Cartridge Music in the Quarantine: Presence, Absence, Contingency Setups and (De-)territorialised Performances

Marcello Messina; Valério Fiel da Costa; Marco Scarassatti

doi:10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2020.3.5.28

Authors

Marcello Messina Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8822-3342
Valério Fiel da Costa Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2657-3582
Marco Scarassatti Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2020.3.5.28

Keywords:

John Cage, Cartridge Music, experimental music, quarantine, pandemics, (de-)territorialisation of performance, contingency setups

Abstract

Between the end of May and the beginning of June, 2020, we performed individually, filmed, synced together, edited and presented a
quarantine version of John Cage’s Cartridge Music. Uploaded on YouTube, the performance was broadcast on 1 June, as part of the 4th Research Colloquium of the Postgraduate Programme in Music of the Federal University of Paraíba. Stranded at home since March, unable to reach our respective faculty offices/studios, and mostly left with domestic gear, kitchenware, sound-producing car equipment and our children’s toys, we put together an emergency version of the piece, characterised by three dramatically different setups, each with its own spatialities and soundworlds. Importantly, our use of the signifier “emergency” here is meant to refer much more to the concrete condition of our existences in this particular situation, than to the contingential circumstances of this specific musical activity. In this paper, we discuss the piece by considering its preparation, performance, presentation and audience reception. In particular, furthering our previous studies on the (de-)territorialisation of performance and on the territorial metaphors embedded in collaborative artistic interaction, we question the notions of “place” and “venue” in the context of a collective performance that happened in three different locations and of a subsequent première that did not happen in any tangible physical place at all. However, and in spite of the substantial de-territorialisation of our gig, we also consider a set of persisting spatial narratives that inscribe the performance in terms of both visually and aurally perceptible power relations. Finally, considering the inherent criticalities of the field(s) of “experimental”, “avant-garde” or simply “contemporary” music, we assess the gains and losses of such a dematerialised and yet ubiquitous performance in terms of audience participation and appreciation.

Author Biographies

Marcello Messina, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

Marcello Messina is a Sicilian composer and academic based in João Pessoa, Brazil. He holds a PhD in composition from the University of Leeds (UK), and is currently Professor Visitante Estrangeiro (Foreign Visiting Lecturer) at the Universidade Federal da Paraíba.
Valério Fiel da Costa, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

Valério Fiel da Costa is a composer, performer and researcher. Lecturer at the Federal University of Paraiba, he develops research on musical open forms under a morphological view. In 2016, he published the book Morfologia da obra aberta: Esboço de uma teoria geral da forma musical [Morphology of the Open Work: sketches for a general theory of musical form].
Marco Scarassatti, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Marco Scarassatti is a sound artist, improviser and composer. He develops research and construction of soundsculptures and sound installations. He is a lecturer at the Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG, and the author of the book Walter Smetak, o alquimista dos sons [Walter Smetak, the alchemist of sounds] (Perspectiva / SESC publisher), published in 2008.