4'33" of Feedback

Produced as part of the HotHouse Incubator workshop/residency at Factory163 in Stratford, Ontario. The focus of this workshop/residency was to explore the possibilities, and complexities, of remote performances.

Taking inspiration from my time of hybrid, and remote, teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the inevitable squealing feedback that would result when one of the in-person students failed to mute their microphone, this performance involved a series of 10 tablets, and one laptop, all "attending" the same virtual Zoom meeting in the physical presence of one another -- with all microphones and speakers left on.

Also riffing on John Cage's germinal work 4'33" (four minutes and 33 seconds of silence) (1852), where the performer sits still without making any sound, thus allowing for the ambient sounds of the environment to dominate and become the music, only in this case, the subtle room-tone becomes implicated in a digital feedback loop resulting in a cacophony of amplified ambient noise.

It's probably not exactly as John Cage intended, but it’s something…

Thanks to the Support of Hermione Presents ~ SpringWorks (HPSWF)

Credits:

• Michael Fisher: camera and editing
• Wendy DePaz: camera operator

Special thanks to:

• Katie Micak
• Myfanwy Ashmore
• Nadine Lessio
• Eileen Smith