The Performing Audiovisualist » paper

Towards a Definition of The Performing Audiovisualist

lb — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:15:50 +0000

There it is… my first paper. Delivered to the Australasian Computer Music Conference in August 2009 and published as part of the proceedings.

Three months on I see it as not so much a proof of concept as it is an evocation of the reason for a program of research on the nature of audiovisual performance in the now.

It is a confused document, lurching through the centuries making disparate links here and there between different media forms and approaches. Well this is the point!

At the moment we have an excess of example with few historical threads to link the divergent approaches.

Yet the grant funded artist uses fundamentally similar tools as the underground noise musician.

What similarities exist between Peter Greenaway’s live Tulse Luper (remix) project and what Scott Sinclair is achieving through his Company Fuck performances?

I’m going to delve into both in further blog posts – don’t want to peak too early.

Just thought i’d say for now – these new opportunities are riding on centuries of live art and decades of performative research. As the technology becomes more utilitarian, so the approaches to the use of technology in performance become more interesting. This is where I believe the story is. There is little “new” about any of this, but now many more artists are encouraged to develop a synchresis of sound and vision, a dual mode dialogue that may hopefully assist in doing the one thing that artists throughout the centuries have attempt to do – communicate.

In my solo AV practice i’m learning how to do this more effectively – and I plan to make many mistakes – generate all the tedious and pointless novelty examples of AV inclusion possible – in order to strive for a greater unity of expression. Learning to fail and learning to learn from that failure.

Just before signing off on this quick (and incredibly late) post – I’d like to say that the following video is a pretty evocative example of AV that is both engaging and embodied while demonstrating a level of practiced skill that used to (in theory) signify the value of a live performer. Something that Quartz Composer patches don’t tend to really bring to a performance.

How to design a digital media instrument with such expressability?

Performance Experiments Phase1: introduction

lb — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:06:47 +0000

Well howdy!

Over the next three years I will periodically demonstrate my findings through a number of live audiovisual performance experiments, documenting my approaches and related issues.

The phases are as follows:

addressing my background in composition and performance and current approaches;
addressing the literature and assimilating theoretical concepts into performance practice;
addressing the case studies / approaches and concerns of other audiovisualists;
exhibition of works and findings.

Documentation will be uploaded to VIMEO for each phase and will be used to elaborate on blog postings discussing the likes of:

compositional and performative approaches;
audience and context
comparative works and inspiration;
technological affordances and impact;

plus whatever else seems relevant at the time.

So the first phase matched up with:

a performance as part of Tom Hall’s “Left of Left” exhibition at the Judith Wright Centre in Brisbane;

Left of Left performance poster c/o Tom Hall

two performances and the presentation of my paper at the Australasian Computer Music Conference 2009 here in Brisbane.

Australasian Computer Music Conference 2009 - conference.acma.asn.au

Here is the first phase worth of video material which I will discuss in the next few blogs. Get acquainted and I’ll be back soon with a post about the Left of Left performance.

chrs

][oyd

Travelling Audiovisualist

lb — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:49:25 +0000

First new post in a while; adopted an aura of silence during the hermetic construction of my methodological framework. Also have a paper accepted for the Australasian Computer Music Conference titled “Towards a definition of the Performing Audiovisualist” which I will post after i’ve completed the necessary revisions.

I’m trekking down to Melbourne this week; aside from catching up with some friends I have the following AV related itinerary:

http://www.acmi.net.au/synaesthesia_jeanpoole.aspx

http://www.federationsquare.com.au/index.cfm?pageID=373

http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/Whatson/ignite/Pages/ignite.aspx

http://www.acmi.net.au/light_in_winter_09.aspx

If anyone can think of anything else I must see…?

The blog will run hot following this little excursion.

I’m not going to Sydney this time around so i’m going to miss Eno’s 7 Gazillion Paintings projected on the Opera House. I’m hearing mostly snarky comments about it so far; any opinions from attendees are much appreciated.

In other news:

I just picked up a Kodak Zx1 so I can do portable documentation. As per expected it isn’t great in low light and stabilisation is an issue however the attachable hand grip from the Zoom H2 works well to mitigate my caffeine shakes. The main point of purchase is to provide a portable ‘everywhere i go’ video recorder to document moving textures and perhaps some riots.

Troy Sobotka used an earlier iteration of this device to produce this:

Quite impressed with the lack of movement jitter.

Oh well duty calls, let’s talk soon.