En toc

(1993)

Performance for Nouvelles Scènes, Dijon, France.

The performance took place in an old factory called l’Usine, they had installed a radio station there for the duration of the festival, but they had not received the transmitter in time. This last minute hitch in their plans was perfect for my purposes. The intent of the performance was to set up radiophonic actions without necessarily using standard radio technology. Aside from some visual and other performative actions, two 1-watt transmitters were placed in the middle of the Bar-Hall-Dining area. One was transmitting, the other was idle. During the meal I proceeded to de-solder one of the 1-watt transmitters. I placed all the components on a table in an appetizing manner (in an hommage to Testuo Kogawa). In a sense, I was digesting the transmitter, or consuming it by destroying it. The smell of solder blended with the odors of the meals the audience was having. I am not going to fool you, most of the audience was oblivious to what I was doing. They were eating and drinking in anticipation of a concert that was going to happen in the concert hall at the other end of the space. This was also appropriate, reaching a certain invisibility through a visible action. The other actions in this 14 hour performance were of the same ilk and had similar effect, that of a performer embodying a transmitter and the audience’s tuner scanning the dial in vain for a signal.