Spirit
of Gravity
In 2001, Brighton saw the reawakening of the
experimental music event. Several factors contributed to this result, such as eclectic
music genre crossovers, new electronic music equipment encouraging experimentation
and interaction from MPCs to MAX/MSP, cheaply available high quality devices for
live performance, as well the fad for ‘anything goes’ anti commercial, anti
elitist music venues such as squats and warehouses, as a platform for underground
experimental artists to exhibit. The introduction of a 'late licence' to venues
such as pubs and bars was also a factor, as even small venues now have the
opportunity of increasing their profits by serving drinks longer, live music
has become the tool with which to attract customers to their establishment.
This increase in demand has made it possible for music groups which are not
targeted at popular culture to stage events. With
the advent of file sharing technologies on the internet, musicians can promote
their music to a mass audience at no cost, and this has enabled experimental
musicians to establish followings, where previously they were likely to
struggle against the tide of big budget mass marketed corporations. In addition,
product sale has plummeted due the accessibility of music files that can be
downloaded instantly and free of charge, resulting in an increased budget
for the promotion of the music event. The
popular music industry now draws its largest profits from events or 'club
culture', consequently genres have branched and fused, varying in relation to
social subcultures to meet the demands of its target audiences, however, as the
event is centred around a 'dance culture' the dominance of rhythmical structure
renders 'club music' generic.
The musical collective 'Spirit of Gravity' is
distinctive in its rebellion against the mass marketing of the clubbing industry
and the repetitive structures of modern electronic music styles. Promoting an
alternative, experimental approach to music, each event is unique and the
encounterer leaves with an experience. All events are documented in a regularly
updated online blog, with a description of the act and atmosphere of the
performance. In addition to photographs, short videos of the live event are
interspersed in the text alongside sound bytes. The artists' involved,
experiment with sonic and visual technologies, and in the creation of their music
often employ unconventional instruments, home-made modified synthesisers, or
assortments of household objects manipulated to create sound. Their focus lies
in improvised performance; concerts are theatrical and often interactive,
always including unusual instrumentation and employing the element of chance.
An exemplary event took place at the
Marlborough Theatre, Brighton, in March 2007. The venue consisted of a small
stage with seats for fifty people, situated above a local pub. Bingo boards
were placed on each seat and the performer, Hot Roddy, acted as both musician
and ‘caller’. After each bingo number was randomly selected from a bag, Hot
Roddy called the number and performed a piece which coincided with that number
using a sampler to play a variety of recordings of calling nicknames for the
numbers such as “number 10, Tony’s Den, Big Ben, cock and hen” whilst
improvising on sitar to a loop of electronic noise music played from a laptop.
This was a demonstration against the demise of light-hearted games when taken
over by big business organisation such as Gala or Mecca Bingo, companies who
have replaced a traditional game with another moneymaking ploy, devaluing the
social aspect in favour of a new gambling market. Hot Roddy entertained,
implicating the audience in his music and inviting them to interact in the
game. The winner did not leave empty-handed, but was invited onstage to accept
the reward of a bag of flour, eggs and milk – the ingredients for pancakes, as
it was Shrove Tuesday. In such interactive music performances the encounterer
is presented with an experience entirely different to the typical youth culture
music event. The listener is connected to the composition process, which
stimulates the creative sensibilities of the audience.
At the Phoenix Gallery, Brighton, in November
2008, Henry Collins, a member of the collective Spirit of Gravity, played his
newly-invented instrument in a project dubbed 'Slash's Wormhole' (fig. 15): a
stand-up vacuum cleaner with guitar strings strung to the neck, and an
electronic pick-up on the body. Functioning as both electric bass guitar and
household cleaning device, this gag demonstrates many ideals that Fluxus
artists held dear. As the mechanical drone of a vacuum cleaner is usually
perceived as an unpleasant sound, this project questions whether the sound is
dismissed as noise only because of the situation we are used to hearing it in –
whilst performing the mundane ritual of household cleaning. Collins encourages
the listener to "pay attention to noises around you, by magnifying sound
you usually block out"[1].
Once taken out of the household context and brought into a new environment, the
sound of the hoover itself is focused on. The low growl of the motor and
‘whirr’ of the fan create an ominous bass line.
The Futurist Luigi Russolo affirms ‘every noise
has a tone, and sometimes also a harmony that predominates over the body of its
irregular vibrations’[2]. So as the
sound of the vacuum cleaner is part of the piece, it is joined by the performer
plucking the guitar strings on the body.
Furthermore, it demonstrates that by viewing everyday objects in a new
light, art can be found in the small experiences, which compose our lives.
Fluxus chairman George Maciunas would have relished the dual function of the
instrument, as usefulness and economy were essential in his art objects.
Henry Collins manipulates technologies to
transform everyday objects into resonant instruments. In 'Kettle and Fridge
Act' (fig. 16) clip on microphones are attached to the bodies of the devices,
so as to pick up and amplify all the minute surface vibrations as current
passes through their circuits. In the interactive game 'Midi ping-pong', piezo
transducers are positioned on the table to generate a current, which in turn
triggers a sound when the ball makes contact with the surface. 'House Music'
(fig. 17) is an anthropomorphised multitude of domestic appliances, comically
located similarly to the positions of the members of a rock band and their
instruments. Each device produces a tone, the role of the drum kit incarnated
by a food blender which keeps the tempo, punctually colliding with a cymbal
once every rotation. When listened to individually, the distinct contrast in
timbres between the machines is surprising to notice, particularly as we
usually receive the sound as a uniform background noise. Interestingly, if we
were to cover our eyes and challenge our hearing alone to distinguish one
electrical household appliance from another, regardless of volume, we would
struggle to guess which one was which, although these noises encircle us every
day. Through the magnification of the fundamental noises surrounding us,
Collins alerts us to the continuous, intricate operations of our subconscious
mind, which filters the noise of our industrial surroundings.
Figure
18 shows an installation in the sculpture department of Brighton University in
2002, where the interactor listens to the sound of the environment through a
pair of headphones. Microphones positioned in the empty room transmit all
sounds occurring in the space. The participant is thus alerted to the
impossibility of hearing silence. The installation is entitled ‘Now that’s what
I call music’, as it focuses the encounterer’s sensitivity to all sound, and
values the sensory experience of indeterminate noise.
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