Performing Reflection 0.5
“Reflection-in-action taken too literally.” A quote from a later performance that became a connecting thread for all iterations of the Performing Reflection projects. The first attempt, designated 0.5, was performed with the use of training wheels—a graphic score and a prepared text stood in for the verbal part, serving as a form of pre-reflection that guided both the reflection-in-action and the musical material.
A performance in the function of an exercise, one that set the path for its full iteration. Another proof of concept, hinting at innumerable possibilities while still obfuscating the truth. The preconceived text anticipated both the difficulties and the benefits of such a performance format: “As I speak, my focus shifts from the sounds into the domain of words. They affect the way I play; they distract, attempt to trick the mind.”
A balancing act between speaking and playing, modes of thinking fluctuating between different aural domains, seemingly distant in nature, yet through the process of preparing and executing this performance, rapidly approaching one another until they almost appear to overlap. In this merger, new questions arise: about the semantic differences and similarities between verbal and musical statements; about the act of improvising with words and with sounds; and about the nature of improvisation itself.
