BOREDOM
Lecture performance/Video performance with semi-live music
Duration 36 minutes
Software Consultant Sam Ashley
2000/01

image / text


Starting point for the piece is a text or lecture on the topic of boredom. The lecture is a collection of material and thoughts by the artist on the subject that fascinates him. It is structured in four parts: a boring introduction, a tenacious historical overview, a subjective reflection and an appendix with quotations. The text can be performed in two different versions: as a three-hour-long reading performance/ lecture and as video with live music.

In the video performance, the lecture is projected as a scrolling text. To accompany the 36-minute-long video, one to three musicians perform a nine-minute- long piece live. It is recorded on a computer and played back in real time at one fourth the speed. It consequently lasts 36 minutes, matching the length of the text projected on the video. The musicians leave the stage after performing their nine-minute-long piece. It is up to the audience to either read the projection or listen to the music.