Re: [microsound] Laptop, etc as Performance device

[mikekwood@xxxxxxx]

I agree, one way to change the conditions of labor is to use some of its aspects for creative work, in  a way to take back some of our own time for creative work by using the very things that we accociate with alienated labor. 
 
To address the notions which were off topic but which we both touched on, I was not suggesting anything close to a kind of Futurist, shocking art. I was referring to that art which borrows safely from dangerous images or concepts without personal risk, and does in fact become, if not an intellectual exercise, then at least an entertainment that can easily get lost in our sea of entertainment. By shock I mean to challenge an audience authentically as much as artistically into new ways of looking at their world which, I'm sure would be shocking to some. In that light, "lumpen consumerism" can be countered; people are not sheep, passively subject to an evil system. Willing to be suprised and changed by art, open to new uses for daily tools like the laptop, means being willing to take responsibility for our system and try to subvert it.
Mike Wood
 
-----Original Message-----
From: David Powers <dpowers3@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 12:50:05 -0600
Subject: Re: [microsound] Laptop, etc as Performance device


Well, there was a lot more to the performance than that, but I don't
want to get into everything as it isn't necessarily directly relevant to
the list.  The performance itself was a 15 minute piece of improvised
music and the MUSIC was intended to be interesting in itself.  This was
not in any way a mere intellectual exercise, it was primarily a piece of
music that you would have to hear to judge as successful or not.  The
primary risk in the piece was, in the end, musical failure.

However, since I needed to use a laptop to perform the piece, I decided
to "frame" the piece with a theatrical element, as opposed to just
setting up the laptop and playing.  Primarily, I brought it up because I
wanted to make the simple point that you can "frame" the use of the
laptop in different ways, and that trying to emulate traditional
performances is not the only option for successful laptop performance.

Interestingly, although the guns were toys, the performers with guns
(both female) actually experienced a degree of physical discomfort in
their roles.  Some people are very sensitive to manifestations of
violence... especially females in a culture of dominated by male
violence. Just participating was a very high degree of risk for one of
the performers, due to previous life experiences.  On the other hand,
putting real bullets in a gun, is in my opinion, crossing an
inappropriate boundary and personally would be unaccaptable.  It crosses
the line towards the possibility of a suicidal or fascist nihilism,
which is always a danger in fringe and extreme types of artistic
practices (as seen in futurism and some manifestations of industrial
music).

Also "lumpen consumerism" has a rather condescending connotation that
bothers me, and I don't necessarily think that art can "shock" people
into new experience, there is a phallocentric violence inherent in that
notion, like, "Ooh we are really gonna F!$& the audience tonight, we're
gonna F!$& them out of their miserable middle class complacency!"  My
intentions are more along the lines of providing multiple avenues for
understanding and experiencing a performance, than just trying to "shake
people up" - again, this has a mildly violent connotation, putting the
artist in an aggresive role while the audience have something done TO
them.

Finally, yes art always implies an element of escapism, there is no
escaping that fact.  This escapism isn't entirely bad per se, since it
is also a line of flight from the miserable and banal existence imposed
on us by the conditions of the marketplace.  But this escapism can be
balanced with elements and forces that simultaneously counter illusion,
opening up a space for thoughts such as, "Why are the rest of our lives
our so dull in comparison with these aesthetic moments?" 

If the conditions of existence were not dominated by alienated labor,
would the laptop still be an "icon of labor", or would it represent
something else in the public imagination?  How can conditions of labor
be transformed into conditions of play and joyful creative work?

~David

David Powers
Secretary
DePaul University, School of Education
Department of Leadership in Education, Language, and Human Services
773-325-4806

>>> mikekwood@xxxxxxx 03/17/05 11:35AM >>>
I agree that people need to be shaken from thier lumpen consumerism to
explore what art can do, to explore the ways it can shock one into new
ways of thinking or articulating their own experience, but the example
that you use is lacking one major component--risk.
I'm assuming there were no bullets in the gun, and the gunman was not a
stranger that you had to entertain or be shot.  And isn't   "The guns,
besides providing a slight
novelty from the audience point of view, were intended to call into
question the supposed freedom of the artist and the conditions under
which artistic activities take place, including the overall social
context in a time of war." also a form of "escapist mysticism?" The
ideas behind the project seem more interesting than the performance, and
if art won't shake people up if it is no more than an arcane
intellectual construct that a certain few are to "get" and the rest can
go watch "Fear Factor." Labor is not about Marx and guerilla theater but
finding ways for people outside the clubs and off campus to hear and be
open to art.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: David Powers <dpowers3@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:24:18 -0600
Subject: RE: [microsound] Laptop, etc as Performance device


Ok, first off, to answer another poster's point, it's true that
laptops
are not very interesting anymore from the viewpoint of novelty. 
However, I highly doubt that is why people use them.  They are used
because they are simply the best tool for achieving certain things,
and
because people can afford them where they can't necessarily afford the
hardware to accomplish similar aesthetic goals.

More interestingly, why this irrational fear of labor?  The fact that
laptops are icons of labor is POSITIVE as far as I'm concerned.  The
fact could be exploited to demystify the musical/artistic process. 
Art
IS work - although not necessarily labor, which is a term associated
with alienation of a worker from their own activity when they are
working solely to earn income, with no investment or enjoyment of the
work activity itself, as in Marx's Economic and Philosophical
manuscripts of 1844 (the concept is also used by Hannah Arendt and
Erich
Fromm, among others).  

Perhaps people would prefer not to dwell, especially in their
"leisure"
time, on the fact that our society is founded on alienated labor. 
They
would prefer their entertainment be escapist mysticism.  One could
speculate that audiences these days could use a good dose of
"alienation" in the Brechtian sense, by being exposed to performances
that undermine the romantic mythology of the performing arts and the
performer as some kind of supernatural being channeling divine forces.

I did a laptop+bassoon performance where I tried to exploit the idea
of
laptop/labor, by pushing the idea even further.  I was led into the
performance, and forced to set up and perform on my laptop, at
gunpoint
- as was the bassoon player.  The bassoon player also set up the
bassoon
in very deliberate, methodical manner, in an attempt to show a
connection between the two kinds of machines, bassoon and laptop, as
both are very much technological forms, and tools.  Bassoons don't
grow
on trees any more than laptops do!  The guns, besides providing a
slight
novelty from the audience point of view, were intended to call into
question the supposed freedom of the artist and the conditions under
which artistic activities take place, including the overall social
context in a time of war.  I think much more elaborate performances
could be created based on these types of premises.

To sum up, I think there are millions of ways to use the laptop, and
we
should not fear them as icons of labor, nor should we be concerned
about
a departure from the supposedly venerable tradition of the performing
arts.  Instead we should exploit their unique characteristics
(including
cultural associations) and find creative ways to successfully present
laptop performances.

~David

David Powers
Secretary
DePaul University, School of Education
Department of Leadership in Education, Language, and Human Services
773-325-4806

>>> chthonic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 03/16/05 06:51PM >>>
>It seems the limitations of laptop performance come from two
directions.
>One is that the laptop is an icon of labour. I work on a computer
>interface most days. When I get home, I often find it difficult to
>"re-see" my laptop as a a creative environment.

THANK you.  exACTly.  this is why i keep my music off the computer 
for the most part.  i only use it to process sounds or do complex 
edits impossible otherwise.


>The second is the expectation of the performative. An expectation
that
>has been discussed previously by Cascone.

yes, even though i know it's possible to make a great sound without 
moving a muscle, i still expect and desire to see/hear cause and 
effect in a performance.  if the music's good wnough i can get over 
it, but usually there's some kind of visuals going on too.


d.

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