[NetBehaviour] contain multitudes *

[Alan Sondheim]

contain multitudes *

http://www.alansondheim.org/multiples.png
http://www.alansondheim.org/contain0.png
http://www.alansondheim.org/contain2.png
http://www.alansondheim.org/contain3.png

multiples: When I was performing, around 2003-2007 maybe, maybe
earlier, maybe a bit later as well, I worked with multiple files
open on a single screen. This is from a performance at Miami
University, Ohio. The resolution is terrible, but it gives a good
idea of the complexity I was able to work with at that point.
There are six running videos, all .mp4; I could bring these to
foreground or background run them at different speeds, play sound
from any or all of them. In the lower right, a sound file is
running. On the left is a live index of all the files I'm using.
At the bottom is live typing, which was also combined with live
voice. In short, there are ten channels up, including voice.
Quicktime ran lean. In a dance performance we did with Foofwa in
Geneve, the background was filled with a continuous media
improvisation on a large screen. If I remember correctly, I did
this live; after that, the files, with additional ones, including
fixed texts, were run by one of the members of the company. On
screen by the way, the images were crystal-clear; setup was easy,
and it gave me the chance to improvise with a great number of
prerecorded media in combination with two or three other streams
- live talk, live music, and live typing. The end result was the
ability to _perform philosophy,_ to engage multiple strands of
thought simultaneously, to weave a real and theoretical nexus of
concepts, images, movement, sound and text. Today, such a
performance would be difficult (but not impossible); the loading
time of Windows 10+ is considerably slower than earlier versions.
(I remember when Win 95 appeared to load instantaneously.) So
something vital has been lost. (Of course this bloating is
everywhere now; Facebook keeps adding more and more "features"
until actual human communication is lost in the process - and a
great many online news sources bury their texts in a sea of
advertising that at times actually buries the stories them-
selves.) The other three images are studies in containment and
compression and for me are a form of commentary on the w/hole of
images, imaginaries, texts, and sound. I do want to point out the
projection/s and presentation was always in dialog with the
company; neti neti, neither one nor the other, but some admixture
in-between. With the Miami University presentation (and a number
of others for that matter), I was solo; I also did some work in
combination with Foofwa's solo dancing/movement, as well as
embedding his live performance in the virtual world of Second
Life. All in, all out, containing multitudes.


*Dylan of course

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