Simple Harmonic Motion #12 for 16 Percussionists at RNCM (2015)

  • FutureEverything, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK, 25 Feb 2015

This project is part of the Simple Harmonic Motion series.

“The almost-sculptural drum patterns seemed to exist on a different, non-synchronous channel… The result was performance in which neither the sonic nor the visual was subordinated to the other, but rather combined to create something which held the two together in a kind of synaesthetic flux.”
Luke Healey. a-n

Other works from this series and more information on the series in general can be found here.

Simple Harmonic Motion #12 is a live performance for 16 percussionists and light. It is part of an on-going series of works investigating the emergence of complex behaviour through the interaction of simple patterns, invoking the delicate balance between chaos and order. It is inspired by natural and mathematical phenomena, as well as works by the likes of Norman Mclaren, John Whitney, Steve Reich, John Cage, Gyorgi Ligeti and Edgar Varèse.

The version highlighted here, SHM #12 for 16 percussionists (2015), builds on this theme to explore the complex relations between human and machine; navigating the harmonies and tensions between science, technology, culture, ethics and tradition. Mirroring the tensions created when new scientific knowledge and technologies disrupt existing ways of living, traditional values, and moral frameworks, the piece drifts in and out of sync, shifting between order and chaos. Read more on the motivations here.

Sixteen human performers are individually controlled by a central computer, running custom software, an algorithmic composition. The performers each receive unique cues via in-ear monitors — when to step forward into the light, when to raise their arms, hit their drum (triggering a sound and light pulse), turn on their flashlight, and when to step back into darkness. They are not aware of the larger composition. They simply obey their individual instructions coming from the machine. They are executing the code. And they each perform very simple, repetitive, monotonous tasks. However, collectively, they are a complex superorganism, controlled by the machine, playing out an intricate composition of sound and light.

The piece generates both discomfort, and fleeting moments of synergy, synchronicity, and poetry. Fragile equilibriums emerge from the chaos, only to slip away, and then emerge again, in multi-scale fractal cycles.

Machine version (10:00)

Full performance (10:00)

Images

Performance images

Score

Score for Simple Harmonic Motion #12 for 16 Percussionists at RNCM, 2015.
Score for Simple Harmonic Motion #12 for 16 Percussionists at RNCM, 2015.

Credits & Acknowledgements

Commissioned by FutureEverything in partnership with the Royal Northern College of Music, with support from The Shed, MMU.

Producer: Mark Carlin
Assistant Producer: Sarah Unwin
Technical Assistant: Zach Snow
Costume: Mariel Osborn

Performers
Safira Antzus, Vykintas Civas, Mark Dyer, Richard Evans, Epa Fassianos, Emma Haughton, Lewis Knight, Daniel Lim, Luke Scott, Nick Seymour, Carmel Smickersgill, Alex Smith, Deane Smith, Harry Smith, Nathan Smyth, Jamie Stockbridge, Ollie Thomson.

Special thanks to:
Matt Whitham, Jose Luis de Vicente, Tom Higham, Drew Hemment, Paul Patrick, Mira Calix, Mick Grierson, Laura Pedroni, James Medcraft, Jenni Pystynen, Ersin Han Ersin.

Series

More works in the Simple Harmonic Motion series.

Selected Exhibitions, Performances & Presentations(2 / 2)

Only selected shows with project pages are listed below. For more complete exhibition and performance history please see Show History.

Words(2 / 2)

The artist’s own writing about this work.

Press(16 / 16)

Articles, reviews and other press relating to this work.

Interviews(4 / 4)

Books(1 / 1)

Catalogs(1 / 1)

Other Coverage(8 / 8)

News(2 / 2)

Awards & Fellowships(1 / 1)

Commissions(2 / 2)

Collections(1 / 1)

  • 2014  Blenheim Art Foundation, Oxfordshire, UK

Show History(8 / 8)

Performances(1 / 1)

  • 2015  FutureEverything, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK, 25 Feb 2015

Group Exhibitions(7 / 7)

Details

Year
2015
Medium
Live performance with 16 percussionists, handheld torches, drums, spotlights, LEDs, microphones, spatialized audio
Duration
10:00
Technique
Custom software, generative video and music composition