Everything. Everything at once. Once. (3)

Tag cloud datafile Here is the 3rd iteration of my ongoing series of pieces ‘Every. Everything at once. Once’.

Before I gib gab about it, here is “Everything Everything at once. Once. (3a)”:

The idea for these pieces is to focus my creative process and energy on the curatorial act of choosing the instruments I will improvise with. This has now extended into the choosing of the location, look, and visual approach used in each video. Each video in the series has had its own distinctive look, and has also come to include new collaborators alongside my long-time collaborator Angela Guyton.

Going into this third video, I knew I could try something different, because of the acoustic (and battery powered) nature of the instruments chosen. A melodica (which I bought over 15 years ago at a flea market for $5!), and my trusty ciat-lonbarde Old Mr. Grassi. I first thought about using some kind of outdoor location, but after seeing David Pocknee and Michael Baldwin‘s basement, I thought that it would be a wonderful place to film.

The original idea was to use some dripping paint, with David and Michael each having a squirt bottle, and then adding some vertical glitching artifacts similar to the language Angela had explored in her latest video. But after doing a take with the paint, and seeing how amazing the lighting by David and Michael was, the paint/glitch idea was scrapped altogether. Angie thought that with David and Michael enacting two tasks, what their role meant within the work changed. It created a different context and gave the work a different character, but one that didn’t seem as complete as when they were focused completely on their dispassionate navigation of the space as they sensitively manipulated the lighting.

I was initially hesitant about this change, since I was quite excited about the paint/glitch idea, but I trusted Angie’s judgement on the matter. And in the end, the videos came out better.

The choice of instruments for this particular version of the piece is far smaller than the other versions, with just two instruments:

1 x ciat-lonbarde Old Mr. Grassi
1 x Artist Ltd. Pianica

The first version had 10 instruments, and the second version had 18.

That being said, this particular combination of instruments is one of my longest standing ‘pairings’, going to back to when I initially started performing solo improv. In that sense, it served as an almost proto version of this creative thinking. Some of the language in the third video (3c), particularly the near-unison sustained pitches, diatonic-y material (Gminor?!?!), is something I strongly associate with this particular combination of instruments.

Even though the combination of instruments is quite old for me, I wanted to incorporate that specific pairing into this compositional framework, where the choice of instruments defines the piece.

I am still, however, surprised at the endless source of inspiration these instruments provide. It almost feels like cheating, at this point, given how interesting the instruments sound, but I felt I found lots of new and fresh angles on them. My work on the Battle Pieces, .com pieces, and dfscore system has given me such a fluid understanding of form, gesture, and pacing, that I can really focus on multiple formal levels while attending to the micro/developmental nature of the sounding materials themselves.

The visual identity of these pieces is becoming something that is increasingly important, which in this case specifically involved dynamic manipulation of light. This tendency has been apparent in all of my work over the last few years, but each one of these videos, particularly, has a very considered visual identity and approach. I am curious to see where this will go, and if the general idea of these pieces (to draw a metaphoric circle around the part of the creative act I want to focus on) will explicitly be extended to the entire ‘art object’.

When asked, after filming the videos, to describe what we thought was important using only three words (Michael had asked David this question before), Angela and I shared two of the three words: creativity and love. We disagreed on sharing vs freedom for the third word, but what can you do. I am comforted by the fact that I’m right and she’s wrong.

Distractfold Ensemble – Usine Kugler – Geneva – 30/01/15

Distractfold Ensemble – Gare du Nord – Basel – 29/01/15

Distractfold Ensemble – Anthony Burgess Foundation – Manchester – 25/01/15

Solo drums+electronics – Hotspur House – Manchester – 23/01/15

bird rat centipede – Fuel Cafe – Manchester – 11/12/14

me & you – Long White Cloud – London – 30/10/14

Who	me & you
When	Thursday, October 30, 2014 8:00pm - All Ages
Where	Long White Cloud (map) 151 Hackney Road London, England E2 8JL

Distractfold ensemble – Anthony Burgess Foundation – Manchester – 04/10/14

Solo drums + electronics – MediaCity – Salford – 26/09/14

Who	Solo drums + electronics
When	Friday, September 26, 2014 6:00pm - All Ages
Where	MediaCity (map) The Greenhouse, MediaCityUK Salford, England M50 2EQ
Other Info	As part of this: http://metanast.wordpress.com

dfscore premiere – Fuel Cafe – Manchester – 18/09/14

Distractfold Ensemble – Cafe Otto – London – 02/09/14

Distractfold Ensemble – Le Bruit de la Musique Festival – Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux – 24/08/14

Who	Distractfold Ensemble
When	Sunday, August 24, 2014 6:00pm - All Ages
Where	Le Bruit de la Musique Festival (map) Mairie Le Bourg 23140 Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux, France 23140
Other Info	Programme (sous réserve) Iannis Xenakis, violon solo Stephan Prins (BE), violoncelle solo Iannis Xenakis, alto solo Dominik Karski (PL), flûte solo … Avec : Richard Craig (flûte), Linda Jankowska (violon), Emma Richards (alto) et Alice Purton (violoncelle)

ialreadyforgotyourpussy.com / solo improv – Le Bruit de la Musique Festival – Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux – 23/08/14

Who	ialreadyforgotyourpussy.com / solo improv
When	Saturday, August 23, 2014 5:30pm - All Ages
Where	Le Bruit de la Musique Festival (map) Mairie Le Bourg 23140 Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux, France 23140
Other Info	Programme (sous réserve) : Richard Craig (UK) flûte amplifiée Mauricio Pauly (Costa Rica), violon et pédales d’effets Richard Craig/Rodrigo Constanzo (UK, USA), flûte amplifiée, caisse claire et électroniques Rodrigo Constanzo, improvisation Mauricio Pauly (Costa Rica), ensemble amplifié (flûte basse, violon, violoncelle, percussion, guitare) et électroniques Avec : Richard Craig (flûte), Linda Jankowska (violon), Alice Purton (violoncelle), Mauricio Pauly (guitare), Rodrigo Constanzo (percussion, électroniques).

Distractfold Ensemble – Le Bruit de la Musique Festival – Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux – 22/08/14

Who	Distractfold Ensemble
When	Friday, August 22, 2014 8:30pm - All Ages
Where	Le Bruit de la Musique Festival (map) Mairie Le Bourg 23140 Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux Saint-Silvain-sous-Toux, France 23140
Other Info	Programme (sous réserve) : Martin Iddon (UK), trio à cordes Pedro Álvarez (Chile), trio à cordes Jonathan Harvey (UK), flûte et trio à cordes John Croft (UK), flûte basse, alto et violoncelle Santiago Díez-Fischer (Argentina), trio à cordes Avec Richard Craig (flûte), Linda Jankowska (violon), Emma Richards (alto) et Alice Purton (violoncelle)

Distractfold Ensemble – Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt – Darmstadt – 12/08/14