Two Rivers Sound Walk

Our final project in the Core Concepts course asked that we engage with “Difficult Knowings” about water. My colleagues and I developed these Sound Walk pieces to explore stories that help us grapple with our relationship and understanding of water. Most of these recordings were taken on site in the Two Rivers Neighbourhood in Guelph,

Being Digital

Nicolas Negroponte had a theory that I keep coming back to. In his book, Being Digital he spoke of how society would struggle as the value of things shifted from atoms to bits. In many senses I agree with him. As a musician I’ve watched means of revenue evaporate onto the internet and in the

Performing Memory

Stephen, Marcella and I took a walk down to the Eramosa with her hydrophone and collected some sounds, and I gave them a brief orientation, but it was so cold we headed back to my house pretty quick for tea and clementines. As we talked over our relationship with the river, and our interests for

Liveness & Listening

In researching audio walks I’ve been considering the technology of headphones. If I am working towards creating an experience that connects a listener with the environment of our two rivers what good does placing headphones on them even do? Wouldn’t a live tour be more appropriate? A workshop inviting people to stop and listen to

Improvised Risk, Improvised Trust: Communities in Practice

In my research I toil a lot in this questions of Trust and Risk. In improvisation studies we use these terms to refer to people’s comfort level. When risk is too high improvisation and creativity becomes blocked by fear. When risk is too low, improvisation and creativity don’t occur as behaviours become standardized, routine is

The Water and Me: an Auto-ethnography?

When considering our relationship with water I am inclined to pause for meditation on how we all start the same way. Being of an in water. In gestation we begin fertilized in liquid, having weak membranes which develop eventually to separate the water within us from the water without. This happens only slowly over time.

Devising Water

The IMPR cohort has been invited to devise two days of content reflecting on water. Particularly the role of the Eramosa and Speed Rivers –the water ways most immediate to the city of Guelph. These rivers are often present in my mind as they define the land on which I live; the Two Rivers Neighbourhood.

Liveness

J. shared this video of Gil Scott-Heron being interviewed in Hungary in class. There’s enough wisdom here to keep it handy.

The Tropes

Improvised Trust Waterman asserts that there is an inherent virtuosity in improvisation practices In this essay. In Percé she reminded us that improvisation is neither good nor bad, but a modality. “What work is the work doing” -she said. Uses Oliveros’ inclination to express yourself with purpose and passion Skill set as a foundation for

Recipe for Disaster

Scissors and all After reading Julie Dawn Smith’s account of the history of The Feminist Improvising Group (FIG) J and I decided to get together, with my daughter in tow and make puppets for our seminar presentation. We created these sock puppets with steel wool and googly eyes and then delivered a seminar which began