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The Archive of the National Review of Live Art

PAUL BURWELL

TALK ON BOW GAMELAN

Year : 1990

Running Time : 50 minutes

Catalogue No. : 90/08

Country of Origin : U.K.

Category : Invited Artists / Talk

Programme Note

Description

Anecdotal talk in which Paul Burwell discusses the history and aesthetics of Bow Gamelan. Making reference to sheets tacked to the back of the lecture theatre on which he had drawn various sketches and brief statements (and which the camera allows us only to see fleetingly), he mentions some of his past collaborators, including Richard Wilson and Ann Bean, illustrates some of the weird and wonderful instruments they have made for use in performances (daisy drums, lightbulb suit played with spoons, belfry with pots and other implements for bells etc). He suggests the key to where their work comes from is exploring the boundaries between 'art, life, plumbing, sound, welding, electricity and acoustic silence'. This leads into a discussion of Britain having only two native musical traditions - the pibroch and bell-ringing (which he suggests is systems music). He describes his interest in the ergonomics of sound-making, in the gestures and movements associated with it and in using sound in sculptural ways. He derives his approach from a concern with music as primarily being about the transference of energy and from a radicalism which consists of going back to first principles, finding things for oneself (which he illustrates through using some paper rolled into a cone and pin to provide a primitive record player). He affirms that art and creativity are weapons of survival.

In questions session, Burwell acknowledges risks in what they do sometimes, but says they don't do things just for the risk; he also discusses the risks attached to use of fireworks. He describes the very rough basic 'scoring' which lies behind their performances - it's more a note of who will do what, where and when, rather than precise plotting of notes, actions etc. he believes in the performance itself being the real first time for what happens and in "getting it right first time'. Accepting a questioner's view that sometimes performances are so loud that one almost can't distinguish between sounds, he discusses the physical effect of sound on bodies and the importance of this being produced acoustically, not just through electronic amplification.Finishes with holding up a statement : NEVER, NEVER, NEVER........... GIVE UP - sees that as a credo for survival and for artists.

Tape Information

Six Tapes, 90/08 - 13 (incl Master & originals). 90/08 contains forty minutes talk, followed by ten mins. discussion; 90/09 contains a further few mins. of discussion.