The PARTY PROJECT, #2

We our now at work on our second piece in The PARTY PROJECT series. Again, we're kicking it off with round-robin collaboration. David started by passing along the following clip to Shana:




Shana's responded with a slinky design, literally:





and right now I'm working on my part, to be posted here soon!

as always, thanks for watching!

these walls sing scores - round three

Here's more on our progress with These Walls Sing.

With our first attempt at making scores with original graphic notation, it was clear that each of us had made a score using devices familiar to us from our own disciplines - David's relied on time and layering, Esther's relied on space and body, and Shana's relied on line and color. Therefore, challenge #3 was to do the reverse. Shana and Esther to create "time-based" scores and David a "space-based" score.

Here is Esther's attempt:



I intentionally started with what I interests me, which is the body. I have a strong association between footprints on paper and the feeling of progression and exploration. They seem mysterious - whom do they represent? where are they taking her? what are they revealing to me?

Using the hands and feet symbols helped me think about moving through time and create a pattern that could be read sonically as well as temporally.

More from Shana and David soon.

these walls sing scores - round two

It's been a while since we reported the status of These Walls Sing, but rest assured we've been moving forward nicely.

In our last post, we shared the scores each of us created to graphically notate David's piece Robot Dream. Well, as an exercise in Graphic Notation Scores, it was more of a warm up, since we were interpreting music rather than providing the instructions for playing it.

This brings us to round two! We each made a score that was intended to be followed. What we discovered is that David is clearly the composer in the bunch. Even though none of the examples were yet sonic in nature, his score progressed in time in a way that is familiar to music. Esther's, on the other hand, observed rather than built sound, and did so in space rather than time. Shana's score used line and color to describe expressive qualities of sound.

For now, we have a piece of David's as an example:



next, round three and more discussion of the process.

"other side" at Art Festival on Pier 36

Here are a few glimpses from performing on the other side of the glass plate, she wore nothing at the Art Festival on Pier 36 last saturday, 9.13.08.

Click to Play

We had a blast with all the interesting art around (look out for our hazmat suit friend who wandered into the piece unannounced). and we learned a number of things about staging it outside for small audiences so we can make some changes for next time.

Performers are Amiti Perry + Jen Painter. other side created by Seen Performance, was first performed March 2008 at Dixon Place in Soho, NY.

Thanks for watching!

Box Shy and the PARTY PROJECT

We are back from a brief blog-posting hiatus (somewhat recovered from the hot and sticky summer if fall would only show up for REAL!), and though we were not online much, we've still been up to our usual mischief.

You can see in the previous post that I threw up video from our test run of Box Shy (the first in a series of works that comprise The PARTY PROJECT, see earlier posts under "the party project" label).

Well, we discovered a number of things that we still needed to address in polishing up Box Shy. Our lovely test audience gave us strongly voiced feedback, and we realized that we had skipped over some big steps in our performance making process - namely self-critique.

So, we convened over the feedback and our own notes and started beefing up our little piece into something with a more stable structure. We'll be working on those changes gradually and without too much reporting until we share the piece for the first time at our own party in December (a fantastic celebration of Seen and our supporters, keep an eye out for the date!).

As we incubate Box Shy, we are embarking on the second piece in The PARTY PROJECT. David begins this round of collaborative creation. Look for his stuff in a few weeks.

We're also making great progress with our larger-scale project (and some of the donations that have been coming in are helping us to plan for this! thanks everyone!), These Walls Sing. More on that in an upcoming post to follow very soon!

and there's more... so check in again soon.

Box Shy - Party Project - Test Run

Click to Play

"other side" performs on pier 36

We're taking our show on the other side of the glass plate, she wore nothing to the water!

Performed by Amiti Perry + Jen Painter
Saturday, 9/13 at 2pm on Pier 36 --details below.

Community Board Three presents: ART FESTIVAL on Pier 36!!!

Pier 36 is located off of Montgomery Street on the East River. With a view of old Brooklyn warehouses, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and the Statue of Liberty, Pier 36 is one of NYC's best kept secrets!

Saturday, September 13, 2008 2-6pm
Come join us for a day of art, performance and expression, featuring:

Aris Ziagos, Shoot the Messenger, Masala Jam, Jami Jacskson, Elise Knudson and Second Life, Carolyn Ota, Lydia Bell, Seen Performance, El Grito de Poetas, Alexa Benoit, Alexis Liston, Aguila Marrero and Reina Miranda, Ze'ev Willy Neumann, Michelle Hunter, Permanent Parade and Spilt Milk Productions, The New York City Street Players, Brian Starkey and more...!

Directions to the Pier: Take the F Train to the East Broadway stop, make a right when you exit subway and walk to Montgomery Street, then walk as far East as possible, all the way to the river and you will find Pier 36.

For more information on our artists, schedule and location, please check the blog: www.artsonpier36.blogspot.com

why do we perform?

There are many reasons why we at Seen Performance make performances - here are just a few of them. Enjoy!

Graphic Music Notation

We've been examining graphic music notation in preparation for our upcoming project, These Walls Sing. Graphic notation developed as a way to express musical ideas not possible in conventional notation. Composers created all manner of symbols and designs to describe music on paper.

Our interest in it is all about relating music to design (initially in graphic design and eventually in architectural design). This exploration will also allow all three of us to visualize musical ideas without needing to master conventional notation. Eventually we will use our graphic music to create the sound, space, and design for our project.

For now we are creating a series of graphic scores from existing music as a group exercise. We are attempting not to interpret the music, but to design a score that might be used to re-create the music in question. Our first set of scores is based on a piece called Robot Dream.

David's score:


Esther's score:


Shana's score:



Do you want to try your hand at making a graphic score? Use the music we did, and the send us what you make. At some point we'll post them on the blog.

These Walls Sing

Architecture and music differ in their relationships to time and space. Though time and space are inherent in both disciplines, architecture creates patterns and forms in space where music creates patterns and forms in time. With These Walls Sing, Seen Performance will explore this difference by thawing the "frozen music" of architectural design to create a physical space inside of music. The audience will listen to the music not by sitting in one place while it passes them in time, but, as performers, by moving through a designed space containing the music. As they pass through each part of the space, they will hear a different layer of sound. Since moving through space also means moving through time, when they arrive at the exit they will have heard the entire piece of music. The speed at which they move and subtle variations in each person's route through the space will give everyone a different, personalized experience of the piece.

We will be developing These Walls Sing through the end of the year, announcing show dates + venues in early 2009. Please visit here often to follow the process of getting from here to there.