Re: [microsound] Laptop, etc as Performance device

[chthonic streams <chthonic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > Is this barrier simply a short term obstacle present until the audience
> > is able to understand the performative language of the laptop?
>
> No. There is no performative language of the laptop. Or more aptly, 
> yes there is a language, but it is only one syllable, and it is 
> misspelled. Unless someone does something performative, then there 
> really is no performance in practical terms. Laptop "performance" is 
> boring period. Just because someone gets up in front of people and 
> does something on their laptop does not mean that the entire history 
> of the performing arts should be re-calibrated to allow for that act 
> to be "good performance". It is a slap in the face to anyone who has 
> honed those performative skills. It is a slap in the face to the 
> audience to blame the lack of engagement in the performance on them 
> (the audience). You either have a good performance or you don't. 
> That definition is broad, and should be explored by anyone who wants 
> to "perform" using a laptop. The days of the novelty value of 
> someone getting up in front of people and doing something in real 
> time on their laptop are gone.


hopefully yes...but once novelty value has gone is when what's really 
worth something rises to the top.  i agree the audience can't be 
blamed, at least not entirely.  if we don't understand, then laptop 
artists need to make us understand.

again, context is all.  i absolutely loved the kid606 show at rothko 
in nyc, which could have benn called boring by some standards i 
suppose.  the onscreen visuals were manic and the music was 
completely insane.  i didn't have time to be bored.  i didn't care 
about the gear he was using (laptop and some outboard stuff).  he 
didn't even play much of anything i recognized, so my owning a few 
CDs of his had no effect.  i realize he could have theoretically done 
all the mixes prior to his arrival and just acted like he was doing 
something, but i think it was obvious that wasn't the case.  by 
contrast, i couldn't have been more bored with the plaid show i saw, 
which had *teo* people onstage and also had visuals.  that one i left 
early.  i also have their CDs and probably enjoyed them about as much 
at the time as i do kid606 now.  there must have been some difference 
between these two performances.

once you've seen a few of these shows, you learn the language of the 
laptop performer: the furrowed brow, the darting eyes, the hurried 
motions back and forth with other gear, the sweating, the head 
bobbing, the fist-pumping.  you could say it's all bullshit, but then 
you could say that of any aspect of visual performance in an 
essentially sonic medium.


d.

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