Absence in relief (audio and visual studies in intimacy) (2021)

Concert installation

commissioned by Splinter Reeds, presented by Indexical (Santa Cruz) and Radius Art Gallery. Absence in relief is made possible in part through the Musical Grant Program, which is administered by InterMusic SF, and supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and San Francisco Grants for the Arts.

After great pain, a formal feeling comes — (c. 2’ - 2'30" w. fermate)
KYLE | BILL | DAVID | JEFF | DANA: separate, simultaneous

And now removed from air,
I simulate the breath so well, (c. 12’)
“endurance meditation”
DAVID | JEFF | DANA: separate, simultaneous

There is a pain so utter (c. 2’ w. fermate)
DAVID | JEFF: separate, simultaneous

The Heart asks Pleasure — first — (c. 1’)
KYLE | BILL: separate, simultaneous

My life closed twice before its close (c. 3'30 - 4'00" w. fermate)
KYLE | BILL | DAVID | JEFF | DANA: separate, simultaneous

Pain has an element of blank (c. 4'30” – 5’30” w. fermate & improvisation)
KYLE | DANA: separate, simultaneous

Splinter Reeds: KYLE Bruckmann (oboe & English horn), BILL Kalinkos (clarinet), DAVID Wegehaupt (alto saxophone), JEFF Anderle (bass clarinet), DANA Jessen (bassoon)

What you hear:

  • the noise floor of a compositional mind besieged by anxiety and monotony;

  • pieces, fragments, episodes, soliloquys, reveries, prayers;

  • the absence of the instrument and of its sound and color, replaced by pieces of its shadow;

  • the musicians’ bodies, working;

  • the musicians, forcing their own breath through a tube, transpiring, giving away a vital part of themselves for the sake of sonic expression, expelling moisture;

  • saliva production;

  • hypoxia;

  • the musicians;

  • Kyle, Bill, David, Jeff, and Dana

What you see:

  • intimacy, in absentia;

  • Kyle, Bill, David, Jeff, and Dana: close, closer;

  • the musicians performing presence, in absentia;

  • Kyle, Bill, David, Jeff, and Dana: in their home, their shelter, in-place;

  • Kyle, Bill, David, Jeff, and Dana, disappearing;

  • Kyle, Bill, David, Jeff, and Dana, already gone, not here

What does it mean to be present? What is distance and who is here? These questions were at the core of our digital identities before the COVID-19 pandemic but since March 2020, they have taken on special meaning. The music (audio) and video in this installation was recorded separately by each member of Splinter Reeds in their homes, spread across the country. Compositionally, each performer’s part was written to be performed simultaneously—in unison—though not necessarily exactly in sync with any of the other parts. The result is music that is richer in many ways than if the band were in the same room: moments of togetherness give way to canonic imitation; fermatas (musical “holds”) are indeterminate, allowing each performer to control the flow of their own music; and the singleness of the “breath” sound (no determinate “clarinet sound” or “oboe sound” etc.) allows the music to find sonic coherence despite the band not playing together in the same space.

 

The video gives close-up perspectives of the players, their mouths, hands, and faces. One also catches a glimpse into their homes, the space where the players have spent the pandemic, passing time, hibernating until pandemic regulations soften or lift. In this way, you are offered much more than musicians playing music. You are invited to see each member as an individual, and to experience their presence in a way that you might not have in a traditional concert setting.