|
Call for
Contributions: Colloquium “Improvisation
and the Politics of Everyday Sounds: Cornelius Cardew and Beyond”* Montréal June 10-12, 2014 * L’appel à
contributions en français sera disponible prochainement. Veuillez noter que nous
acceptons des propositions de contribution en anglais et en français. The Colloquium “Improvisation and the Politics of Everyday
Sounds: Cornelius Cardew and Beyond” takes the work of British composer Cornelius
Cardew (1936-1981) as a point of departure for a reflection on the aesthetic,
ethical, and political entailments of forms of art and activism that engage
with improvisatory creative practices. In his work with groups such as the
Scratch Orchestra and AMM, Cornelius Cardew explored modes of music making that
emphasized social and aesthetic notions of freedom and gave pride of place to improvisatory,
intermedial, and experimental poietic procedures, among them the use of chance,
the recourse to everyday sounds, the exploration of unconventional music
notation techniques, the incorporation of non-trained performers to music
making processes, and the interplay of different forms of aesthetic perception
and representation. What aspects of the creative process did these procedures call
attention to, and how did they attempt to unsettle naturalized forms of
aesthesis? To what extent did such practices contribute to the reconfiguration
of established modes of music making, and in what ways did they probe the
boundaries between distinct aesthetic realms and social formations (e.g.
between high art and mass culture, between music and grassroots activism)? What
political commitments and concerns underpinned these improvisatory, intermedial
modes of poiesis, and what forms of
freedom did they actualize? In what ways are these poietic procedures (and
their attendant iterations of freedom) in dialogue with the improvisatory forms
of art and activism rehearsed in other geographical, cultural, and historical
contexts? This colloquium aims to bring together artists, activists,
and scholars to explore these and other related lines of inquiry. Potential topics
include, but are not limited to: · The role of multi-arts collectives, such as the Scratch
Orchestra, in the configuration of an ethos of liberation in the 1960s and
1970s · The cultural and historical specificities of the forms of
freedom imagined and enacted through improvisatory modes of poiesis · The role of musicians’ unions and other professional
associations in the development of alternative modes of music making and in the
transformation of institutionalized hierarchies of aesthetic production and
reception · The theories of aesthetics, culture, and politics that
subtend improvisatory creative practices · The uses of improvisatory political and aesthetic practices
in contemporary social movements · The ethical implications of the uses of improvisatory music
making as a paradigm for theorizing egalitarian, dynamic, and dialogic social
relations We welcome proposals, in English or French, for papers,
roundtables, workshops, and artist/activist interventions. Abstracts of no more
than 300 words, accompanied by a brief biographical statement (maximum 250
words), should be submitted to Eric Lewis <eric.lewis@xxxxxxxxx> and Illa Carrillo Rodríguez <illacarrillo2@xxxxxxxxx> by March 30, 2014. Proposals for roundtables,
workshops, and artist/activist interventions should include the following
information: 1) format and duration of the proposed event; 2) details about the
materials and technical support required for the event; and 3) biographical
statements of all event participants. Selected applicants will be notified by
the end of March. The colloquium will be held in Montréal, from June 10 to 12,
2014, as part of the Suoni Per Il Popolo Festival. It will feature, among other
events, a concert by pianist John Tilbury and a performance of selections of Cornelius
Cardew’s The Great Learning by the
Bozzini Quartet. |