[NetBehaviour] Improvisation

[if]

> peter and simon i enjoyed very much reading your descriptions of the
> improv music gatherings
>

Hey! Yes, Interesting indeed. (Well at least from my narrow perspective)

The general suspiciousness regarding improvisational processes by humans -
or perhaps other organically evolved beings - is that the premise of
improvisation seems to be negated by the eventual formation of a system.
(Am using "system" to echo Peter's description of the development.)

The seeming spontanious emergence of systems via improvisational processes
is - in a way - not just the end of the music session but of the process
being improvised perhaps. Mechanically evolved beings, eg computer
programms, algorithms, etc. - seem to be better adapted to improvisation
that organic stuff like us, no?

Check this. Suppose we fancy finding the shortest route between A and B.
Will it not be an idea to let an algorithm find that out?
To do that, the algorithm will try various ways at random. In a sense -
Improvise. And will end with a system that shows the shortest route It
could have come up with..

Am therefore interested in the technological link with improvisational
processes. It seems like there might be there something to question the
very sequences of using the technologies, no? eg a sequence of
technological-mediation (eg when a person's activities are mediated by
technological elements), a sequence of curation (when technological output
activities are curated by a person), a sequence of translation (eg, when a
person's questions are translated to technological means for
improvisational processes), etc..

Cheers!

aharon0n
xx

> i have added a machinima to the 0P3NR3P0 NetArtizens gallery of a virtual
>  piece scripted by oberon onmura called contact improvisation (it no
> longer 'exists' in a virtual art improv place that no longer 'exists'
> except in further field artworks derived from the artworks, the objects
> were coded to dance according to contact improvisation principles which
> they did autonomously and independently according to locus of contact
>
> the sounds were generated by the dance itself and were not added or
> edited by me
>
> https://vimeo.com/123712004
>
>
> it seems this improv process could be an apt metaphor for the NetArtizens
>  project
>
> oberon's text about the piece:
>
> Upon entering a Contact Improv structure, two bodies must come together
> to create a point of contact (i.e., back to back, shoulder to shoulder,
> head to head, leg to leg, the options are endless), give weight equally to
> each other, and then create a movement dialog that can last for an
> undetermined amount of time, as long as both participants are fully
> engaged."
>
> Steve Paxton, the creator of the Contact Improvisation modern dance
> movement, was a founder of the Judson Dance Theater, which was formed and
> performed in a church in NYC's Greenwich Village. The activities around
> the Judson Dance Theater were central to the development of some of the
> most important artwork of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Artists involved include
>  Yvonne Rainer, David Gordon, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Meredith Monk
>  and many others.
>
> This simple piece mimics a Contact Improvisation process. Fortunately,
> the four elements are always "fully engaged."
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 5:57 PM, Simon Mclennan <mclennanfilm at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>> Peter,
>>
>>
>> Thanks for putting this so clearly, this is pretty much my own
>> experience of improvised music over the last few decades.
>>
>> In Brighton there is a similar group known as SAFEHOUSE collective. We
>> meet monthly for the open session, open to both members and non-members.
>> Ensuring a
>> steady flow of newcomers to the group. Some stay some flow through.
>>
>> It is indeed the discipline, if you like, of listening and reacting and
>>  being reacted to, by the other players and the audience, that is
>> challenging and rewarding. It is safe to experiment and try new ways of
>> playing and relating to the other sounds.
>>
>> There is always at least a small audience, and not just players.
>>
>>
>> I notice and enjoy the fact that there is always a tension between what
>> is performed and not performed, or what could be termed performance. What
>> is permitted. Can you try to speak to the other players - in your normal
>> speaking voice - in a performed voice, speak to the audience. Can you
>> suddenly move about and forget about your instrument. Dance. Draw
>> something.
>>
>> It’s great.
>>
>>
>> It’s a big clot of people who come together, in the same room, and
>> sometimes it might sound dull, other times you sweat with the sheer
>> greatness of it. But there is no bar that you must rise up to. It seems
>> to be social. Sometimes you fall back on the old tricks, you know, the
>> licks, but if you notice you can soon put a stop to that and add to the
>> beauty of the sound by shutting the fuck up, and so become very much a
>> part of the whole shebang in your very absence.
>>
>> Simon
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 31 Mar 2015, at 14:19, Peter Gomes <petegomes at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Notes on "The Gathering" 30/03/2015
>>
>>
>>
>> Lats night I attended ‘The Gathering’ in London. Starting in 1989
>> stemming from people from London Musicians Collective Maggie Nichols
>> describes it ;“It started with improvising musicians but quickly
>> expanded to include anyone who wanted to explore and experiment in a
>> welcoming environment. It's a place where experienced musicians use
>> their skills to encourage rather than exclude others.” It is now a
>> loose group of players who meet weekly in London and also in Wales.
>>
>>
>> What struck me yesterday after my post to Net Behaviour was ‘The
>> Gathering’ and its relationship as a way of working and communicating.
>>  There was a complete absence of judgement or ego among the attendees.
>> In
>> fact, there was no discussion as to the value of the output itself, the
>> musicianship or anything produced. The real value appeared to be in the
>>  interaction, the actual process of communication in the midst of a
>> collective creative act, and the ability for players to connect to each
>>  other beyond language or structure.
>>
>>
>> What was evident is this process of listening and response, was a
>> subtle dialogue of maybe mimicry, repetition, and awareness of the other
>> players and silence. It functioned like a network of individuals
>> responding to feedback physical, sonic, aural. A system.
>>
>>
>> It is a real social network of musicians and makers. Tea, playing,
>> talking in between. When we played, yes it was improvisation.
>> Technically you might
>> call this ‘Free Improvisation’. We worked without structure or
>> planning, key, rhythm or style. People used speech, percussion, drums,
>> violin, flutes, guitar, voice, and vocal sounds. The atmosphere there
>> was a genuine creative freedom, where you tried new things because you
>> knew there were no consequences for right or for wrong. Risk did not
>> really exist because creative fear was simply not present.
>>
>>
>> Each participant is autonomous but in an act of collective co creation.
>> A
>> creative network of individuals working towards an unknown creative
>> emergent output.
>>
>>
>> If there are any doubts about the precision of this ensemble these are
>> dispelled at the point where the pieces conclude. There is an innate
>> sense of knowing when playing comes to an end, an acute awareness of
>> each individual, their role and the connection between each player, and
>> collective sense of exactly when to stop.
>>
>>
>> --
>> @gomespete
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