With this piece I desired to re-create my initial struggle with learning the drums when I was 19. I had an incredibly difficult time getting my limbs to move independently and in synch with one another. It took about a month just to get the most basic 4/4 beat to even sound like that was what I was trying to do. I remember my instructor’s vehement frustration with my inability to just get it together. I remember not even wanting to make eye contact with him. It’s not like I wasn’t trying, I just really struggled with it. Being asked if I have a learning disability is the most offensive well-meaning thing anyone has ever said to me.
I wanted the tapes to be an extension of each of my limbs that play different parts of the drum set (high hat, snare, kick). He used to tell me to practice for 15 mins each day so the duration of the piece was supposed to be like a practice session even though it was about 6 mins short of that. I wanted to mimic the frustration of not only myself but also my instructors. My intentions aren’t to provoke or annoy but simply to share in the frustration of something that was an incredibly difficult/impossible task for me to get my grasp on. But, don’t let it seem as though I didn’t think the possibility for annoyance wasn’t possible. I didn’t think the noises would be annoying but rather the process of watching me try to synch all three would be cumbersome and perhaps empathetic.
I think telling the audience to stand may have been a mistake. I did want you/them to feel somewhat authoritative (looking down upon someone struggling with something) but commanding them to stand I think disrupted any sense of hierarchy.
For me, your performance was reminiscent of John Cage. The variety of sounds was interesting. When the performance ended, I felt as if the sound of the magnetic tape eraser was a parody of the finale’s sharp and short cymbal crash. That odd twist is what I really enjoyed. Even though I knew the device was sitting beside you, the sound it made when applied to the tape was ironic to me.
ReplyDeleteadan
ReplyDeleteI agree - the directions were authoritative in and of themselves; however the piece worked in other ways - the frustration as well as humble determination to persist came across in a miniature and original way. BTW: we had all viewed many, many pieces that day and this was last one... I believe that also affected the capacity for extended attention and considered response.
Now I see the scale and scope of more recent endeavors, I perceive this as a somewhat transitional piece, though in all your works it is clear audience and relationality is a primary concern as well as source of affirmation for you.
Nice lead into what came later! Who could have expected what happened? From tiny to vast!