Inside-out instrument

Abstract

Acknowledging a radical shift in what it is to play an instrument in a technologically expanded environment, this article explores ideas of a turning inside-out of the traditional body-instrument-space. By treating the instrument as a situation of engagement with a technological environment, rather than as an interaction with a specific object, and by including in this concept of instrument the acoustic, visual and natural context within which it is placed and interacts, the inside-out instrument develops, not as an exoskeleton, but as an exocentric (rather than egocentric) space of interaction. With the increasing fragmentation, miniaturization and network communication of digital technologies, the instrument that uses these means is distributed, largely invisible and intangible and un-coupled from its apparent source of sound production: the body. Now the body inhabits and navigates through this instrument, instead of holding it; the sound and tangibility of the sound comes from outside, rather than generated from inside the body; and the audience spectator no longer has the focal point of body-instrument-sound, but explores as one of the players. It is like a turning inside-out of the intimacy of the musician-instrument into a space inhabited by multiple performers and instruments. Part of this inside-out instrument is the treatment of space through light and image projections as well as through sound. The audio-visual-spatial nature of the instrument is a central part of the discussion and the article identifies pre-cursors to this spatialization, including works that create the folding of space with cameras and projectors used as instrumental extensions of the body. The Light-House, the Video-Walks and (to a lesser extent) the Meta-Orchestra 1 will be used as examples of the three forms of inhabited, explorative and collaborative instruments developed as part of the author's performance research project Score Spaces.

Keywords:

• Inside-out
• Sound and Video
• Sensors
• Ventriloquism
• Dispersed
• Landscape
• Aesthetics

Notes

[1] The Meta-Orchestra is a flexible group of performers using electronically extended musical and visual instruments, exploring the relevance of new technologies in extending our perception of unusual places. As a platform for practical research and performance, the Meta-Orchestra brings together the different working strategies of artists and technologists in a non-hierarchical, non-academic structure. The collaborative strategies of the Meta-Orchestra in Maastricht (2004) have been written about extensively (Harris, 2004). The Meta-Orchestra Mine (2005) is an example of a collaborative space of interaction from which comes the idea of the ‘Building as Instrument’ (Harris, 2005) and, subsequently, the Inside-Out Instrument described here.

[2] See also Kahn's discussion of the bodily locations of the voice—in particular, William Burrough's idea of ‘schlupping’ in the last chapter (Kahn, 1999).

[3] For an in-depth study that takes Emmerson's local/field framework into the practice of flautists with particular reference to Kaija Saariaho's music, see Riikonen (2004).

[4] Written for trombonist Hilary Jeffery (www.hiljef.com); to be performed at the Ice-Cellars/Okno Brussels.

[5] For in-depth discussion of Cunningham's collaborations with musicians using electronic technologies, and his interest in combined and dislocated image viewpoints in his work with video, see Copeland (2004).

[6] Thanks to Guy de Bievre for finding a technical description written by Maggie Payne.

[7] Project Relay and The Video Walks are a collaboration between Yolande Harris and Bert Bongers (www.bertbongers.com).