things to do

things to do is an ongoing project which currently comprises a series of autonomous pieces which may be performed individually or simultaneously. Each of the constituent pieces uses a set of instructions in different categories (currently noises, pitches, devices and processes) which are spoken  by players during the performance and which govern the actions made by the players. Players respond to instructions they can hear by realizing the defined actions as soon as possible after they are spoken. The differences in each piece, and the relationships between the players, are determined by constraints which govern who each player responds to and who gives instructions. It creates modes of interaction between individuals, allows group behaviours to emerge, and reveals the personal characteristics of each performer in an immediate way. Players may use any instruments, sound-producing objects, devices or sound processing equipment (digital, analogue, or acoustic), and performances are characterised by the wide range of personal choices brought together as a group.

Currently things to do comprises:

 

everybody do this (2014)

[variable: at least four players / variable duration]

City University, London, 08.04.14 | Plus Minus Ensemble / Material / City University EMG

Michael Tippett Centre, Bath, 19.03.14 | Material

CCRMA, Stanford, USA, 05.12.15 | hot karl (weston olencki, helen newby, chris wood, bethanne walker)

 

you say what to do (2014)

[variable: at least one player with a group of 3-6 assistants / variable duration]

Godsbanen, SPOR Festival, Åarhus, Denmark, 09.05.14 | Mark Knoop & Serge Vuille, with audience volunteers

Kings Place, London, 11.05.14 | Parkinson Saunders, with audience volunteers

 

I tell you what to do (2014)

[speaker, at least four players / variable duration]

Village Underground, London, Spitalfields Festival, 16.06.14 | Stewart Lee / IlanVolkov / Magnitude Music

 

choose who tells you what to do (2014)

[4-8 players / variable duration]

a.pe.ri.od.ic (10): Experimental Music Yearbook, Frequency Series, Constellation Chicago, 26.06.14 | a.pe.ri.od.ic ensemble

 

lots and lots for us to do (2014)

[2 players / variable duration]

Italian Cultural Institute, London, 02.10.14 | Manuel Zurria / James Saunders

CCRMA Stage, Stanford University, 06.02.16 | people making sounds (Weston Olencki + Charlie Sdraulig)

Center for New Music, San Francisco, 10.02.16 | people making sounds (Weston Olencki + Charlie Sdraulig)

I decide what it is I am going to do (2014)

[variable: at least four players / variable duration]

Arnolfini, Bristol, 23.08.14 | Set Ensemble

CCRMA, Stanford, USA, 05.12.15 | hot karl (weston olencki, helen newby, chris wood, bethanne walker) –

 

we gradually have more things to do and fewer things to say (2015)

Distractfold / The House of Bedlam / RNCM Electric Experimental Ensemble, RNCM, Decontamination 6, 08.03.16

 

all the things we make you do (2016)

[variable: at least two players with audience]

The Third Guy, Q-02, Brussels, 27 January 2017.

 

we tell each other what to do but always listen to you (2016)

KMN Berlin / Ensemble Komboï, RADIALSYSTEM V, Berlin, 29.04.17.

 

sometimes we do what you say, but occasionally we don’t (2017)

Le Grand Orchestre de Muzzix, La Malterie, Lille, 25.04.17

Performing Indeterminacy conference, Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, University of Leeds, 30.06.17

 

what you must do, rather than must not do (2012)

[variable: at least four players with recordings / variable duration]

The Forge, London, 23.10.12 | Dedalus Ensemble

L’Ecolesupérieure des Beaux Arts, Monpelier, Sonorites Festival, France, 11.10.12 | Apartment House