"I think retro fans are a little weird, but it seems everyone in the computer music scene is in some way a little weird."

Rob Hubbard, 2002

(Rob Hubbard is credited with re-defining the games music on the Commodore 64 in the 1980s. For further information about his life and work see www.robhubbard.co.uk.)

This is item no 2 in the series "interesting phenomena - a dance history of the personal computer" - a series of six performance pieces in which a dancer uses reactive digital technologies to simulate the creative processes of different artists at different stages in the evolution of the personal computer. In this piece, the artist to be simulated is the musician. The PC to be referenced is the Commodore 64. And the stage is the musician's living room where she sits and plays a computer game instead of practising her instrument. The characters of the game become confused with her visitors and friends. There are five levels to the game. Will it ever end?

Dancers: Catherine Wright, Sarah Roe, Lucy Nicholson
Choreographer: Lucy Cullingford
Musical consultant: Paul D. Burwell
Audio/sequencing: Joseph A. Casey
Direction/programming: Brian G. Gilson
Documentation: Phillip Rhodes

(The three dancers in this performance are recent graduates from the Scarborough School of Art Dance course.)

Performance Outline

Load sequence

 

The scene is a musician's bedsit sometime in the late 1980s. The MUSICIAN sits on the floor leafing through an old newspaper, in a bored and listless manner. Instead of rehearsing, the MUSICIAN begins to load a computer game.

Level 1. Super Muso.

At first, the MUSICIAN cannot concentrate on the game and keeps trying to go back to practice. But the game has its own strange attraction...

Level 2. Spooked.

As the game progresses, it begins to seem almost as though the on-screen characters are coming to life.

Level 3. Spaced.

The MUSICIAN's involvement in the game has become so aborbing that all contact with the real world appears to have been lost.

Level 4. At Home.

The rest of the band begin to arrive at the MUSICIAN's bedsit and the real world begins once more to have substance.

Level 5. On the Way.

The band sets off for the gig but first they have to find the venue.

The Gig.

Finally, having arrived at the venue, they can perform.

SUPER MUSO BROS - interesting phenomena #002 (Dancer as Musician) was performed at The Ferens Art Gallery - Kingston upon Hull on 21st June 2003 and at the First International Conference of Digital Technology and Performance at Doncaster College in South Yorkshire on 27th June 2003.

This project was completed through the financial and "in-kind" support of the following organisations:

Arts Council England (Yorkshire)
Kingston upon Hull City Arts Unit
Dept. of Work and Pensions (New Deal)
Kingston Rowing Club

"interesting phenomena occur when two or more rhythmic patterns are combined"

Publicity materials:
Hull poster (73k)
Hull leaflet (52k)
Doncaster leaflet (63k)

http://www.ondoloop.org/intphen/supermuso/index.html