Recontextualized Sound
Can you play an improvised set while waiting in line at the supermarket? Can you use preparations on your instrument in a jazz club? Is the sonic environment of a factory just a noise concert in disguise? Where is the boundary that delineates noise-based improvisation from noise-based action?
The more I began extending my instrument, the more I noticed a significant shift in how I perceived it. Depending on the context in which I placed it—and myself—neither I nor the instrument remained the same. The sonic, social, and improvisational demands varied from one domain to another. The context, coupled with the actant and the instrument, creates a kind of ecosystem: a set of interconnections that defines the domain and its (perceived) limitations.
I wanted to experiment with the notion of context to observe how a specific environment would influence my playing. At the same time, I was curious about how my actions would impact a space already accustomed to various sounds. This space came with its own instrumentarium—objects whose meanings shifted through the lens of the context I placed them in. In a way, everything changed: the objects became instruments, the instrument became an object, the workshop became a performance space, and sound became noise. The goal was to explore the border between these practices. But rather than drawing a clear line of demarcation, all the elements of the performance blended together.
I am not only part of the situation—the situation is also defined by my actions and, most importantly, by intentionality. There is an intention to improvise, to create, to structure sound in ways that are not simply byproducts of movement or gesture. The connection to this intention is what varies most across domains. It is not universal: the freedom to improvise in a particular way is shaped—and often obstructed—by contextual impositions that exert constraints on the entire ecosystem.
An exploration of space, with its historicity, implications, and context. Objects teeming with sonic potential. A way to explore theories of preparation and to release the sounds hidden within. An art foundry founded in 1907, a workshop coated in dust more than a century old. Brushes, screws, sandpaper, rust, wires, wrenches, pliers, hammers, saws, chisels, rulers, oil, cabinets, calipers, tape, grease. Objects once used to bring thousands of artworks into being. Artisans working for the benefit of artists. A space surrounding the boundary between art and craft.