Theorist Training Camp/Practice Piece Part 0

Theorist Training Camp/Practice Piece is an installation which creates a situation for performance. It encourages small groups of people to study, exercise and play music at the same time. The different activities form accompaniments to one another. The installation guides the performers by its layout and the types of equipment supplied. It subtly creates prescriptions for the type of piece which might be created.

I think of this installation as similar to one of the experimental scores commonly used in avant-garde composition. Rather than a work by itself, it is a blueprint for a work which is performed by the audience. I've drawn direct inspiration from Cornelius Cardew and the Scratch Orchestra here and their strategies for increasing the autonomy of the performer particularly their Scratch Pieces .

The physical structure of the work is based on practices of contingency common in Indonesia; the home-made, the bootleg, and the portable. They are strategies for coping with a lack of resources, money or access and are usually considered incomplete or imperfect but serve the same function as more permanent, expensive or authentic forms. Various relevant images to this work and my continuing research into making in general are at www.inspirilog.blogspot.com

This installation and its accompanying fleeting performances celebrate the continuing processes of exercise, study and practice.

I would like to thank: Julie Burleigh, Esther Kokmeijer, Leonardiansyah Allenda, Febrian (Yayan) Mulyono, Rizki (Kiki) Lumaela, Woto Wibowo, Taring Padi, Lintang, Tim O'Donoghue, Ican Harem, Prihatmoko Moki, Krishna and Dinah and Everyone at Kunci

and especially

Everyone at Cemeti Art House

AsiaLink, Arts Victoria and the Australia Indonesia Institute.