[Rumori] Introduction and RFP

[Sarah Lockhart]

Hello all,

I'm new to this list, and just wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Sarah
Lockhart, and I'm a video artist in Oakland, California that works mostly
with found/appropriated footage. I also curate shows at an arts space in
Oakland called 21 Grand.  The following is a series I'm putting together
that I thought would be of interest to folks here.


RFP/Call For Entries: Duck and Cover at 21 Grand Arts Space in Oakland, CA

What Is This Duck and Cover?
Duck and Cover will be an evening (maybe two or three) of radical
reinterpretations of popular songs performed/reformed/deformed by musicians,
performance artists, dancers, and the like to take place June 11th, 12th and
13th at 21 Grand in Oakland.  Hopefully, there will be an audience, and
participants will be paid.

Why A Night of Covers?
This show came out of a discussion about audiences for experimental music
and issues of ³relevance² of experimental music performances to the general
public. It is also in response to the resurgence of pablum pop (a la
Brittney Spears), the resurgence of intellectual property issues, and the
show, ³American Idol,² where talent is judged based partly on one¹s ability
to perform a relatively faithful rendition of someone else¹s material.
Unlike the previously mentioned televisual endeavor, we aim to present
unfaithful renditions that deconstruct the song, work with it in an
unconventional way, or use it as a leaping off point to do something more
interesting. Besides, it just sounded like fun.

Are there Criteria?
The premise is to take a song or piece of music with which a general
audience is likely to be familiar and then perform it in an unconventional
way, whether through sampling/digital processing, interpreting it via
another art form, improvising upon themes or patterns of the music, or doing
a relatively straight rendition using radically different instrumentation.

A maximum of 20 minutes will be alloted to each selected performer/group,
therefore you could conceivably cover multiple songs.

If you are doing a more or less ³straight² cover, no more than half of the
instruments (including voice) commonly associated with said song can be
used. For example, if you were to cover a conventional rock song,
(vocals/guitar/bass/drums) you could use at most two of these instruments.
You could choose vocals and guitar, but it would be more interesting with
trumpet, tone generator and theremin.

How do I communicate my desire to participate in this event?
You can e-mail 21grand at 21grand.org with your name, contact info, and a
description of what you would do, including which song(s) or music you would
do it to. It could be a bit vague (e.g. butoh dance to Black Sabbath; duet
for tuba and laptop of Broadway showtunes). Please give some history of your
performance/artistic background or link thereto.
You can also mail us or drop off a physical document to:
21 Grand
449 B 23rd St.
Oakland, CA 94612