Selection from DVD project funded by a SUNY College at Oneonta Creative Activities Grant.
First Trio - While working on this sequence, the first with all three artists collaborating simultaneously, each performer reflected on how our different creative processes were conversing. At times, we felt some disconnect between the way sounds and marks were communicating. We wondered what connections were literal, what were more thematic relationships, and how was the music related to the visual image as a whole?
DVD Liner Notes:
Percussionist Julie Licata, electronic musician and composer Brett Masteller, and visual artist Rhea Nowak came together curious about the process of creation, working with sound and visuals simultaneously, how people communicate across different artistic media, and what art and life have in common.
We began this project by recording visual and sonic improvisations, as well as conversations about what happened during these interactions. In each improvisation we set parameters within which we would work, sometimes intentionally making each other and ourselves uncomfortable. After we had approximately 15 hours of materials, we sifted through and contemplated what we had discovered and how we could present our process.
Through all stages of this project, each of us was continually required to be in the moment, to take risks, and to make decisions based on what others were doing. We also had to remain comfortable with the idea that any one of us, at any moment, could change the direction of the final outcome with a simple gesture (sonic, visual, or verbal). In reflecting on what this – participation in the creative process – had to do with anything, or why this experience was important (really, why art is important), we realized that successful communication in art, as with successful collaboration in life, is all about trust, mindfulness, risk-taking, playfulness and openness.
One can look at this DVD as a work of art or simply as a record of our process. In any artistic process, material is thrown away never to be seen or heard again... this was no exception. However, regardless of how much was discarded to finish this project, every moment, every visual and sonic gesture, and every conversation was necessary to arrive at this point. Nothing was deemed unimportant along the way, but rather was considered an experience that led us to our next moment. Enjoy it for what it is, or what you want it to be, and let it inspire you to improvise and trust the creative process.
