes as they have come from our words, and those words have come from our histories, some poignant memories and realisations. “Vantage” is as much about perspective as it’s about the Advantages and Disadvantages felt by everyone when comparing themselves to their ideal self they are striving for, as well as the inequalities experienced (for better or worse) that simply come with existing.

Although we’d hoped this work would be ready for performance this week, we’ve decided to postpone it until next year. The material is too raw and needs time to be processed and refined, and this decision to allow it the time it needs makes the whole creative journey of this work that much more comfortable, and is already yielding a beautiful, mesmerising work as a result.

————

Another piece I’m working on is a series of soundscapes for Dean’s next gig “Remote Control” which is on in two weeks at ESCAC in Darlinghurst, Sydney. This piece is a journey through Dean’s creative and neurological development, the relationship between his formidable artistic output over the years and his neurodiversity as expressed through Aspergers, ADHD and complex PTSD.

We’ve been inspired by other artists who use voice over soundscape and vocoder, so I’m using my (limited) tech skills to come up with a vocoder to make his voice compliment aspects of his stories, and I’m creating a series of soundscapes to underpin it all.

The last piece we worked on together, Dying to Sea at the Festival of Death and Dying, used some soundscape I cobbled together at just about the last minute before his Threshold:NRC gig at PACT earlier this year… so the process of making these soundscapes for Remote Control is very different - not cobbled together on samples that Dean’s found and given me but created from scratch. In addition to software synthesis, I’ve been recording myself playing guitar, percussion and piano and using a variety of techniques to transform the sounds into works that create feelings of energy, foreboding, intrigue, innocence. Also in my last gig with him I performed some live sung voice - this time, if we go there, I’d like to incorporate both our voices in a soundscape - we’ll see if we get to it!

———

The rest of the year is looking quiet however, giving me some much needed reflection and planning time. I think the effects of no longer being the director of a publishing company and owning Limelight Magazine have been positive for my creativity - I’d not realised how much my mind was absorbed in the business. Although I loved writing all the works I wrote (and am proud of them) during my time as Limelight’s proprietor, I’ve come to really appreciate a quieter internal space, where my mind can have the freedom to relinquish itself to playful inquisitiveness and not have a constant pull towards business responsibilities.

I hope to see you at Remote Control next week!

X

Andrew

Advice for young composers

A friend from NZ wrote on his Facebook wall that he wanted his friends to provide 1 piece of advice for his first year composition students. There were sincere responses, but also a lot of sarcasm and joke responses. I couldn't help myself and I wrote a short list of sincere pieces of advice I wish I had had when I was in my first year at the Con. Another colleague encouraged me to go on, and so here I am, writing this blog article.

Who am I to offer advice to young artists? This is a question that plagues my mind whenever I'm asked for advice these days.... 5 years ago I was far more sure of myself and my knowledge for some reason.... so that comes to the first piece of advice really;

First piece of advice;

Be discerning about taking any advice. Whoever is giving it to you is providing you with advice based on their perspective/context/journey, they are probably making assumptions about you, your desires, your idiosyncrasies (unless they know you really really well), and so their advice may not always fit you.

So with that in mind, onto some random bits of advice for young composers.....

Practising any form of creativity leaves you in a place of vulnerability. Embrace and act on uncertainty.

Relationships are key to your survival. Find your tribe and nurture them.

Reviewing your creative process is always a good response.

A lot of composers I know (and me included) write a reflection at the end of each composition session about where they'd like to take the piece next; which can be adopted or scrapped when they next come to compose.

Ask for candid feedback from people you respect.

Allow yourself to follow your creative genius to places that may surprise you.

Your creative process takes place in your mind. If you need to externalise your thoughts, don't do so on a medium that constrains your imagination; let fly with free-hand drawing or audio recordings of vocal improvs (many of us do).

Allow yourself to be dissatisfied with your own work or direction; this is a calling for change or refinement.

Only trust what others tell you about your works as the truth of their opinion when they're unencumbered by social constraints (i.e not at events), and you have an authentic relationship with them.

Just because someone doesn't like your art doesn't mean someone else won't.

Just because someone likes your art doesn't mean others will.

The greatest supporter of your art is you. Don't let your artist down. Always look after your artist. No one else can, to the degree you can.

Nurture your curiosity and let it be unquenchable. 

Although it's important to dedicate yourself to your art, you're human, not your profession - have friends, have lovers, do gardening, practice a sport, go on holidays, read books, watch movies, learn to cook - everything.

Your artistic practice can comprise of anything you decide; composition, research, performance, movement, visual art, words, teaching, meditation, writing, academia, environmentalism, fetishes, food, travel, pets.... but whatever you choose to integrate into your artistic practice, know that you'll end up applying rigour, discipline and inquiry.

Your "discipline" is whatever you authentically wish to define it as, and it can be dynamic. If you can articulate it and schedule it, that's a good start to actually being able to stick to it.

Things change, you change, it's ok to let go of things and embrace new things within your discipline/art/practice. For some that may mean dropping tonality. For others, it may mean dropping electronic music. It's part of the refinement of your art, and ultimately the discovery of your voice.

Don't despair when things seem insurmountable or impossible. Overwhelm is experienced by everyone, but for those involved in the composition of works with performance outcomes (a highly abstract pursuit, to say the least), the intangible nature of it all compounds those feelings. Self Care is important. Have something you can turn to that allows you to feel balanced again.

Not everyone fits the mould; we live in a rich diverse society. Neuro-diversity, gender-diversity, physiological diversity, diverse cultural, socio-economic and family backgrounds.... there are those living with complex trauma from a myriad of different types of circumstance; from child-sex abuse, bullying, domestic violence, absent parents, traumas experienced by refugees. Embrace your own difference, it is part of your vulnerability and must be acknowledged. Sometimes these differences give you extraordinary super-powers that enhance your creativity and life in unique ways when they're embraced. Other times these differences will lead towards you being discriminated against. When this happens, be conscious of it, find support, and carefully choose what to do with it.

When you have something to share with someone, share it; don't bottle it up. If your opinion, expression, or art may be controversial and cause debate, listen intently, but don't allow the fear of rejection or retaliation prevent you from expression!

In saying the above; always treat others with respect sensitivity. If your art/expression pushes boundaries, make sure that it's done within a consensual, conscious context, and not one where other people may be unnecessarily triggered or be made upset due to inadequate warning.

---

Some of the advice above may seem extreme... but the thing is, art can be very extreme, subject matter can be very extreme, and indeed your own practice can be extremely diverse and tie in multiple disciplines.... or not. Whatever your case may be, I think all this advice sums up to

• be conscious about yourself, your expression and others and their expression,
• approach life with an open, curious attitude, and
• embrace and act on your feelings and decisions.

That's it for now!!! 

Threshold NRC, and a new work with Chris Bennett

A couple of weeks ago, my partner, Dean Walsh, performed his major solo work "ThresholdNRC". It's been about 5 or 6 years since his last major performance piece, and so there was a lot of anticipation. I helped out as production assistant, did a bit of sound design, and generally supported him through the creative development and presentation.

I wondered if Cage and Cunningham had the same sort of relationship as we do... giving insights into one another's ways of working, and supporting one another through periods of creativity. 

I learnt a lot from Dean during the creation of ThresholdNRC... being with him every step of the way; the creative, the logistic, the playful, the serious. The level of detail was delicious... the amount of ideas created, and nurtured, or left for another time was astounding. I couldn't keep up with it all (I wanted to score the whole work in a detailed cuesheet; I can't write choreography, but I can definitely describe what happens!), but I know my notations got there in the end.

A few things struck me... the level of research he did for the work and amount of prior knowledge he brought to it made me want to seriously think about my process of preparation for a new work. The constant question "how does this read?", always concerned with aligning purpose to creation and performance. How easily form and technique came to him; they were tools he used to express and therefore looked like expression unto themselves; which came from his fusion of form with intent.

I had been incorporating 'maker' methods into my composition practice with other works recently... the Sydney Art Quartet last year, Proxima with Ben this year, and now, just off the bat of teaching some awesome kids improv with movement and sound, and working with Dean on his major piece, I'm working with cellist Christopher Bennett to create an 8 minute solo work.

At our first development a few weeks ago, we started with a conversation. I wasn't interested in playing with techniques at the very beginning... we'll get to that later (once we've got intent). We spoke about why we are creating a new work (indeed I felt myself taking more of a facilitator and co-composer role, rather than sole composer, on this one already). We were drawn to telling stories of why we practice our art-forms... his cello, mine composition, and how we've come to be here to express.

And we concluded, both he and I, that it was about survival.

The things we do for survival of our body are obvious, very well documented.. and a little OTT sometimes. But the survival of our ego, as it is forming, of our sense of belonging, sense of self... these are more subtle, ephemeral things - and whether we want to give our ego so much attention is another question; a big ego can get in the way of empathy and learning. Nevertheless, our sense of self is necessarily dynamic, it shifts as we age over time, as we learn, as we fail, succeed, watch those around us suffer, or ignore, or triumph. We connected over a need to express and be heard, and acknowledged the part our community, our 'tribe', plays in helping us realise ourselves.

It was a good talk, and I think we're onto some good 'intent', and I was far too excited to keep talking so we did some listening exchange and started on technique.

This morning Chris and I had our second development... things moved rather quickly as we started improvising using various techniques I've picked up from both music and performance art workshops, and we started to get more and more specific with the material. It is refreshing to be able to give Chris "surprises".... he's not done some of the things we're doing together before, and I'm delighted with his responses to my terribly vague exercises. At the moment we're combining movement, spoken text and cello playing in a variety of scored improv precepts. One of the exercises we did today was a 'call and response' improv, using A major and Bb minor freely as tonality, with myself singing + body percussion, moving and speaking, and he using cello, movement and speech. 

I like using speech as the impetus for rhythm and pitch because the rhythm isn't metered. Of course one can always impose a metre on sentences.... just start tapping a beat and you'll find yourself subdividing rhythm into triplets and quavers and crotches, dotted quavers etc etc, but if you attempt to truely play the casually articulated rhythms of speech it's actually quite hard! 

I'll keep you updated as we progress. I think this work will have its public performance in September later this year, so there's plenty of gestation for it! 

400 junior school kids in a vocal improv.....

A couple of weeks ago I gave a workshop in algorithmic composition to each class at Bronte Public. 

I've never taught that age-group of kids before, but I had Carly Orlander there to keep me grounded and help me with it, as well as help look out for the kids who may not take to the workshop easily.

I had a number of objectives with the workshops. They're centered around building imagination around sound creation (timbre, pitch, dynamic, envelope) and form (macro/micro phrasing, texture, arc etc) in relation to algorithmic composition (which, for me, is all about "if/when then" operatives, which can be simple or get incredibly complex) with acoustic realisation (voice, hands, tapping, movement, etc). I designed exercises for each age group, essentially to;

• Encourage creative sound making through improvisation
• Attach creating sound to movement parameters
• Call and response
• Sequencing 
• Encouraging thinking about form/structure

I only had each class for 40 mins over the 4 days, then at the end there was a showing with the whole assembly and invited parents and all the teachers. 

So, I rocked in, first class was a young one, year 2 I think, and the exercises I thought were right for that age group were not at all... After some warm up "imitation" exercises and getting giggles, farts and burps out of our system, I tried to get 1 student to improvise movement whilst another improvised sound in response to that movement. I've seen this done really beautifully with adults, but the kids defaulted to things they've seen on youtube. I needed to change tact.

The following day I started each class by telling the students about John Cage's 4'33. Why would a composer write a whole work of silence? Some of the kids' responses were very astute. I'd then lead them to listening (in silence) for 20 seconds (a challenge for some), and then ask them to identify all the sounds they'd heard. I'd also introduce them to the idea of an anechoic chamber... and some students would really take to that concept.

We need more silence in our lives.

From listening we went to trying to vocally recreate the sounds we heard, then to improvising creative sound (which the whole group would imitate), then, depending on the age group, we'd get into more complex exercises.

My favourite was playing the whispers game; why it's called "Chinese Whispers" is beyond me, but that's what it is known as. Just getting them to do that, but then going from a phrase spoken in english to a phrase of improvised sound was really interesting.... then getting them to have "conversations without words" was Very popular. It was a challenge to stay sensible. 

One thing I realised was that many of the kids weren't ready to put movement and sound together... they needed structure to the exercises otherwise they'd explode in giggles and moves/sounds they've seen/heard on youtube. So I started limiting the movement/sound exercises to using the arms only, giving them little controls/parameters in which they can be creative. 

Many kids who were using movement to indicate the sound they wanted from the rest of the class couldn't resist getting everyone to SCREAM. I loved this. But the trick is to get them to scream in a controlled way - when the movement conductor closes their hands that means silence... so we need to respect them and stop screaming when they indicate. This was a challenge for some of the students, but after some practice they got it.

All this was rather delightful, by the end of the 4 days I was exhausted, but the full school assembly where we demonstrated what we'd done was really energising because of the kids' enthusiasm; they were having fun and being challenged.

I had 2 year 1 kids come on stage and have a conversation without words with me. Their nerves suddenly limited their "vocabulary" somewhat, but the experience of improvised performing (and of being respectful audience) was important here. The challenge of not being in a group and the spotlight being on individuals is one that has to be dealt with in this context, but it's even tougher when they're being asked to improvise in sound!

At one point I had an older group come up on stage, year 4/5 I think, and the class divided into two, each side had a conductor and they improvised call & response and counterpoint. This was perhaps the most advanced aspect of the exercises, and the group did very well.

I think the cutest part of the showing, though, was getting 2 kindy kids to lead the entire school in imitated creative sound. The school would listen so intently to hear what the sound was, and then copy it. The emotions I felt watching them do this was a very complex mixture of pride, adoration, amusement, joy... and telling them both how good they were afterwards - I could tell this was (at this time in their lives) a potentially pivotal moment for both of them. They were both totally shy kids but they broke through that shyness to present. 

During all the improv, though, what I found most interesting was when students ran out of ideas... and I pushed for more. The uncertain, vulnerable territory forced students to fire their imaginations and yielded creative (albeit sometimes timid) results... as it does with myself and when I'm working with other adults in workshops.

I want to do more teaching of improv and algorithmic composition methods with this age group - and with older groups. Ben Hinchley and I are designing a 2 day and 2 week workshop in algorithmic composition (as our capacity as our company Vordenker) for a number of age groups... so hopefully we'll be able to go beyond these rudiments and into notation (through traditional western music notation, graphic notation and cue sheets) and digital programming (using the slew of programming languages and softwares available to us today).

All these exercises I'm developing/setting have been drawn from my training as a composer but also recently my exploration in movement, improv, the last 4-5 years of data-responsive music making, and my own composition process.

I've been particularly inspired in this area of thinking by a few key people. Jim Coyle, my high school music/composition teacher, one day recommended that I just improvise a bit every day to improve my composition technique. Flash forward 6 years and I was having drunk vocal improvs at a bar in Circular Quay (the Paragon) with other composition students from the Sydney Con on Wednesdays. Being inspired during Judy Bailey's classes in improvisation at the Con (back in the day, playing improv oboe). A number of years later, improvising poses whilst being a life drawing model, and later improvising movement during dance classes at Strut... taking more classes involving improv and incorporating movement, sound and words, notably with Dean Walsh, Andrew Morrish, Bernadette Lewis, Sarah Dowling - all the while using improv as a core part of my composition technique. I've used improv, scored improv or algorithmic composition methods in collaborations with choreographer Dapheny Chen, composer/technologist Benjamin Hinchley, in the small gigs I've done with my partner Dean Walsh, and within a number of commissions over the years. It makes the collaborative process of creation egalitarian, exciting and filled with exquisite vulnerability, integrity.

Now when I'm creating a work it always starts with improv, and increasingly my work is beginning to always involve "scored improv" or "algorithmic improv" where certain parameters are known and others are responsive to the moment. 

It's one of many ways of approaching the creative process, and of approaching content for a finished composition/work, and one that I think that is at the very core of creativity yet wasn't encouraged as much it could have been through the various curriculums I'd been involved with over my life. I guess this is why I'm keen to teach it, because I want to give students opportunities to be inspired (and to inspire) that I'd liked to have had.... 

Post-Proxima, and now for something completely different...

View fullsize

Photo by Guy James Whitworth

ABSOLUTE MADNESS. 

A collaboratively devised experiment named "Proxima" had a showing Friday week ago during a series called "The Experiment" at the East Sydney Community Arts Centre in Darlinghurst (the old Heffron Hall) presented by Brand X and curated by Jaimie Leonarder. I say "showing" because I consider it as an experiment with different elements of sound, technology and movement.... The 30 minute experience started with Ben and I (as our artist name "Flœk") explaining to the audience a bit about what we were going to do - I was wearing a heart rate monitor, our phones were harnessed to our chests. During the performance, my live heartbeat was sonified and soundscapes were affected by the movement of Ben and I (via the accelerometer/gyro in our phones). We also used our phones as the controller to trigger each section /phrase of the work - which meant we had a movement theme of separation and coming back together, and there was a sequencer component triggering live synthesis algorithms we'd designed (some quite simple, some quite complex).

Because we were using the audience's phones as the sound system we were able to create some interesting spacial effects, and as we were able to isolate specific phones, Ben and I were able to have unique sounds on our phones.... the whole experience was unique to each individual - as each person's phone had a unique part to play in the music.

Photo by Dean Walsh

I don't think this has been done before... and I'm really excited by its possibilities.

It was really successful as a developmental showing of some new ideas and tech. Compositionally, it of course needs work. It had some interesting ideas - from very high pitched "noise" sounds (like bell birds or crickets) to a cicada scream, to later octatonic mega-chord structures - but the whole performance aspect was Ben and I moving apart and coming back together in different ways, at different speeds, and at different heights/levels. There were lots of human ways to interpret it and if we take it further these aspects would be honed with more precision...

Photo by Dean Walsh

Dean Walsh helped us with some movement ideas we could play with, and Guy James Whitworth helped out with costuming and makeup. 

It was quite feat to get it together; Ben was coding until 8:40pm... and I was thinking about what to cut, how to simplify without ruining it entirely. We'd been glittered, painted, phones harnessed to our chests, but the bloody code wasn't functioning as we'd thought it would! The hilarity of it was that the bits that were working just hours before the performance were the bits that weren't working the previous week, and the bits that weren't working hours before the performance were the bits that were working previously.

Fortunately, Ben discovered the issue... at the very last minute, less than an hour before we were meant to be on. He added a button for the audience to "Enable Sound" through their phones, and hey presto, it worked (before we were expecting the site to self-trigger automatically, which it did with some browsers but not others).

There's heaps of work to do to but the potential of the capabilities are evident. For me, expanding on tech and the possibilities for composition it can bring is a great evolution in my composition practice and amalgamates my interests.

Photo by Dean Walsh

We'll see where it leads us!

Proxima

I thought having photos the 'right way up' was a little lame. Ben and I met earlier today because we realised that we didn't have a shot of us together yet, so we met at his building and in the elevator we took this (and a few other) photos. I selected to use this one because the use of the phone camera is less obvious in our glasses... but don't let that subtle curation fool you; this is most certainly a selfie in an office elevator, flipped vertically.

We took the photo because we're creating a work for this event coming up May 4 in Sydney; http://www.andrewbattrawden.com.au/more-events/2018/5/4/the-experiment#. We're essentially looking at personal vs communal interpersonal sonic-spacial experience using a massive software web-based synth Ben's been developing for our Vordenker project. We'll be able to relay our heartrates through everyone's phone, and create soundscapes that respond to everyone's proximity to one another. I seriously cannot wait. It's a 25 minute score and we're using a bunch of sounds I've created over the years - sort of organic mutated to synth sounds - kinda like what the work is portraying at a deeper philosophical level. Will we be immortal?

Dean and I went up to Coffs Harbour recently with my dad, who's moving back to Australia after living in Thailand for a long time. Whilst we were up there we viewed this property... we so so so want to use it to build an artist residency in Coffs; just all the "how" stuff is quite complex. As you may know, I recently went into liquidation with my publishing company, so personal finance is a little complicated (to say the least) at the moment. The beauty of this property is the 7acre rainforest that comes with it....

An absolute beauty.

It makes me think of the music I'm creating... I'm more and more interested in "organic rhythm"; which is inconsistent, responds to the elements and its context... so beautiful is the rhythm of the waves on the beach, the phrases of gusts of wind and rain, the heart beat, the breath, the beating of wings... sometimes too fast for us to see, and so fast the sound is a drone - but the rhythm is organic. I'm also really interested in timbral modulations (over extended periods of time)... much like how nature on this property goes from the dry gum flora to deep wet rainforest... the transition is gradual yet adroit at the same time.

Whilst all this has been (and is still) happening, I've been training with Dean in mind-body awareness. We're producing a 2 hour (which usually stretches to nearly 3 hour) class at the Abraham Mott hall on Saturday afternoons. It makes Saturday quite a big dancy day for us... so I'm foregoing Ballet for the moment.... but this class is growing and is thoroughly enjoyable. For the first time ever I'm beginning to feel comfortable learning sequences in movement.

There's not much else really to report on - life, the universe and everything is endlessly fascinating. This gig at BrandX in May is going to be a good one :) I hope to see you there!

Back in the thick of it

The image promoting "Big Muscles, Sad Heart", a gig i'm performing in next week. 

As my life as a publisher has just about sorted itself out, I'm taking gigs and building work!

The first one is next week - http://www.andrewbattrawden.com.au/more-events/2018/3/21/big-muscles-sad-heart - I'm making a short work, 5-6 mins (pending on how we go on the night!) using some of the tech bits and pieces that Ben and I have been making over the last few years, and the skills I've learnt with Dean and my other mentors/teachers in performance art. I'm really looking forward to it.

Another date to keep in your diary is Friday 4th of May when I'll be performing a 20-25 minute set at the old Heffron Hall (now run by Brand X and called East Sydney Community and Arts Centre) in a series directed/curated by Jaimie Leonarder of underground arts practice. For that gig I'll be working with Ben again, and hopefully Dean, to make something that draws from what we've done in the past and extends our collaboration further. The initial idea is to get audience surrounding us, with us in the centre, performing, and the proximity of our bodies to the audience triggers certain sound effects that use the audiences' phones as the PA - the ULTIMATE suround sound, as it were, as, even with only 60 audience (maybe more?), that's 120 channels, controlled algorithmically, rather than through fixed media.

Can't wait.

There's another couple of gigs in the pipeline but they're yet to be confirmed, when they are, I'll let you know.

Cancellation of upcoming Mardi Gras performances and other news

It has been a very full on few weeks!

You may, or may not, know that I bought Limelight Magazine 4 years ago to keep it from going under. 

The company I started to publish the magazine has been able to improve the mag's financial position year on year for 4 years, but unfortunately the accrued liabilities from the first couple of years of losses just got the better of me! So I've had to take some drastic actions. I'm now in the midst of selling the magazine for the best price I can... I'm getting incredible advice and help during all this and it's coming along nicely.

The stress of it all, though, has lead me to pull out of the performances I was going to give for Guy James Whitworth's Mardi Gras exhibition starting this coming Friday. I just couldn't get something of quality together, even in scored improv, as my time is being prioritised to ensure Limelight's future.

Given what we're negotiating, however, not only is Limelight's future looking brighter than ever, but so is my artistic one. Whatever happens, I'll be absolved of being the director of a company that owns or publishes Limelight, which bodes well for my future of my works!

There have been other amazing things happening though; Ben (my partner in Vordenker) is upgrading our hardware tech so that I'll be able to wear a chest strap to take live bio-data in future (meaning I'll be able to perform in a much more free way whilst my heart rate, and other data, is effecting the sound). He's putting this tech into a theatre show he's working on at the moment, which means that by the time I'm using it in my own works it'd already been tested.

Dean Walsh (my partner) and I have also booked a bunch of studio space from April onwards to produce workshops in his methodology; Prime Orderly, as well as some space/time for artistic/creative development for our own work, and skills exchange time. I've been recently teaching him some music techniques around rhythm - overlaid time signatures, the difference between pulse, beat, phrase (micro to macro structures of rhythm), which is fascinating for me as well, given I'm letting go of consistency and predictability of rhythm in my own work more and more (in the context of your heart rate, "pulse" and "beat" carry very new meaning, though the macro rhythmic structures of work still carry the same technique as in other music/composition).

Onwards and Upwards! I'll keep you up to date as things progress on my art, and any performances/showings I'm able to organise. 

Vordenker, Nursing Home and 2018 plans

Vordenker

www.lucid-dream.com.au is a project I've been developing with Ben Hinchley for about 4 years, and earlier this month, after much discussion and planning, we've launched a webpage that explains the idea a bit, and invites people to join a mailing list for future news about what we're doing.

Our company, Vordenker, is owned 50/50 by Ben and I and we established it in order to produce our art. We met when I was teaching composition at Riverview (a private all boys high school in Sydney) as a fill-in for a friend... Ben's abilities with electronic media were really impressive when he was only 16... a few years later (after graduating from high school) he was creating electronic music, programming virtual reality, working in theatre tech whilst helping me with my tech problems in my compositions. The latest one we did together was for the Arts Initiative Australia Launch where we used the audience's heart-rates to determine the tempo of pitched material in a soundscape which performed some abstract movement to at Yellow House.

After creating so many data-responsive works over the years, in 2017 we made a serious commitment towards building a digital marketplace and playback system for our artform so that we could reach an audience through portable devices, make a living... and of course, there are about 1,000,000+ other artists (the amount of users of currently existing algorithmic / data-responsive composition / creation software) who will benefit from such a platform as well. We're now at the stage where we're breaking down the development process into logical (and releasable) steps so we can prioritise and give time to details as the very complex issues of each stage arises. This will require investment, though - I don't know how much yet. The first work we're concentrating on building next year is about proximity; proximity to one another, our earth and the universe, using environmental data feeds, live heart rate, live planetary position data as well as the live proximity between performers and audience. It's an ambitious project that I've proposed to Vivid; we'll see what they reckon next month!

The whole project has huge ambitions - consumer marketplace/software, professional/artist marketplace/software, education programs in algorithmic composition for junior schools, high schools and professionals, reviewing copyright law, reviewing education policy... it also looks at the role of the artist as being one that defines rules of relationships between various causes and effects, rather than writing every dot, choreographing every movement, and has a strong audience participation component (whether it be from passive participation through monitoring neural or heartrate activity, or an active participation through movement, breath, sound, location etc.) 

We're going for a for-profit, shareholder based funding model for this project, rather than traditional arts funding. As its not relying on the approval of funding bodies (who have their discretionary project funding increasingly diminished) we'll be more nimble... but it does mean I need some financial partners who'll be willing to commission works that create (and therefore solve) various technical problems for the system, as well as financial partners who are willing to put in for the development of the marketplace.

---

Nursing Home

My partner Dean Walsh and I caught up with Diane Busuttil on Christmas Eve. Dean's grandmother has been recently moved into a nursing home - she's at a time in her life where things start getting a bit hazy and memory is slipping a bit... so she has needed to go somewhere where she would be looked after. Dean, Di and I rocked up to the nursing home to give a performance.... Dean and I put together a few ideas earlier that morning (deciding what tracks we'd perform improvisation to, what instruments we'd bring, costumes and props for the audience to dress up in, how the show would go) and gave a completely improvised movement and sound performance for about 40 elders in various states of lucidity and physical ability. It was perfectly marvellous, and what I found particularly exquisite was that we combined rhythm, voice and movement in a very abstract but fun performance where the old folks joined in.

Dean's an incredible dancer and so wow'd everyone... his 30 years experience shining through, I was so proud. He had a costume he'd made for his Sydney Community College class (a group of students with autism of varying degrees), a big mask with glitter, tinsel and a giant beard and a cloak made of glittery materials. Di's an awesome tap dancer (amongst other skills, including interactive workshops) and her costume was a gorgeous striped dress with fishnet stockings and sparkly stars on her breasts... and of course a top hat and wig. I simply wore loose blacks for my solo but got changed later... Both Dean and I performed to tracks from Daniel Hope's album "Spheres", Einaudi's works "I giorni" and "Passagio". Di had a bit of a surprise with her music as she'd never head it before and Dean chose it, an old swing number I don't know the name of alas. 

There were a few costume changes. By the end we were playing waltzes and sure enough those who were able got up and joined in for a waltz. It was beautiful.

Having read Norman Doidge's "The Brain's way of Healing" recently, I was delighted to be aware of what could be happening in everyone's brains during and after this performance... sparking inspiration, and memory. 

For the waltz I was dressed in a relaxed smart-casual 50s style (I think), fedora hat, brown shiny shoes, long pants and a collared shirt... I think that triggered a few memories... 

I hope we do more performances in nursing homes next year. We were going to get me on the piano to improvise a number whilst Di and Dean interpreted it, however we simply ran out of time. Definitely though, when I get access to a studio with a piano in it next year with Dean, we'll start developing a set of improv structures between us that we can take to nursing homes and other performances.

---

2018 Plans

The best laid plans are often deviated from, it seems. In 2017 I applied for a few grants, and got rejected... generally the feedback was ambiguous. It's exhausting and I think I'm going to give up on grant writing for 2018 entirely, and concentrate on private/business approaches of funding creation of work.

As I mentioned above, a lot of my energy's being poured into Lucid by Vordenker for now... a massive scored improv work will require a lot of sound design, formula writing, and of course composition around macro/micro structures with content created both during performance and pre-determined... way fun.

I've been invited to a workshop at the Théâtre du Marché aux Grains in Bouxwiller, France (http://theaboux.eu) that I'd really love to attend.... it's with Andrew Morrish in a specialised/advanced "VIP" improv workshop. It is on at the same time as a workshop in St Erme (Performing Arts Forum) in France with Jennifer Walshe in composition/performance intersection using multiple art forms. PAF is the venue I'd like to work with the Freestyle orchestra one day to develop a work for them (the grants I applied for to develop that work fell through, alas, so maybe it'll be a 2019 project...). Both workshops are right up my alley.

It is hard to choose which one to go to (and indeed, I don't know if I have the finance for either!) both would be excellent for Vordenker development, let along my own skills as an artist.

In tandem to this, Dean and I are intending to move to Coffs Harbour in NSW and build a yurt overlooking the sea, and create a studio called ISEA (integrated science, environment and art)... we're on our way with this project nicely. It's a big deal - creating a space to live in, create in, work in, and also hold artist residencies and grow our practices from. I've moved house nearly every year since I moved out of home 14 years ago, so another change doesn't frighten me... but it's different this time as I'm hoping to buy and create somewhere permanent. 

I've got a couple of gigs next year teaching kids algorithmic composition... I'm really looking forward to it, though I've got my reservations about my own skills, the gig at the nursing home with Dean and Di was an eye opener, and I know my hand will be held nicely by the teacher who normally teaches the class I'll be going into. I've participated in heaps of workshops this year, been co-facilitating a few with Dean, so I'm not completely without confidence. We'll see! 

If you're a follower of my moves generally, you'd probably have noticed that Limelight Magazine has a new website, and earlier this year I moved it into a hybrid not-for-profit / for-profit model. The Jan/Feb 2018 edition (which just arrived in my post this morning) marks 4 years (or about 46 issues) of the magazine under my watch. Next year, we'll be giving it's new structural engines a whirl as we engage increasingly larger audiences online with arts journalism, and improve the mag's future stability by encouraging appending subscriptions with tax deductible donations for the foundation that now owns Limelight. I feel like I've spent the last 4 years of Limelight's history creating some new solid ground and creating the space from which the publication can continue to document and discuss Australia's arts.

-

So the rest of this year, the few days of it that are left, I'll spend writing my reflections of the various projects I've had this year, a bit of reading, and definitely a lot of music, dance and creative writing!

Have a safe and creative new year!!!

Casting off into the abyss

Casting off into the abyss

complete uncertain

acerbic reality sometimes 

amid honeyed eyes and embodied learning

the stymied hurtling galaxies (Thanks Chris Mansell for this line) 

will they collide? will they align?

or will it all fall apart.

So many gargantuans at once,

perhaps a bad idea...

though potential inherent in their DNA

is phosphorescent with futures

Both known and unknown

all delightful - in their own way.

Perhaps we're not casting off into a complete abyss... 

parts of the way ahead are certainties

probabilities possibilities

and of course, fun episodes of streamed video to watch

and of course, progress

and of course, regret

at least these are pillars to

pivot around

push from

cling to

or simply be with for a while.

Casting off into certainty is rather boring though

I much prefer an abyss

Perhaps it's more fun to be blindfolded in this dance

so that it's not the future that's so in focus

but the sensation of movement of air and the touch of dance partners

the sounds of our feet on the studio floor...

Though, for OH&S reasons, I'll take a peek at where we're going every now and again.

AIA Launch / Morrish and Bower at Strut / Berlin

Last night, Arts Initiative Australia launched in Sydney. I curated/produced an event with 8 performance stations;

1- Natalie Wadwell from State of the Arts taking feedback from our audience
2- Ben Hinchley and I performing a DREAM (data responsive experiential art media) score for 3 heartbeats, drone and physical scored improv in our Vordenker team
3- Dan Graham (director) and Natalie Ayton (performance artist) hosting a tea party and talking abut Dan's dreams of realising a show based on Shakespeare monologues and Neurodiversity
4- Natalie Zwar (lawyer and chair of Arts Initiative Australia) talking about the foundation's purpose and direction
5- Emily Granger (harp) performing the work that inspired her to become a Harpist and talking about how she came to become an internationally touring independent harpist
6- Bruno Panuccio (performance artist) presenting a performance installation and Guy James Whitworth (visual artist) creating artwork of his performance
7- Kim Walker (arts leader) leading a discussion on the value of the arts
8- Melanie Eden (performance artist) leading participatory art experience over skype where she got kids in Iceland leading the audience through artistic exercises

It was a wonderful experience, at Yellow House. We had 60 RSVPs but not everyone showed up, and some people showed up late!... I didn't expect that... I'd planned to be dividing the audience into 6 groups and then rotating each group around the venue, but what happened was that we just started groups of people as they arrived and sent them through the artistic journey we created. The performers each repeated their experience 5 times to 5 audience groups (the largest of which was 12, the smallest was 1).

I didn't have any time to really prepare my physical performance (I had to bump in everything, and deal with all the things producers have to deal with), but I found some really beautiful see-through purple fabric that had been used in the venue for a previous event as a curtain, and used that as a 'heart costume' which pulsed with the beats provided by the live heartbeats until I emerged from it as the embodiment of an open heart, feeling empathetically the audience's pulse, and articulating (through movement, sound and eventually actual words) the power and terror of being completely open... only to end bathed in light, embracing the universe. 

The score I wrote for the piece was just a graph indicating pitch and dynamic contours with specific rhythms I wanted the heatbeats to trigger, and a few times/pitches for changes. Ben did a great job realising the score. It kept me grounded as I performed.

Some audiences interpreted my very abstract performance as a birthing. Others saw me as life itself emerging from the depths of the sea, onto land, and coming into full being beyond. I'm not sure how everyone else took it, but it was fun to perform (and repeat 6 times - I was drenched in sweat after and today my body is tired!).

Thank god I had a workshop the week earlier in Perth with Andrew Morrish and Humphrey Bower on physical improv with text at Strut Dance - I wouldn't have been able to have coped had I not had the plethora of improv tools that they showed us.

I also performed at the end of that Perth workshop over 2 nights. The first night I performed my own solo where I started back stage, behind the audience, singing in a very reverberant space (so you couldn't really tell where my voice was coming from) repeating the phrase "Ex Nihilo Omnia Fit" (from nothing comes everything), breaking my physical movement and sound down as I emerged in front of the audience transitioning to chaotic physical and sonic fragmentation of the original material then rebuilding into the phrase "Ex Machina Omnia Fit" (from the machine, or from design, comes everything). After that exhausting elation, I fell silent and then began an un-scored improv of movement, sound and text which essentially became a play on the title of the showing "Terror Incognita" which I modulated to "Terra Incognita" and translated for the audience, "unknown territory", as opposed to "unknown terror". I don't think there were many latin speakers in the audience and my singing wasn't terribly clear so I daresay the nuance was lost... but I was told that it was an extremely 'real' experience (I employed the techniques of "state" that I was taught by Sarah Dowling in a previous workshop and my movement was inspired by physical modalities Dean Walsh had taught me including "authentic movement", and I abstractified my authentic movements... so the threat of reality was quite strong, yet surreal)... 

For me, composing sound, text and movement in the moment this way is a wonderful way to articulate my years of training in form as a composer... taking elements and repeating, transforming, developing, having a sense of "beginning middle and end", conveying abstract meanings that people can interpret at their will. It is an incredible way of scoring, or indeed letting the score develop. There is a time for literalism or conveying specific meanings, and there is a time when sometimes abstract form is more welcome to allow the audience to interpret what's happening from their own perspectives.

As I performed my solo at the AIA launch 6 times, it developed so much that there was such a departure from the original that the progression of the repeated form itself would have been an interesting audience experience... a 1 hour performance in 6 segments. Though truely, if it were a 1 hour experience, those 6 segments would be timed differently... with an accelleration score overlaying the macro structure... and I'd have to control my energy levels with getting some performed down-time somehow.

In Perth, though, I also participated in group works... it was very interesting to be directed in a scored improv by different people with different interests and levels of performance experience. Some were very precise in their requirements, others allowed for more free ranging within certain constraints. In one work though I had one fixed text line which I completely screwed up in performance... argh I was so ashamed - but the rest was ok... I had a particularly fun duet with an incredible young dancer where we depicted an abstract domesticity whilst repeating "you're one of them bones people" (it was in a work with 5 performers, and our duet was one element within an otherwise complex narrative of text, song and movement with deep meanings and context).

So, my next performance is going to be in Berlin at the Loop conference in November where Ben Hinchley and I are going to be demonstrating our Vordenker tech. This is going to be heaps of fun - we'll have a half hour segment to strut our stuff. I think it's time to really flex our muscles and show 3 aspects of possibility of the scores, and make something that I can effect with movement using an accelerometer and/or gyro, as well as audience data, weather data, and controlling solenoids. 

Though we have some bugs to sort out. Last night in one of the performances the tech failed about 1/3rd of the way through.... I went ahead, making my own sounds acoustically, until the big drone came in (and I knew then it was not the fact the speakers stopped working but that the heart rate monitor signal had failed)... so at least I was able to keep to my form/time easily enough - but a tech fail like that won't be allowed to take place in Berlin, where we're trying to on-board other artists and partners to help us develop the tech and indeed perhaps invest in the company we share, Vordenker.

I'll produce more events later in the year in Australia, though I don't know which city yet... I'll keep you posted!

(Thank you Sarah Malone for taking the photos!!!).

Update - August

It has been a while since I've updated you so I thought it is a good time to do so! Especially now I've come of social media entirely... I was suffering from a bit of TMI and needed to focus a bit more.

This month I'm going to Perth again for a couple of weeks to Strut - I'll be taking part in a workshop with Andrew Morrish and Humphrey Bower - http://strutdance.org.au/opportunities/master-workshops/andrew-morrish--humphrey-bower-aug-9--19 working on Language and Movement in performance. I'm very excited by this workshop, because it brings together new strains of my artistic pursuits and will develop new skills in improvisation and theatre that I can bring to my other developments.

(Andrew Morrish, photo by Tuva Nordeliusii - and I took this off the Ausdance website...)

Since my work for the Song Company "Out of the Deep" was premiered a couple of months ago, I've decided to skew my artistic direction less in the direction of 'dots on the page' and more towards devised working methods. The experiences I've had with Dean and other makers in the studio over the past couple of years have excited me. I think I'll always come back to writing dots to document a process, and make a work mountable in the future - however the process of creation for me wants to start in the studio, with performers and makers - so I can facilitate a creative process rather than dictate one. 

In tandem to this I've been developing my tech more with Ben Hinchley. A couple of weeks ago we started developing an app that uses live data feeds to trigger 'experiences'. We're calling these experiences "Dreams" - Data responsive experiential art media. We're in the startup phase of a new for-profit company that creates the consumer-side of this software... Although this interests me from a business perspective the premise is in the art itself - algorithmic composition. The app development team - Hyper - are excited by its prospects as it has application in creative arts, tourism and data representation for science and business. I, however, am excited by its compositional possibilities. Right now Ben and I are working on a piece that uses 10 audience members heart rates (live) to generate music - to be performed at the Arts Initiative Australia Sydney launch on August 26 (http://www.artsinitiativeaustralia.org/events/sydneylaunch)... and down the track I hope to be using live data feeds from local environments to create soundscapes to accompany works I develop. 

Anywho, I'm going to update the events section on my own site - http://www.andrewbattrawden.com.au/more-events/ with the stuff coming up in August - if you're in Perth I hope to see you at the showings of this workshop, if you're in Sydney, I hope to see you at the AIA launch!

Out of the Deep....

The Song Company premiered a new work of mine last night "Out of the deep" which I've dedicated to my partner Dean Walsh, as we are able to support each other through fundamentally dark times. 

The event was quite full on for me - I'd not sat down to that much Bach in a long long time. It was a 2 hour program (with interval). Pretty epic sing (lots and lots of dots!), and a beautiful program, full of the melismatic imitation one can expect from such repertoire. I have to say, the acoustic of the venue was incredibly suitable for the ensemble as well. There's a basement below the main floor the singers were on and the sound (I think) resonated in that space and created a perfect reverberation for the event.

I'll reproduce the program note for my work, "Out of the Deep", here.

I've used excerpts from the first verse of Martin Luther's "Out of the Deep I Cry to Thee". This work was written at a time for the world where, in Chechnya, gay men are right now being rounded up and killed in concentration camps. Refugees are turned away and put in concentration camps where they become suicidal on Nauru and Manus Island. Where the powers of the USA and North Korea are aggravating each other with words and threats of using nuclear weapons against each other. Where there is such distrust of foreigners that Pauline Hanson, Brexit and Trump exist. Where there is such denial of truth and science that the Great Barrier Reef is getting damaged beyond the possibility of revitalisation. When the psychological health of children in danger has become a political ball-game. I don't believe in religion, but the lyrics I read in this hymn resonated with me given the times we live in, and my personal context of having experienced such depths that I've attempted suicide and turned to drugs to alleviate pain. A cry from such depths isn't consistent or powerful... it is fragile, unsure, desperate, exhausted, frantic, delusionally energetic beyond exhaustion.

So that's what my work is about.

The lyrics I've used are;

Out of the deep I cry to Thee; O Lord God, hear my crying; Incline Thy gracious ear to me, With prayer to Thee applying. Out of the deep I...

... I don't go through a lot of text... I've explored the text for its relevance in the contemporary context, and made the work very personal. Danny Yeadon on cello has scored improv moments where he becomes the expanse of the universe, the "god" to which I'm crying (and in my case the universe answered with an introduction to Dean!), and the four vocal parts take different expressions of "crying"; which can be fragile, unsure, desperate (and therefore loud), exhausted, frantic, delusionally energetic beyond exhaustion.... because hey, when I really need help, the plea isn't delivered in a measured, calculated calm way... or if it is at least the feelings behind the mask certainly aren't like that - there is a tumultuous chaotic storm in my mind when I'm in trouble (in any way).

But those alarm bells need to be felt by everyone, not just for themselves.... it's one thing to sweat about not being able to afford a house because smashed avocado (/intergenerational theft?), but another thing entirely to sweat about the fact that Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement (which was an international agreement to mitigate further environmental damage to the planet). The Whole Planet is in jeopardy. It won't matter if I can't afford a shoebox in Sydney in a couple of decades. It won't matter if the latest iPhone is coming out. It won't matter if another film about environmental destruction, or gender equality, or healing society comes out. The antarctic is literally splitting in two Right Now.

I just want to live in a world where all these cities aren't going underwater and where everyone loves each other.

That world, it seems to me, will not exist. So what do we do?

Out of the deep, I cry to... ? Thee? An invisible god?

No.

Out of the deep, I cry to thee... You. Me. Us. I define humanity as god. On this planet we have agency. We manifest the love in our hearts into actions. "Thoughts and Prayers" are worth nothing; actions, investment, agreements, contracts are what we have to work with right now. If myopia, greed and narcism is stronger than love and wisdom then we are doomed. 

I don't know what the actual solutions are... but I do know that arts have the power to reach audiences with an invitation to think beyond themselves - without the hindrance of some ancient mis-understood text or selfish financial motivation. So my work invites you to reflect on your depths as well as the depths the world is currently facing, and perhaps that reflection will lead to some catharsis, some exquisite thought, and some action. 

30/31 - Lobotomy premiere and a bit of a Ruckus

Last night was a big moment for me. It was the first time a work of devised performance art I created/facilitated for musicians was performed. The Australian Art Quartet did an impeccable performance. In every work I make that I hear performed I'm always thinking in my head how details could have been better performed, or how I could have made improvements to the overall composition, but last night's performance was one where the importance of the performance details and the compositional construction paled in comparison to the point of "getting through the work" and ensuring integrity in the concepts the work was conveying.

My piece opened the night. The set was the quartet's instruments with jars and candles on the ground. Michael (the partner of the cellist) stood guard whilst audience came in.... it was a full house. Lyle Chan took a couple of photos which I've reproduced here...

The piece starts in near darkness, with Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage" playing on the PA system. I borrowed a lighting tree from my partner Dean for the event. The lighting tree came with what I thought was a dimmer but was actually more like a strobe where I could accelerate or slow the rate of change between 4 channels (from super fast that you can't tell it's actually flashing 1 after another, to so slow it's just fixed on one channel)... well, we work with what we've got.

The musicians entered one by one, in a walking structured improvisation I'd scored for them (they had to execute a few movements, changes of direction, speed changes, and one movement suspension) using their mobiles to light the way. As each entered, one after another, they crouched in front of the instruments, turned off the light of their phone, lit a candle, and took a candle and their instrument to a corner of the stage, placed the candle down, and started droning (between B and C, just below the treble staff). When they'd all entered, "Brain Damage" died down, and they began the second part of the work.

The second part involved them crossing the stage, walking slowly, then, after they hit the centre, rushing to another corner. Whilst doing that movement they had to go from pianissimo B-C slow oscillation to fortissimo tremolo molto sul ponticello on B or C. One by one, with each passing, they put on a white dust mask and changed their note from B-C to A-B (with a bit of a sforzando at the beginning of that new drone/oscillation... which was an aural cue for the next movement set each time).

I won't go into a detailed blow-by-blow account, but the piece then went into a "flocking" section when they all had to follow each other's movements and sounds, swapping the leader depending on who was at the front of the group (again, in a structured improvisation... planned, with some notation, but with a lot of liberty given to the quartet).

After the flocking, they were sort of slow-motion gyrating on their backs, on the floor, "moaning" with their instruments. Suddenly, the PA starts making that sound when a mobile phone is going off next to a sound system! The quartet stops, takes off their masks, gives their instrument to someone in the audience (which the audience LOVED for some reason... go figure, I mean, it really did break the 4th wall in a way a quartet wouldn't normally ever do) they get their candles from the corners, bring them into the middle, blow them out, put their iphone flashlights on, start playing a music track on their iphones, put the phones in the glass jars that the blown-out candles are in, and walk away.

I'd prepared 4 tracks that interlace solo instrument and solo voice - so it was imperative they all pressed play on their phones at the same time, as the words make sentences when the tracks are synchronised.

The piece ended with that recording being played out (which used a development of a melody presented earlier in the piece as its basis, along with lyrics from Pink Floyd's Brain Damage which was heard at the beginning of the piece.. by this time the pitch language had shifted to F#, making the whole work sound grounded, yet somehow unsettled, as the tonal centre to begin with was always ambiguous).

....

I'd never seen a string quartet do that before.

....

The Mendelssohn and Purcell they performed after my work flew by me as I was processing what just occurred. During interval I was getting interesting glances from the punters, some were full of adulation, others were shy to say hi.... the concert finished with Steve Reich's Different Trains with a film that'd been commissioned for the work (which was receiving its Australian premiere at this event too). The Reich was cool, but I was still reeling over my work... I'd never seen anything like it; not on video, not live... it was serious performance art with a contemporary classical music base... I know of some people around the world (Jennifer Walshe in Ireland, Jessica Aszodi in the USA) who are exploring similar concepts - I don't know what their methods are, nor how their performances really look, but I think this is going to be quite a happening movement - and yes I use "Happening" on purpose... these concepts have been explored in the past, and with composers like Kagel... and this world I'm exploring is full of a rich history that scholarly musicians are far more aware of than I. What can I say, I just like to make stuff and make stuff happen!

....

This morning, Dean had a gig with Ruckus at a conference about the disability sector. I went to help him out as an assistant - it was insane (particularly as I was so tired from the night before). Here's a group of professional performance artists giving a 10 minute work at a conference. It was great to be with Dean as he sweated over the music choices and hear about how he developed concept for the work etc... they had literally 2 hours to come up with something last Monday. The performance was actually pretty amazing... and it occurred to me that they're able to get something together quickly like that because they meet to explore material and develop technique every week. If I had a group that met like that, we wouldn't just rehearse music, we'd stretch, dance, read poetry, sing, cry... express in performance technique beyond our training, invite guests to take us through methods... all I need is 4 good movers... 

I had a dream about that actually.... I was reading an ArtsNSW application online - it was 2017 but the page I was reading was from 2015... and it was like it was written for me, it was saying that all I need is 4 good movers as a basis of a company. We'll see what happens....

This is a photo of (from the left) Dean (grey jumper, glasses), Chris, James, Gerry, Digby (in the background next to the easle) and Alison going through the motions of the performance piece before getting into costume.