Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by muriellouveau on June 8, 2011 at 8:58am

 When I work on a performance featuring my own musical compositions, I can't see someone else performing it ..Not a question of "ego" ..but because it is a personal approach designed for my vocal range and singing style. If I'd like a piece -and that might be an interesting material to explore" to be open to others.. I'd need to  conceive it differently ,may be in collaboration with the other performer , first  see  his part mentally. Just impressions but I may change my mind 

 

Permalink Reply by Sheri Wills on June 8, 2011 at 3:29pm

Thanks for your reply!

I definitely hear what you're saying, and I think making it open for others to perform probably does need to be a part of the initial conception.

I started thinking about this because I became curious how different one of my pieces might be, if someone else performed it.

Also, I started working on a new piece that requires several performers - how do I communicate how to perform the piece? That is becoming a question.

And, also, I started wondering if it made sense to be making work that only I could perform...what if I can't always be there, what about after I'm gone??

Permalink Reply by muriellouveau on June 9, 2011 at 8:31am

Are you talking about musical piece?or a video creation?Perhaps if it is music you can write a  score..

Permalink Reply by Sheri Wills on June 9, 2011 at 8:45am

for me, it's a live video performance...so for someone else to perform it, it would need some kind of notation, like a music score....for video.

Permalink Reply by Whitney V. Hunter on June 17, 2011 at 10:33am

I might think of this in terms of passing down one's knowledge.  If you are interested in someone else performing your work, that performer might be with you during the making of the work, see archival footage of your performing the work, see your notes on the work, etc.  

The video element, for me, is less subjective, because so much of that building process is done on the other side, meaning as a performer that works with video, I am often behind a camera shooting, a computer editing, and dealing with sound which is, for me, a process of objectivity.  Going back and forward as a performer in the piece and technologist of the piece offers a unique vantage point that could potentially work to one's advantage when it comes to someone else's performance of the work

 

 I think in the long run the idea of passing the knowledge and information of the piece to another can go a long way.  Further, choosing that person that understands your aesthetic, your concerns, but can also bring his/her unique sensibilities to the work is important.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Sheri Wills on June 22, 2011 at 4:03pm

I think you're right about working with someone who has a sympathetic aesthetic - that seems key.

 

I also like what you say:  "Going back and forward as a performer in the piece and technologist of the piece offers a unique vantage point that could potentially work to one's advantage when it comes to someone else's performance of the work." I think there is much truth in what you say - that a great deal of the work is front-loaded into the video imagery. So that the performance is, at its best, subtle. Although I would still want someone who 'got' the work to be performing it!