DAM Residency, one week down.

My residency at the Denver Art Museum is over one week underway. I’ve installed several projects, had my “open house” for my first piano office hours, had a rehearsal, and my first performance!

The week felt like a whirlwind. But it also seemed less uncertain than the weeks of pre-planning before it. The piano office installation went really well, and there were so many people on hand to help set up harmonicas and pedestals on Level 7 that I felt like such a big shot. Almost 300 people played harmonicas in the first week of their installation, thanks to a busy free Saturday for families.

My favorite elements of the residency so far have been small moments. I saw two children in the American West Gallery looking around to find the source of the water sounds they were hearing (one of my subtle additions to the room, an unmarked sound piece disguised under the sofas).  Several friends and colleagues sent me pictures of themselves playing harmonicas in the galleries. And my piano office was a big hit with school groups—lots of people came by to ask me questions, say hello, record their musical sounds for the “Corridor Voices” project, and even get pictures with me.

The “American West” performance went really well and almost 75 people roamed the galleries and listened to the ambient and folksy performance. There was a technical difficulty with audio recording, but I think the video turned out well. Judging by all the guests recording things on their phones during the performance, they enjoyed the experience, and that’s paramount. The tree branches that were so difficult to get approved for galleries were a big hit, and sounded beautiful in performance. It was a really special atmosphere that’s hard to describe- something a bit lonely, a bit nature-inspired, and a bit ephemeral.

I’m completely humbled by the amount of work and staff it takes to execute these projects. I knew there was a lot of logistics needed, but I didn’t expect this much! Installing electronics for the “Corridor Voices” this past Monday was the most challenging yet, but even it went quite smoothly, and the DAM staff are incredibly nimble and creative with problem solving. There will be a few minor glitches with the speakers and iPods in the piece as I continue to trouble-shoot, but this has been a really good challenge for me to work with technology!

- See more at: http://www.livingresource.org.

Residency planning, budgeting, shuffling, visiting

 My residency at the Denver Art Museum begins in less than two weeks! Almost all of my materials are purchased, but I’m still waiting for a couple last-minute items. The past few weeks of logistics and safety meetings have been a learning experience for me as well, teaching me to build into future budgets a “buffer” for unexpected costs.

There has been much going on behind the scenes leading up to being “officially” working in the galleries. Things that I thought would be relatively simple ideas, like putting harmonicas in the galleries, have actually ended up a bit complicated, dealing with trash cans, pedestal placement, repainting/touching up, and bringing in organic material (in this case some live branches). The museum staff reassures me that this is all part of the process; they’re as new to dealing with these things as I am. Other things which I thought would be relatively complicated, like bringing in a choir’s worth of people for a piece, or having dancers in a gallery, have actually ended up being quite easily navigable.

A few parts of my project have had to be tweaked a bit, mostly due to budget. I don’t think that the pieces I’ll be doing will lose any of their value or quality, but it has been a test of creativity in being flexible!  For ‘ENGI’, I was going to have a large set of bells on several tables. The bells weren’t available in the price points I was looking for, however. I hope that adding other hand percussion to the bells will give the public an even more curious set of instruments to play. For the ‘Corridor Voices’ piece, I originally thought of having a computer processing several channels of voices, which would come from both sides of the hallway. Safety issues prevented speakers from reaching across the floor of the corridor, and I decided to use ipods instead of a laptop in the high-traffic area. This lower-tech option is more stable, concealable, and replaceable if (heaven forbid) broken or stolen.

The Calder Meditation piece evolved slightly from a singing bowl for public use into a set of more durable bells with mallet.

I’ve also learned to go back and visit the galleries often, usually before or after every meeting. The size of the galleries changes in my mind, and it’s surprisingly hard to remember the sense of scale. Little pieces of information (inspiration?) seem to come from repeat visits, like needing a conductor from the ground floor of the Atrium (rather than the second level as envisioned) for the ‘ENGI’ piece. The ground floor is the only area that a leader of a performance can see all levels of the atrium! 

Revising the American West galleries, I found the entire middle gallery now closed for re-install; one must walk in a circle around the floor plan. The space looks physically different and sounds more intimate as well. It reminds me that the museum is a constantly changing and evolving place, and my projects there are evolving with it.

Creative in Residence

In March I begin a three-week residency as Denver Art Museum’s first Creative in Residence. I’m nervous and excited about the experience. I don’t know exactly what to expect; I have participated in just one other residency before, in Catskill, New York, but the setting was quite different and very pastoral. I have also traveled abroad as a Fulbright Fellow to Iceland, but that experience immersed me in a new culture and landscape, rather than a setting much closer to home.

             I have brainstormed so many project ideas in advance, and I am looking forward to realizing a handful of them, knowing that they will change and evolve along the way. I may even find that being in the galleries for an extended stay may conjure entirely new ideas. Having a budget helps me set goals for the projects. I am slowly whittling down a list of materials I might need and people I will want to invite in to assist.

            I have worked with the public on music-related projects before, but rarely have they been pieces that can live on in some way when I am not present. I am also curious to see how I can create work while in the galleries, interacting with visitors while I prepare for works or involve visitors in process of creating. Music composition is often a solitary act, so I wonder what kinds of pieces might be intriguing for visitors even if they are only half-completed…or even if I am able to concentrate amidst commotion!

            My personal goals for this residency are ones from which normally cause me a little anxiety. I would like to become more comfortable with sharing my work in an unfinished state, allowing my process to be more apparent. I would like to take more risks in my work, knowing that I might make big mistakes in front of people, embarrass myself, or perhaps make guests uncomfortable in stumbling into a piece in progress. But as history has shown, my favorite (and usually most personally ‘successful’) projects have been the ones that I have been the most uncertain about, or pieces that I felt vulnerable, having shared something quite personal.

            Professional goals are also important for me to set. I feel honored to be able to realize ideas that have gone previously rejected by other institutions, and I want to use my time and resources to their best benefit. I am striving to get great visual documentation of my work—I have a feeling that this residency could be a huge boost for showing future supporters some of the harder-to-categorize works I make! Finally, I would like to use this residency to explore more of the potential of music and musical instruments within physical spaces. My creative experience has been primarily in recital halls and in recordings, so I want to challenge myself to think more three-dimensionally. Through sound, I want to capture the spirit of the works in the collection and bringing that spirit out into physical space.

Sun and Moon at the Dentist

It's been just about a year since I finished the music for my album 'The Origin of the Sun and Moon'. (If you don't have your copy already, please by all means buy one here or download, it would be most appreciated!) I've sold many copies and have many more to sell; my last album was made in such a limited run that in less than a year I had no more copies to sell or promote, and I didn't want that to happen to my hard work this time!

It's been very interesting to do as much self-promotion of my music as possible. I've taken the record to local music stores, I've played a couple concerts as 'CD release' shows, I've mentioned the album in other performances. The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver is selling the CD, and I hope to get it in a couple more stores. Of course, it's never enough PR as I'd like, but slowly and surely, good things come.

Several great 'Sun and Moon' related things have happened recently. I sold a limited-edition album to a listener in Paris. I just had an idea yesterday to try and perform at a local store that deals with lots of crystals and celestial objects; I think the album and its music would be a good fit there. The best 'Sun and Moon' moment recently was when the entire staff at my dentist's office listened to the album, in its entirety, while I got my teeth cleaned (this picture is the actual waiting room at the dentist, it is super luxe). That was pretty hilarious, hearing my music as I'm lying back in a chair with giant lights and mirrors over me. The dentist made it through the song about pulling teeth, but had to turn it down when it came to the whale noises and shouting random texts from books. I don't blame the dentist. The album starts off all easy-listening and gets thornier.

Listening to the album after a long pause is an interesting experience. When I made the tracks, they were like experiments. They can live in a variety of different sound-states, so there doesn't need to be a hard and fast definitive version. Nevertheless, some of the sounds on there I thought, oh yeah, that's the version that's on the CD and not the version I perform live (which would be much trickier to time all the sound samples and get people to sound like whales). A couple tracks I had not heard in months and I was pleasantly surprised to think, hey! I made that.

I have never been a musician who looks back on his work from years past and never wants to look at that material again. Some pop artists are practically disgusted with their early work. I still find great things in the first pieces I've written, though I'm glad that I'm always exploring new ways to combine sounds, new ways of organizing forms, and fun new methods of delivering those sounds to live audiences.

I'm always interested to hear your thoughts on my works and what kinds of images you get from listening, or what strikes your fancy (or what you frankly wish I had left out). Feel free to let me know!

Cohabitation

I moved to Denver and currently living with A, also known as Boyfriend. It's a funny thing, living with a partner for the first time. Funny mostly because it's not about 'me' anymore but about 'we', and I have a lot to learn about it.

Some of the things we've had discussions about seem like 'first-world gay man problems'. We need more night-blooming flowers in the garden! Woodcuts or screenprints...or decorative plates? Other conversations seem like the oldest marital issues in the book, or common to most any two people living together. In no particular order, here are some things we're currently working on.

Whose artwork goes on the wall. And where??
What chores get done before or after work?
How to ignore a little mess, which will get picked up eventually.
How to politely say, pick up your little mess, it's not going to get picked up eventually.
Who will take care of indoor plants versus outdoor plants.
How to sleep with the light on.
Do you know how to water the (insert plant name here) properly? 
Planning romantic time.
Spontaneous romantic time.
Saving money for a vacation when lots of other important expenses arise (ugh, dentists).
Throwing out stuff that hasn't been used in years.
Saving space and organization (though I find these tasks very fun).
When to do the laundry.
Who's going to put the laundry away??
Making time for our 'alone' selves too, and our own friends. 
Leaving dishes in the sink/dishwasher. Luckily we have a Lindsay Lohan magnet on the dishwasher that lets me know if the dishes are clean or dirty. It's hard to envision, but it's very funny, and it works.

I freely admit that most of the issues are mine. I think that if Boyfriend had his druthers, there wouldn't be anything to worry about, we'd watch a lot of TV and live a very carefree existence. But I love a plan, I love making lists (see: above list) and I'm much too neurotic to not know when the bills need to be paid. (I'm beginning to let go a little though, I swear...!) So thanks to A, I'm starting to live a little and not worry all the time about all the dishes in the sink, and I know he's making a lot of compromises too to make our home one of the best around.