256Hz resonated through an eight inch square three inch deep biscuit tin makes these vibrations through on of the cymatic vessels.
But the day brings tragedy. The red laser burns out and back in London, David Cameron makes a deal with Nick Clegg. It rains, is freezing and the warm Javanese restaurant has closed at 9pm.
I have arrived in Amsterdam to make, play and research multi-channelled vibratory pathways with Optofonica, TeZ and the Anharmonium at the Melkweg for the week.
Fabulous to be back in Amsterdam and back in an inspired working environment. January 1st 1996 was the freezing night I drove here to work at Steim and find myself discovering LiSa and embarking on that trajectory that has kept me coming back. What’s interesting now are the synergetics at work behind these synchronated fields of research with the Optofonica crew. I met TeZ in a cathedral for the Radar festival in Mexico City 2006. I have made an AV work for Optofonica, and he has installed Sonic Bed at Monte Video. Currently we discover we are both on Buckminster Fuller and dedicated Japanese martial arts training trips. This is the first time we have managed to work together.
We perform the first stage of the Ephemeral Animation project with Nenagh Watson at Central School of Speech and Drama through Conversations with an umbrella.
The storm scene is stunning. A pile of broken umbrellas sit discarded whilst a storm rattles the house. CCSD’s sound system is not nearly up to it and we lose 10% of the audience. For an international puppet festival this kind of puppetry, static object animated by active sound, is unknown.
The forks take a train trip to Ghent to premiere the Prongs duo with Thomas Smetryns at Vooruit. We perform our London devised score, a variety of throbbing A’s, descent, ascent, striking, C’s, ice blocks, spillikins. Pure tones and analogue processings through a biscuit tin, clip and paper vibrators play along with digital action with LiSa. Kaffe’s forks are amplified with electric guitar pick ups and Thomas’s with microphones. The combination works well.
A focussed listening audience are entranced for fifty minutes in the dark through four speakers. Wim produces fizz to celebrate after the clapping. It all ends in long discussion on Belgian and British politics over fine vegan dinner. Excellent to be playing in Belgium once more.
We will not be defeated by a volcano!
Sonic Bed_London , playing Melt inevitable in the music for bodies studio sets up to join in remotely with Sonic Bed_Quebec opening at Oboro, Montreal, Canada. This is the first time two sonic beds have been in the same space.
We open in 5minutes..
Skygroupscore, In clean air we fly, KM,2009
I am almost inspired that we humans and our activities are grounded by volcanic activity. I should now be flying to Montreal to install Sonic Bed_Quebec at Oboro. The plan after that is to run a workshop with Montreal artists to make a new Bed work, play a WATER concert with Martin Tetreault and Magali Babin on Friday 23rd and launch the bed with Melt Inevitable+concert on Saturday 24th.
We shall see what the ash lets us do. Tonight instead I go celebrate with Sun Ra Arkestra who are also grounded. ” This song is dedicated to Nature’s God, Nature’s God, Nature’s God ..”
So what is Ephemeral Animation I have been saying out loud during these 4 days of security clad research at CSSD, London with Nenagh Watson, Creative Fellow there.
” The random unpredictability of the elements (wind, water, light) generates an uncanny illusion of independent ‘life’ from discarded debris. As a puppeteer I have discovered that by observing animation void of human ego(animator) enables a ‘purity’ and freedom of animation which can teach and show the art form afresh.”
I am considering shark movements and introducing listening , 1. To this noisy London dance studio, 2. To storms caught by chance inside a rattling wooden room in The Bay Area, 3. Rain on a Scottish island and inner city New York, and 4. 20m underwater off Wolf Island, Galapagos. Curious to consider the forms created through movement, random or directed.
The Gluts have a fat body of songs within Café Carbon. I have made rough mixes of our February studio recordings and am surprised.
Question: do we make a slab of vinyl?
Things have moved on apace. Thomas has a set of lathed A’s which has shifted their frequencies around 440Hz into 7 varieties so the beatings are getting fast, slow, fruity and surprisingly precise. The playing itself also requires precision. Battodo Fudokan training is again useful.
We’ve also explored other resonant surfaces with contact mics. Organic shortbread tin is the most fruitful, with thin plastic, short fat plastic and varying thicknesses of paper attached also useful. Playing technique grows once more and potential as ever, is vast.
I knew this guitar I picked up off the street 3 years ago would come in useful one day :–>flexible amplification play for tuning forks, especially with my old DoD volume pedal connected. I am deep in research land with a 13 piece set of chromatic tuning forks and 5 scientific C’s starting at 128Hz. Thomas Smetryns comes over from Ghent at the weekend for us to get The Prongs into action.