In 1966 ten New York artists and thirty engineers and scientists from Bell Telephone Laboratories collaborated on a series of innovative dance, music and theater performances, 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, held in October at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York City. The artists were John Cage, Lucinda Childs, Öyvind Fahlström, Alex Hay, Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Rauschenberg, David Tudor and Robert Whitman. Archival material has been assembled into ten films, each of which reconstructs the artist's original work and uses interviews with the artists, engineers and performers to illuminate the artistic, technical and historical aspects of the work.

Variations VII, performed at 9 Evenings, was the next to last in John Cage’s series of indeterminate works that he had begun in 1958, which made increasing use of electronic equipment and systems. This DVD documents the only complete performance of Variations VII and also presents a stereo audio recording of the full 85 minutes of the performance.

This rare and historical film is the second in the 9 Evenings series from E.A.T. and ARTPIX and was produced by Billy Klüver and Julie Martin of E.A.T. and directed by Barbro Schultz Lundestam.

Catalog Number: MC-749	Type: Short	Genre: Documentary
Copyright: 2008	Length: 41 minutes + Extras	Format:  DVD  Region: 0 (All)
TV System: NTSC & PAL	ISBN: 978-0-9668010-8-8	UPC: 880198074997
Label: Artpix

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Films In Compilation

2008-04-15  La Folia online By Grant Chu Covell Mode's 29th volume in its ongoing Cage traversal presents the Variations series' first three installments. Motion Ensemble emphasizes a technological progression with acoustic instruments in Variations I to live electronics in Variations III. David Tudor's spirit hovers over these performances. He is Variations I's dedicatee: for David Tudor, on his Birthday (Tardily), and several Motion Ensemble players cut their signal-processing teeth (sawteeth?) on Tudor's live electronic works. Variations I, taken here by clarinet, horn, trumpet, violin, double bass, prepared piano and percussion, sounds like any of the unstructured aleatoric pieces cluttering the 20th century. However, Motion Ensemble's musicians play reservedly, producing ample savory sounds. Variations II introduces electronics and a simultaneous performance of Lecture on Nothing. Helen Pridmore delivers the odd, self referential text as much about nothing as it is about something. Several times she burbles the words through water or projects them in a laughing voice. Double bass and violin squawks and scratches are amplified. A percussionist plays with gadgets ranging from toy pianos to amplified slinky. It's entrancing to follow the text's thread, and as in the other performances, Motion Ensemble proceeds with delicate restraint. Variations III includes pre-recorded and live sounds: twittering birds, a revving gas powered lawn mower, a bus pulling up to a curb, etc. The live electronics aren't heavy-handed. These aren't DJs using Cage's shadow as an excuse to bring down the house. Many quiet sounds are amplified, and countless percussion and widgets are treated to filtering, reverb and delay. Instruments and techniques may differ from Variations I, but the atmosphere is similar. Heard coming after Variations I and II, a listener might not notice that traditional instruments are absent. It'd be a treat to hear these folks live. True to form, Mode presents an excellent recording, capturing these caucuses' every nuance.

	Open Score by Robert Rauschenberg MC-596, 2007 In 1966 ten New York artists and thirty engineers and scientists from Bell Telephone Laboratories collaborated on a series of innovative dance, music and theater performances, 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, held at the 69th Regiment Armory, New... more >	$US 25.00 home   $US 50.00 educ   what's this Wholesale pricing available Available now! Format: DVD,NTSC & PAL

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