new collaboration

Ok, so I haven’t updated in a while.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the performance of Memory due to complications on the LIRR from the noreaster we experienced that weekend.  I did however, watch the footage from the roving camera online and it was amazing.  I am very upset that I didn’t get to be a part of that performance.  So, kudos to all of my classmates and professors for a job well-done!

Now, on to the next project…

In class, Raquel came up with the idea of Territory as a theme for our next collaborative project.  Since that class, the idea has expanded into Boundaries, which is essentially the same thing as our originial concept.  We also discussed potential collaborators (Beth thinks that she can get a group from South Africa to join.  I’m very extremely excited about that.)  Tam’s friend from Italy would be willing to collaborate with her again on another flute-graphic art piece that she’s already working on.  This is comporised of two parts ( melodic depictions of the Tora and Qu’uaran).  With everything that’s been going on claiming territory in that part of the world, I find this very appropriate for our theme. Raquel wanted to connect with someone she knows in Brazil and Jason might be able to hook up with people in Texas.  This is a lot of potential connections going on, however I believe Tom said we  can have 4.  Ideally, I would like to broadcast live on the web.  So, if all of our collaborations end up working, here’s what this will look like:

1- Broadcast

2- South Africa

3- Italy

4- Brazil

5- Texas

Obviously, that’s more than 4.  But, as these things usually go, we might be down one connection as we draw closer to the performance, or we could use one of the connections to connect to a different collaborator, or what have you.  The possibilities are endless, really.  In terms of projectors, I think we wanted to have 3 or 4, sort of creating boundaries by the screens that would be set up to project on.  We discussed projecting on the floor, and we discussed projecting onto bodies wrapped in white material, or holding the screen, that would move and distort the image.  I think this is a really cool idea.

 

We also discussed the boundaries of different musical style, period, genre and what gives a piece that identity of belonging to a definite group.  I brought up the idea by saying “What would happen if you took a piece from Mozart and added a blue note to it?” Tom said, “You would have PDQ Bach.”  Although this is both, funny and true, it is this sort of musical boundary distortion that I would like to explore in our next project.  Obviously, not limited to classical and blues, but what if you took something reminiscent of Gershwin’s “Cheek to Cheek” and made it into a rap, or rock song, or even if you added African drumming?  It has now crossed the boundaries of a pop standard and become something else.

 

Sony also mentioned the music building and the practice rooms as having physical boundaries, but also impose sort of societal and musical boundaries.  This is a topic that we are discussing in one of our other classes with Dr. Elliott and I believe that we can further explore this concept through this performance.  What sort of society is created in the music building and what are the social norms of the practice rooms?  What other interpersonal boundaries are created by practicing in a confined space, but surrounded by other people doing the same thing.  I just watched a documentary where there were probably over 100 Venezuelan children all practicing their instruments outside, amongst everyone else, practicing solely their music.  How does this differ from the way that we practice and feel about other people watching us practice, even though we know that they can hear us?

            Those are  some of the ideas that we put forth the other night.  This should be very interesting, so we’ll see where this goes from here and what new developments we can come up with next class.