Category Archives: Events

Good Start for NIME-12!

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Here is a photo from yesterday evening’s performance of George Brecht’s ‘Motor Vehicle Sundown’, just before the opening reception for NIME-12.

Our ‘NIME Primer Tutorial’ on Sunday morning went well and included the participation of distinguished Oxford University anthropologist Professor  Georgina Born, who is running a large scale project studying global musical culture. Professor Born is also known for having been active in the avant-guard rock scene of the 1970’s, as a member of bands such as Henry Cow.

Guest Speaker: Akio Suzuki (鈴木昭男）

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Don’t forget that we’ll meet in Room 301 tomorrow. Akio Suzuki, a pioneer explorer of Sound Art, will be visiting. I have no idea what he will do which just makes his visit even more interesting.

Suzuki-san really keeps busy. Later this month he’ll be giving a workshop on sound art and performance at YCAM (山口情報芸術センター). You can find many videos of his performances on YouTube. Here’s a sample of a collaboration with Jim O’Rourke.

Motor Vehicle Sundown – George Brecht (dedicated to John Cage)

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This is one of the events kicking off the annual NIME-12 conference, which will be held starting next weekend at the University of Michigan. Really looking forward to this and all the other exciting things that will be happening at NIME-12. Nice also that this performance is part of the centennial brithday celebrations for our patron saint, John Cage.

From the University of Michigan Museum of Art web site:

As the lights go down on UMMA’s exhibition Fluxus and the Essential Questions of Life, please join us for a rare performance of Motor Vehicle Sundown, written by Fluxus artist George Brecht and dedicated to the American composer John Cage. This performance by students and faculty from the University of Michigan is presented in conjunction with the annual International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), and in celebration of John Cage’s 2012 centennial. Motor Vehicle Sundown is written for any number of motor vehicles arranged outdoors. In true Cagean fashion, 22 timed auditory and visual events and 22 pauses written on randomly shuffled instruction cards are performed on each vehicle.

The performance will take place in parking Lot C-2 on the south side of N. University at Thayer, next to Kraus Natural Science Building.

This program is co-sponsored by NIME, the UM School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, the UM College of Engineering and UMMA. Fluxus and the Essential Questions of Life was organized by the Hood Museum of Art and was generously supported by Constance and Walter Burke, Dartmouth College Class of 1944, the Marie-Louise and Samuel R. Rosenthal Fund, and the Ray Winfield Smith 1918 Fund. UMMA’s installation is made possible in part by the University of Michigan Health System, the University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Arts at Michigan, and the CEW Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund.


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Silence – No such thing

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Some of you might remember Prof. Clark Lunberry, who visited the zemi as a guest speaker last year. Clark has organized a festival this year in honour of John Cage’s 100th birthday. The festival came to an end recently and Clark has provided is a nice set of images of his installation based on a famous Cage aphorism about silence. You can find the images at Clark’s home page. Highly recommended!

新入生 2012

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Some informal observations after yesterday’s ceremony:

  • This may be our largest class yet
  • M/F ratio is abnormally high
  • Lots of suits

I wonder whether these observations reflect generational, situational changes or do they reflect changing perceptions of the faculty? I’ve heard that students from Western Japan are more reluctant to attend University in the Kanto region after 11/3/11. One can only speculate.

MAVOxやなぎみわ: 1924人間機械

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Conceptual art photographer Miwa Yanagi is producing Tomoyoshi Murayama (村山 知義) 1924 play  Ningen Kikai (人間機械). Performances will be held at the Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto April 13-15, in conjunction with the Murayama exhibition. Tickets may be reserved at Miwa Yanagi’s official web site.

ビデオアート@百万遍

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Students from Kyoto University of Art and Design (京都造形芸術大学) are holding an exhibition of video art in a dis-used office just east of Hyakumanben, on the south side of Imadegawa street. If you are interested in video art, it is well worth going to have a look. The exhibition will be open again next week (金土日). Check the flier above for details. Here’s the access map.

kuniko plays reich in kyoto

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I’m really looking forward to this concert. What a cool poster!!! It has two holes in the shape of marimba mallets.

On the program:

  • Steve Reich – Electric counterpoint (version for percussion)
  • Steve Reich – Six marimbas counterpoint
  • Steve Reich – Vermont counterpoint (version for vibraphone)
  • Iannis Xenakis – Rebonds (a,b)

More info. about composer Steve Reich is available at his official web site. You can also have a look at the Wikipedia (English, 日本語). Similarly, you might like to read up about Iannis Xenakis at the Wikipedia (English, 日本語) as well as the official Xenakis site in French and English.

Here are the details about the concert from the web page of the Kyoto Art Center:

国内外で活躍するパーカッショニストの加藤訓子を特集するMusic Room vol.10。近年加藤が精力的に取り組むミニマル・ミュージックの作曲家、スティーブ・ライヒの作品を中心に、創造性あふれる演奏をお楽しみください。
日時：2012年3月18日（日）　開演15:00　（開場14:30）
会場：講堂
構成・出演：加藤訓子（パーカッショニスト）
音響空間デザイン：深田晃
料金：一般前売1,800円／当日2,000円、大学生以下1,000円（前売・当日共）
チケット取扱：京都芸術センター窓口<10:00-20:00>、チケットぴあ（Pコード：160-836）にて発売中
※本ウェブサイト左上の「このイベントを申し込む」からも予約可。大学生以下券をお求めの場合は、備考欄に「学生」とご記入ください。
※就学前児童の入場はご遠慮ください。

James Whitney Vintage Poster

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Click for larger image.

Films shown in this exhibition included:

  • Exercises 2, 3 & 4
  • Yantra
  • Lapis
  • DWIJA
  • Wu Ming

The subtitle reads:

Initially shown as part of the poetic eye series of the los angeles county museum of art nov 1977 guest curator WILLIM MORITZ.

There is a description of each film on the verso of the poster.

Click for larger image.

Poster courtesy of the Center for Visual Music. James Whitney’s films are rather difficult to see these days and would even more difficult to see if not for the CVM, which organizes regular screenings and conducts restoration projects. Thank you CVM and keep up your excellent work!