Anarchiving (in) Ben Patterson's Variations for Double-Bass

Christopher A. Williams

Here I employ techniques of anarchiving to explore the dynamics of notation, improvisatory performance, and analysis in Fluxus artist Ben Patterson's Variations for Double-Bass (1961). Coined by process philosophers Erin Manning and Brian Massumi, the concept of the anarchive refers to "a repertory of traces of collaborative research-creation events. The traces are not inert, but are carriers of potential." Variations' proto-anarchival qualities drive the structure of the exposition, which includes superimposed video documentation from my own performances, as well as brief analytical texts and performance instructions for the reader. I hope that this meta-anarchival process both sheds light on Patterson's work, and shows how documentation and analysis in the spirit of the anarchive can propel experimental (musical) practice forward in unexpected ways.

There are two problems:

1. The aspect ratio of the tool does not match the transcoded video, resulting in black bars (visible if you skip to 0m10s). This is not just one video, but on every page of this exposition the topmost video has this problem.

2. The aspect ratio of these particular video tools (unlike other video tools) is locked, which means we cannot adjust the height to get rid of the black bars (changing height immediately changes width as well).

Perhaps, as a pragmatic solution for now, can you remove the lock on the aspect ratio of the videos within this exposition ?

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