Subversations
Even though I was exhausted enough to want to fall asleep the minute I sat down at Squeaky, Brian Fending's long-distance collaboration with Ric Royer was so exciting that I felt totally energized when it was done. The project compiles recordings of 8 people telling stoies from their lives, chops each oral history into tiny chunks, and then recombines them in a random, computer-generated sequence (preserving the beginnings, middles, and endings in that rough order). This might sound really dry and electronic and inaccessibly avant-garde, and you might be expecting a lot of this:
But that only happened during the setup. The actual "performance" looked pretty much like this:
In other words, bare stage, no human interaction whatsoever. I realize that may sound even less appealing than watching a guy twiddle knobs, but trust me: it works, thanks in part to the voices telling the stories, all of whom are endlessly listenable. (The tales themselves seem to have something to do with cross-country travels, orthodox Jews, and a porn version of Tron, among many other things.) The concept owes a bit to the audio experiments of John Cage and Glenn Gould, but the end result is incredibly entertaining. If you're a fan of This American Life, you should love this. (And the producers of that show would be wise to pick up on this project, even if some of the best lines would have to be bleeped out.)
There's another performance of the show this Thursday evening at 7:30 at Squeaky, and Fending is doing a different project on Friday at Squeaky at 8:30. Based on this one, it promises to be interesting.
Palimpsest
Festival PooBah Kurt Schneiderman was sitting next to me during this movement piece at College Street Gallery by Brittany Murchie, and when it was over he raved, "This is exactly what Infringement is all about!" I totally agreed with his comment. Murchie is a relatively young dancer/performer trying out an idea, and that's why the festival exists. She is exploring terrain that many women artists before her have explored--which is why it didn't totally blow me away, but that's no reason why a new generation can't also give this material their own spin (and thank god somebody is still raising the issues Murchie raises in the era of Paris Hilton and Christina Agulera!). I don't want to reveal too much of what goes on, but here's a shot of the opening tableau:
Between this shot and the last one of Subversations, you're probably wondering if there are any human beings in this year's festival, but fear not-- here's Murchie in action:
The movement is impressive, the staging is just plain cool, and the piece has a wonderful soundtrack. I also appreciate the fact that piece is only about 15-20 minutes long; the dance makes its point and then ends without any extraneous filler, and it's a perfect appetizer-sized offering for an action-packed festival. You have several more chances to catch this, and it's well worth the visit.
College Street Block Party
This low-key affair offered free food, a chance to catch up with friends and festival peformers/organizers, and several bands. I caught one punk group (never learned the name) and then saw the Pamplemousse Explosion one more time. Totally different setting and crowd than Merlin's the night before, but once again they delighted the audience. Wish more people could have seen them; hope they come back to town soon. They say they're heading back to Montreal with fond thoughts of Allentown, the festival, and Buffalo in general. Next year we hope to have details on the block party in time to include them in festival materials.
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