Blog Week 2

Experimentation:

Experimentation is very important in my everyday work, as I try to get in an open-minded headspace when doing creative work.  I always am open to trying new things, throwing new ideas out in the open, even if they may seem bad/not plausible. This way, my work isn’t defined within mental boundaries of worry, and I am able to narrow down something down to my best work once all of my ideas are on the table.  I also really enjoy the concept of experimentation within accessibility, meaning the work is able to be enjoyed by a larger audience, but does this in a unique, experimentative fashion.

Improvisation:  

Because of my background playing jazz piano, the word improvisation is very important within my practices.  It can be recognized in more of a literal sense, or as more of a concept. In more of a literal sense, I believe musical improvisation is very important to creating music.  There’s something about raw ideas that were conceived in the moment that I believe make a project more human and authentic. Conceptually, I also think the word improvisation can be used to describe the mindset of a collaboration.  When in a collaboration, I believe the more the group tends to “improvise” with each other during the creation of the project, the less they will imprisoned within trying to follow a structure in their work habits. This is not to say that structure isn’t important, but that a group should find the right balance between structured and improvised work.

Authenticity:  

Probably the most important word in my practice is Authenticity.  This simply describes art being a genuine reflection of the human being(s) that created it.  Whether it is in solo work or a collaboration, I believe that artists shouldn’t try to be something they’re not, and should strive to reflect their human experience authentically through their work.

Performer vs. Technologist

The idea of separating the performer from the technologist in this collaborative setting to me is very problematic for a number of reasons.  First of all, many PAT students tend to have started performing/playing way before they started learning music technology. Because of this, they would definitely have a lot to offer to the performance aspect, even if they aren’t performing in the collaboration.  Next, the performer definitely has a lot to offer in the technology realm, even if they have minimal knowledge in that area. Working alongside the people who are doing the technology, they are definitely able to offer a different perspective on how technology is altering the experience of their performance.  They can also offer artistic direction in which the collaboration is headed from a technology standpoint. Lastly, I believe that this separation can create sort of a close-minded outlook on the collaboration overall. When thinking about it as everyone in the group having an equal input and role in all aspects of the collaboration and performance, it’s easier to work together and narrow down how to play to the strengths of the group.