347. Last Man on Earth
- Modern Formations Gallery, Pittsburgh, us@
- Sunday, April 2, 2006
- My friend Matt Gleeson from Melbourne in Australia notified me that he & his band The Stabs were going to be touring the US so I set up this gig for them. Kevin Hicks & 2 of his friends opened, I was 2nd, Dimitra (a noise performer touring w/ The Stabs) was 3rd, & then The Stabs.
My set was called "Last Man on Earth" & featured projection of an edited vaudeo from an "Official" session of approximately the same name from November of 1992. This original session was a sortof 'one-man-band' thing of mine where I played multiple instruments. A short excerpt from its sound had been used as an example of "Terrence Dougherty" playing on a tape published by the magazine "Experimental Musical Instruments". The "TD" was a rack of electronics that I'd assembled that included simple devices from kits made by my friend Terrence Dougherty, radios, tape players & tapes that I'd made especially for 'random' sampling. 61 samples were then taken from that excerpt & used as the raw materials for my playing along w/ the vaudeo - w/ the soundtrack mixed in & out. Sounds I'd made on my DX27-S synthesizer were also used.
The vaudeo was basically divided into 9 sections:
1. "Terrence Dougherty" 1
2. Lap Guitar + "Terrence Dougherty" 2
3. Broken Organ + Broken Monophonic Synthesizer
4. Vibraphone + "Terrence Dougherty"
5. Trumpet + "Erector Set" + "Terrence Dougherty"
6. "Small Nondo" + "Terrence Dougherty"
7. "Experimental Musical Instruments" "Terrence Dougherty"
8. credits
9. Scratch Ending
During the 1st section, an electronic drone plays. I played a similar drone on the DX27-S during that. Excerpts from the soundtrack were also sampled & looped live - especially durring the vibraphone section. During section 7, I played the samples in ways that took advantage of their relationship w/ the soundtrack. For the ending I sped up the pace considerably & only played the beginning fragments of the samples.
The 1st section has a text overlay in the vaudeo of a short chronology of relevant birth & death info from the life of Mary Shelley - w/ an emphasis on the misery & loss that lead up to the writing of her novel of plague annihilation The Last Man.
In the original session I was wearing a full-body black leather motorcycle suit that was in fairly new condition. For this presentation, I wore the same suit BUT it's considerably degraded now that it's 13&1/2 years older. In a sense, this piece was the Last Man on Earth playing w/ himself.
- recollections from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
348. "footnotes" Release Film Kitchen
- Film Kitchen, Melwood Screening Room, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Pittsburgh, us@
- Tuesday, October 10, 2006
- In honor of the release of my book entitled "footnotes" on SIX GALLERY PRESS [go to: <http://www.amazon.com/footnotes-tENT/dp/0977624250/sr=1-1/qid=1159322289/ref=sr_1_1/104-4080608-6135133?ie=UTF8&s=books> if you're interested in getting a copy], I screened some movies relevant to the book (wch is a compendium of sorts from my previous 9 bks) & gave some readings from it.
The movies screened were:
an excerpt from "Homeless Movies" - 1988 - relevant to my bk made in collaboration w/ Laura A. Trueseal entitled: "Yet Another Slow-Burning Feast of a Few Months Mischief in the U.K., Maybe (A Partial(ly) Epistolary Account of Non-Non & Non-Participation, Maybe)"
the premier of "B.T.O.U.C." - 1982-84/2001/02/06 - relevant to my bk entitled "How to Write a Resumé - Volume II: Making a Good First-Impression"
an excerpt from a slide-show reading of "Telepathy Receptivity Training" - 1975-91
an excerpt from "One Word per Person Party" - 1990
A reading from the "Reactionary Muddle America" section of "footnotes" wd've been given somewhere around here - 1992/2005-06
an excerpt from "Anonymous Family Reunion" - 1997 - from the bk/vaudeo of the same name
the "Expanded Texts" chapter from the DVD/bk called "Story of a Fructiferous Society" - 1974-2005
- recollections from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
349. Volunteers Collective Revisited
- the Mark, Olympia, us@
- Tuesday, November 7, 2006
- This, & entries 343 & 352 cd be called the "Is this as good as it gets?" entries. At any rate, Monty Cantsin, a young neoist living in Olympia at the time, invited me to participate in the 23rd Annual Olympia Film Festival. I was flown out there, put in a nice hotel suite, given free food vouchers, hung out w/ some nice folks, frequented the used bk stores, did pirate radio - & that was all marvelous. I think I presented something like 8 events - including the one described in the next entry. One of these was a screening of my feature "Story of a Fructiferous Society" preceded by the equally difficult "Lebensraum Lifespace Spectacle of Noise" by Istvan Kantor. This was the 1st, & quite probably the LAST, time that a neoist double-feature was presented. Maybe 5 people attended. Is this as good as it gets?
This "Volunteers Collective Revisited" was yet-another variation on the 1st part of entry 316, & portions of entries 322, 330, 336, & 340. In a sense, this was the 1st time it'd ever been presented in exactly this way. The venue was a vegetarian restaurant. The audience was the sound-man & Monty & his girlfriend. The person who was at the door left, the person who owned the restaurant slept thru it. Did they fly me out there for this? Is this as good as it gets? I was in competition w/ the Olympis premier of the latest Brothers Quay movie. Ok, that was in a big theater. I love the Brothers Quay. But their movie will show again & again - it'll be available on DVD. My thing was a triple projection w/ live soundtrack - they'll never see it on DVD, it'll never happen in Olympia (& possibly anywhere else) ever again.
The Film Fest folks provided me w/ a piano-action MIDI keyboard w/ sustain pedal + the 3 screens + the 3 VHS decks + the 3 projectors + the stereo sound system. They were great! & I 'performed' the whole schlemiel.. & it was great too! Too bad only 3 people were there for it.
- recollections from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
350. MetaSamples
- 2nd nON-eXIST tINT nEOIST cOMPARTMENT fISTFUL, Lily's bedroom, Olympia, us@
- Saturday, November 11, 2006
- Trying to make the most of being in Olympia, I agreed to play a new set of samples as part of a house party. Monty Cantsin, the person who invited me, wanted to have a "neoist apartment festival" in Olympia while I was there. It didn't really seem like that to me.. but, what the fuck?!, why not? Explaining the samples here is more complicated than what I want to get into but suffice it to say that I was trying out something new & complicated. It was in a girl's bedrm that was maybe 10 ft by 12 ft. People mostly sat on the floor. I played a nice enuf short set to perhaps 20 people - most of whom seemed a bit high on what I presumed to be designer drugs. No doubt, that enhanced the experience. At any rate, they were respectful & seemed to enjoy it. I, on the other hand, was getting sick & got a ride back to the hotel after this w/o staying for any of the party.
- recollections from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
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