Conductor Performance


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| About the performance:
This piece consists of a list of 100 performance actions displayed on a wall, a set of 10 props and a person who mediates the relationship between the text and physical action. All are welcome to become performers by following the text. The set of 100 performances is suggested by combining ten verbs with ten nouns across a grid. These performances run the spectrum from the bluntly physical to the purely mental. The Conductor invites the public to enact the text. This negotiation forms the basis of the performance and determines each outcome of the piece. The massive number of options at hand foregrounds a concern with choice. The audience has agency to interpret and act out the text as they see fit. The decisions made by each person affect the overall work; certain actions destroy the props preventing many other performances form taking place. Furthermore, performing several texts in unison can unlock another generation of permutations and combinations within the text generating more alternatives. Some actions such as 'B 1: Throw the bread at one another.' are playful. Others suggest theoretical concerns: 'G 2: Hold the soil and call it food' points to the schism between objects and language that underlies the whole work. Within the performance the roll of Conductor embodies the process of turning ideas into things. Acting as a conduit, the Conductor facilitates the audience in completing the work. Conductor has many shades of meaning. They are the authority that binds the noise of the orchestra to the notes on the page and the bureaucratic supervisor who tends to change and insists on proper behaviour on the bus. A conductor is also a
interpreter of a musical score, sharing authorship of the final performed
music. In this case a share of the authorship of the work lies with the
audience. Conductor was first performed at the "In 12 Acts" event, currated by Dan Monks, in the Trongate Centre, Glasgow and again at the Cork ArtTrail in November 2010. |





