Be Like Water by Jonas Howden Sjøvaag

My exposition titled "be like water" is a required read / listen before my digital presentation at the ARF 2024. I want to present the current status of my work through a 20 minute musical performance, because I want the artistic practice to take the lead in this. In my project I find it helpful to follow the logic of Peter Tornquist, in which musical (or artistic) questions will have musical (or artistic) answers.
This is also the reason for the summarized look and feel of this exposition.
The exposition is necessary to familiarize with, because it presents background, timeline and other elements important to the research I'm doing. In summary, it consists of:
- a short sound clip to give you an idea of my musical background and starting point for the research - a sketch for the contextualization of my project - a sketch outlining reflections and stuff that came up - references relevant to the artistic result in this presentation - a timeline presenting a summary of the progression from start till now - challenges and considerations - example of how the artistic research leads to new discoveries outside of the planned scope

Reflections / stuff that came up

- how to compare results to project description?

- what happened in the process?

- a simplification of each instrument, narrowing down to the minimum

- a simplification of form to allow a fluid motion through a planned piece

- to keep the element of improvisation, within the boundaries set by preset elements like text, BPM and specifics from HW used, an element of surprise was introduced (voice on cassette)

- is this live electronics?

- turns out that in this project it was fruitful to abandon Ableton, switch to Reaper (for stability + simplification of the live electronics part), and to see the DAW as a sound processing unit rather than something that provides musical input

- new questions, other results, elaborating on the self

- accept self-gratification as a creative element

- the narrowing down causes more creativity, not less

- the narrowing down demands new creative outlets, new bands, new things to be made, etc.

What works?

The setup (machine) can be re-used for another project, in another musical style, or for prewritten tracks
The work "Be like Water" can be repeated without being an exact clone of the previous concert
Sounds fairly good & I personally find this soundscape rewarding
The idea of keeping it portable and relatively simple worked without accepting major lackings in the resulting sound
It's interesting to see how little I can do while still claim to "play the instrument", and it is also interesting to see that touching a wooden box with a piezo inside is enough for me to claim to be a drummer, while singing two full lyrics still leaves me in doubt as to whether I'm a singer

Tradeoffs:

I have played a drum kit for many years and to make this work I have put the urge to play a full kit on hold
I have to act as a professional in fields where I know that I really just professional-by-proxy

Challenges & considerations

Is the research accessible to peers?

Methodology?

- deconstruction / assembly / bricolage

- improvisation

- embracing flaws / Wabi-Sabi

Will the outcome be relevant for others in the field?

Question: What kind of music arises in the meeting between three artistic identities?

|| Selected musical background, summarized ||

"Curious Child" - "A1" - "On This Day"

What will I present?

My presentation at ARF 2024 will consist of approx 25 minutes of music that is the current artistic result in my ongoing PhD.

content:

two compositions, two texts & "new" musical elements in a semi-improvisational form

played on

Casio MT-65, cassette, percussion, vocals, machinedrum, digitone + FX

BE LIKE WATER

An artistic result 1,5 years into the PhD

Context sketch

Music I identify with

The ECM and "sound of the nordics" jazz scene

The progressive / alternative pop/rock-scene in the UK / Yorke, Greenwood, The 1975, Gorillaz / Albarn

Storytellers: Cave, Waits, Burroughs, Cohen, Simone, Mitchell

Other instrument specific influences: Kleive, DeJohnette, Thowsen, etc.

Current topics in my surroundings / innovation, cutting edge, etc.

The computer as an instrument / live electronics

Instrumental technicalities

Musical values and considerations outside academia, aka "the real world"

Project description:

- building on, representing and expanding my artistic identities

- creating a result that has an artistic value, for me and for others

- accept practicality as a constraint and use it as a creative funnel

Project goals:

- make music without being worried about "achieving complexity" and / or "achieving simplicity"

- include elements from elements I already have an embodied knowledge of

References relevant to the result in this particular presentation

The Smile / Wall of Eyes

Mikkelborg / Bro / Mazur - Strands

Viagra Boys / Troglodyte

Roy DuNann (stereophile interview)

John Prine / In spite of ourselves

Tom Waits / Take one last look

Going further || Example of results where elements / ideas found through research directly influences, and is part of, a new work (trickle-down)

Going out, Coming home

Recorded without prior rehearsal in Bergen, 12.02.24

Take 1

Hans Martin Austestad (banjo)

Jonas Sjøvaag (vocal, digitone, lyrics & composition)

Research timeline

An incomplete overview of milestones and happenings

September 2022 - first days

Spring 2023

Autumn 2023

Spring 2024

Blues for N0.

This is a bot that speaks, listens, and prints the interpretation back to a text file, before starting over. It resembles, although without knowing or wanting to, the cut-up technique of W. Burroughs, in turn based on a dadaist concept from the 1920's.

It will be part of a poster presentation at SAR Artistic Research Forum, in Tilburg, April 2024.

Jonas Sjøvaag (lyrics, scripting, video)

Assembly

Deconstruction

Tip

Tip