Indeterminacy
In the ensembles we are not using indeterminacy in a Cagean way. There is no chance operation, no indeterminacy in play in our choice of material. It is more the lack of indeterminacy that I find significant in the ensembles’ music. Lack of happenstance. Although I realize that, to a person not familiar with the field of improvised music, it may seem like there is a lot of indeterminacy going on.
Our independent rhythmical loops do have some indeterminate aspects.
Or at least, they relate to each other in a somewhat indeterminate manner.
Or they can relate to each other indeterminately.
Haphazardly.
The independency, the way the different layers are organized seemingly independent in the ensembles, is not easily achieved when working solo. In Video Ensemble I have experimented with indeterminacy in video loops. It has been my attempt to achieve something that could replace or represent the independency in different layers in the ensembles’ music – in order to maintain a certain complexity and variation within or under the surface that pretends to be static.
Each loop has been pre-recorded and pre-determined, and they are all of different lengths and with individual starting and stopping points. Thus, the indeterminacy applies to the loops reciprocal time-wise relationship, only.
Such machined indeterminacy replace and represent the human independency with a rigidity and coldness that I find compelling and challenging.
Note to self: machined indeterminacy works best with open-ended material, omni-directional material.