The August Assemblage of Appliantists

Posted 9/08/2008 by smartblackboy in Labels: , , , , , ,


The following essay/proposal/idea was written and conceived by Gary Brown and he retains full copyright over everything.


Be sure to read the note at the end and leave a comment about if you think this idea is genius or just plain crazy.


The August Assemblage of Appliantists


The August Assemblage of Appliantists is a group of persons who have created unique instruments of widely divergent natures from various appliances and then gathered together to simply and spontaneously create music or sound or whatever might be produced from such a live, improvisational art experience. Bound by few rules other than their imaginations and respect for each other as artists, this assemblage will work together in a scheduled yet non-rehearsed, live art environment and under the direction of various conductors, will create numerous, properly documented works.


THE TWO RULES:
Anyone can play: Any person with an appropriately designed *appliance (instrument) and a desire to participate, may. It is preferred each audio artist have at the least, a rudimentary familiarity with and preferably, a mastered control of their instrument. Protective gear must be worn when appropriate.
The Pendragon is in control. In order to:
reduce the propensity for instantaneous chaos, mass hysteria, potential violence and spontaneous dissension among the ranks,
maintain a modicum of recognizable sound construction, and/or
facilitate the actual live creation of intentional works under the creative guidance of the current conductor(s) of the day (referred to as the Pendragon of Audiocity),
adherence to the minimal directorship provided is very much insisted upon and appreciated.


Instrument Criteria:
Every instrument presented, played or displayed must have as a primary source of its construction, one or more pieces of one or more appliances(1).


Performance Protocol:
No group rehearsals prior to performance.

Every performance must have at least one attending audience member.

When possible, performances will usually be performed in a fully public venue, open to all who wish to attend and preferably at no charge.

Uniforms worn by members of the Assemblage during performances shall be frowned upon unless they are exquisitely unique and wholly unorthodox for this century.

To physically create the orchestra, prior to each performance, each member of the assemblage will be registered, their instrument(s) reviewed and documented, one by one, by the prospective "conductors of the day" (Pendragons of Audiocity). Accordingly, the instruments will then be physically arranged or positioned in the performance space (Vibadrome) in the manner determined by them.

Every effort will be made to ensure that each instrument is properly amplified and the total sound of the Assemblage is clear and discernible. Every effort will be made to document and record (audibly and visually) all aspects of the experience from registration through performance.

While this is a spontaneous, improvisational environment, when participating in other than Free Form performance sets, i.e. playing under the specific direction of a Pendragon, each Appliantists will dutifully observe and diligently comply with the direction provided.


Rights to Materials Produced, Conceived or Preconceived:
None.
Clarification of "None":
No one has any rights to anything created, produced or even suggested as a direct or indirect result of their association with or knowledge of The August Assemblage of Appliantists.

Every human being has all rights to anything created, produced or even suggested as a direct or indirect result of their association with or knowledge of The August Assemblage of Appliantists.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(1) Appliance:
For sake of clarification, the following definition of "appliance" will be adhered to:
"a piece of equipment, usually operated electrically, esp. for use in the home or for performance of domestic chores, as a refrigerator, washing machine, or toaster."
AS WELL, it is generally preferred all such instruments pose no more than a minimal threat to the lives and/or limbs of fellow performing artists and the attending or future audience members.

2008 Gary Brown

Now here is a note Gary Brown sent me regarding the idea

Darryl,

As promised, I am including below, a draft of the preliminary notes page regarding my conceptual project: The August Assemblage of Appliantists. Unfortunately, as I have spent the evening doing a project analysis, creating a development strategy and an operations plan I have been forced to face a rather problematic realization.

In the logistics part of the plan I have encountered an issue with venue. Depending on the project's nature and objectives regarding the performance and expected overall results, finding a suitable venue which can handle all of the needs will clearly be an issue. From the utilities (electrical infrastructure should be of either industrial grade or that found in professional performance environments) to the technical needs regarding lighting and sound support as well as acoustics for proper listening and recording and documentation... the physical aspect of the performance location is turning out to be a very problematic issue.

If this event were to occur in a traditional performance venue, most of the issues would go away... however, hoping to get such a well equipped place donated for this type of project would require someone with real artistic vision and is to say the least, naively optimistic. If this event were to occur in a non-traditional venue, that environment would still have to adequately satisfy the same needs stated above as well as provide a reasonable secure environ for participants and audience members, insurance, parking, bathroom facilities, water, etc. I mention this because some types of "live art events" can occur almost anywhere due to their brief, nontechnical and transient natures and such details would be of no real concern. This would not be one of those. That is a problem when it comes to this project's execution. In this case, I am beginning to think that this aspect of the plan actually needs to be resolved before I could ever ask people to seriously invest their time and energies in it.

I am going to give this part some thought. It is not insurmountable. God works in mysterious ways... I know. There may be a few entities like Southside on Lamar (though their "free" gallery space has atrocious acoustics) and others who just might "donate" a performance art space of this potential magnitude (referring more to our technical and physical needs than the size of audience, though that could become a concern, also, I suppose). Having a viable space and a firm target date for the event in place first would allow everything else to be designed around that. Nothing worse than spending 6 months getting all dressed up with no place to go.

Gary

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