Last February (2020), before everything screeched to a halt, Oren and i were in the midst of a lovely tour in B.C. Canada and the USA. The second show of the tour took place in a lovely little performance space / record shop in Nanaimo B.C. called the Black Dot. This show was recorded and after mixing it here in Berlin with our dear friend Joe Talia it is now available as a limited edition LP on the Black Dot label. The release can be purchased through their bandcamp page (physical & digital) and will also be available in Europe very soon through us directly & through the lovely folks at Soundohm (pre-orders are already up).
Big thanks to Jack Tieleman & David Read at the Black Dot for their wonderful hospitality and for making this release possible!
In the mid-70’s artists Annea Lockwood & Alison Knowles published a magazine that sought to highlight the overlooked work of female artists working at the cusp of the visual arts, music, and performance. This magazine – Womens Work – featured text-based and instructional performance scores by 25 artists, composers, and choreographers.
>>> Fast Forward to 2021… Issue Project Room has developed an online series – With Womens Work – commissioning a wonderfully diverse group of female-identifying—and gender beyond female acknowledging trans-experience – artists to create new works inspired by scores included in Womens Work. I am honoured to have my work kick off this very special series! The piece premieres at 8PM EST and can be streamed on Issue’s website HERE.
My piece Valid ForeverrRrrRRrrr… (pt.1) was inspired by the wonderful graphic + text score by American composer Beth Anderson. Here are my notes on the work:
Valid ForeverrRrrRRrrr… (pt.1)
Trio for two large similar paper things and one 5-pin bowling ball.
Gazing over Beth Anderson’s wonderful graphic score of the letter R in various typefaces and sizes had me hearing the sound of rolling r’s in my head. In Anderson’s original score she asks the players to perform rolls (with a velvet beater) on classic instruments – piano/harp and membranophones. I took a different approach, in part out of necessity due to the limitations of my current situation – an extended lock-down in Berlin, with no studio and inhabiting a small 1-room flat that I share with my partner, but more particularly by looking at it from a conceptual angle and applying my usual methods of working with non-typical instruments. I adhered to the score’s call for the piece to be a trio. From there the work was born out of the evocative nature of her playful page of R’s – tongue twirling rrrrrr’s, rolling vibrations, rumbles and quiet purrrrs…
My 2014 piece titled ‘keeping the ball rolling’ is meant to be metaphorically rolling in perpetuity and recently it has felt stiflingly paused with the events of this very challenging past year. While pondering Anderson’s score, an auspicious feeling struck me that set this piece back in motion. The feeling (and sounds) of movement and momentum conjured by this meeting feels somehow reassuring at this moment in time.
Valid ForeverrRrrRRrrr… launches the series this week, and on Saturday, February 6 at 4PM (EST) I will be part of an online conversation with Annea Lockwoodand Irene Revell as a special members event. Details here.
crys cole 