wednesday miscellany

At long last, I have returned! As always there are numerous pieces of blog worthy flotsam floating about my brain, but for now I'll leave you with the following bits and bobs:

This interview with performance artist Marina Abramovic certainly helped me to better understand her oeuvre, but also a more recent work The Artist is Present. I also appreciate her philosophy on performance art, that is to say that it is not merely a singular event.

CMM All Stars Sarah Foster, Luke Foster and Solvay Peterson will present a free concert on Sunday, October 17 at 2:00 at First Lutheran Church of New Richmond. Music by Schubert and Prokofiev.

Recently, CMM Resident Conductor and Artistic Adviser, Joe Peters, sent me the video below. Don't be surprised if you see it on a CMM4 program...


Iannis Xenakis: Plekto (1993)

Finally, our little blog is moving. I have begun sketches for a CMM website within which a new blog, Thirty Second Notes (wink wink nudge nudge), will feature the content you've come to expect from this site.

yoko, oh no!

The great thing about having your own music festival is that you can entertain ideas like programming Ono's Cut Piece. For our immediate future, this is completely not feasible. Let us all take a moment to imagine what it would be like if I performed Cut Piece--wherein the audience cuts off the performer's clothing until she/he is naked (or nearly so)--at First Lutheran Church of New Richmond. Right. It basically goes without saying that this would not be an option. However, I like the idea of programming some of Ono's works (how very conceptual of me!). Until recently, I'd been largely (though admittedly unjustifiably) an Ono naysayer, but taking an open and unbiased look at Cut Piece and the rest of her Fluxus-era oeuvre has completely turned me around. There are a few common themes running through much of her work that fit neatly with our mission statement, the most pertinent being the concept of the gift and the idea of audience participation. There is quite a bit more to say about Cut Piece and the rest of Ono's continually expanding oeuvre, for now I'll just include a video of the 1965 Carnegie Hall performance...

Notice the disturbing pace at which the piece progresses; the carelessness of the audience. There is something deeply unsettling about the performer/participant dynamic: something violent, disrespectful, and crass. Indeed, much more to say...