4 4 Flow

4 4 Flow was a performance that took place at Chisenhale Dance Space in East London on March 28, 2014. It was curated by Agony Art, also of London. In it, I collaborated with guitarist Tony-Hardie Bick, Vocalist Ximena Alarcón, and dancer Sara Chirimini, to create a ‘free improv’ performance of 40 minutes duration. We decided collectively that ‘flow’ was a common objective that we sought within the framework of free improv. I myself arrived at thIs objective through various paths: first, through my study of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s writings and research on Flow, and second, through my own observations and reflections related to the distinction between flow as it relates to my practice as a classically trained composer, and flow as it relates to my subsequent development as a computer-based, ‘algorithmic’ composer.

For the Chisenhale performance, I triggered both sounds and generative graphics from my laptop. (I created the graphics algorithms in Processing and the sounds in Reaktor.) In our initial performances, I sat to one side of the stage with my laptop, while the other performers wandered freely around the space. We all sensed that this static, peripheral positioning of me was not satisfying and not lending itself to ‘flow’. By this time I had been studying Deep Listening with Pauline Oliveros for several years and was aware of the need to listen to my fellow performers not only with my ears but also my body. I therefore decided to use an iPad, via TouchOSC, to trigger both the sounds and graphics wirelessly from onstage, thus enabling me to wander as freely as my fellow performers and to feel more connected with them. That this presented perceptual issues for some audience members is clear from one reviewer, who wrote that ‘I’m just not sure there was much to be gained’ from my presence on the stage. It was clear to me that if I had been stationary onstage playing a trumpet rather than an iPad, such issues would not have arisen.

• https://vimeo.com/91291563
• https://soundcloud.com/4-4-flow/chisenha...
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/ronherrema...
• https://www.chisenhaledancespace.co.uk/