COLLECTIONS: UMMA [2010]
Score duration: 10:00
Performance duration: 40:00
About the project:
Sourced from hundreds of photographs and video footage shot inside the museum with both traditional and microscopic cameras, Collections: UMMA begins with a two-channel video score. Using the video and a set of playful rules as their guide, a group of improvising sound artists enter into a complementary dialogue with the acoustic spaces inside the University of Michigan Museum of Art. By translating the cryptic and oddly juxtaposed images of the video into processed sound objects and fractured musical passages, this auditory meditation explores what happens when a collecting institution is itself collected and re-interpreted.
The Score:
Read the instructions for following the score on Vimeo.
The Performance:
The score was performed four times at the University of Michigan Museum of Art – twice in the Museum Apse and twice in the Frankel Wing's Vertical gallery – on November 20, 2010. Take 1 (in the Museum Apse) is presented in the above video.
Performers:
Justin Crowell: Prepared guitar, percussion
Mike Hallenbeck: Real-time sound processing
John Kannenberg: Bells
Collin McRae: Violin
Stephen Rush: Piano, flutes, toys
James Warchol: Processed guitar
Behind the Scenes:
Short documentary about the creation of Collections: UMMA shot, directed and produced by Emilia Javanica.
Production notes
Video score composed November 2009 - February 2010
Performed at the University of Michigan Museum of Art on November 20, 2010