"Michi" by Keiko Abe------->

Performed by Evelyn Glennie



Because it's hard to tell, here's what this blog is about: a certain set of new devices, themes and techniques, which seem to be congealing into the first really distinct artistic movement since Post-Modernism, or perhaps "Minimalism" or "Globalism." These techniques and the artists that use them flow directly out of the last wave of Avant-garde, but represent an attempt to blend the experimental with the accessible.

Some interesting notes on Glennie:

------->In her performances, Glennie seems to blend more "accessible" pieces, like "Michi" with more challenging, abstract pieces, bringing mind-opening, paradigm-shifting experiment to a wider audience...

------->She has an apparent interest in improvising with genres and forms, melding all of her interests into a cohesive Glennie performance.

------->An interest in improvising with tools, techniques and devices. She loves pieces where she can play with her hands, her fingers, her nails... If somebody writes "Tocatta for cow bell and eyelashes" Glennie will be the first to play it. It's like an evolutionary approach to finding the right solution to each artistic problem....

------->Continuing the breakdown of barriers between "art" and "life..." Is this "reality music performance?" Glennie's carving a path as an avant-garde classical performer/activist/motivational speaker....

------->Use of internet and technology that attempts to bring the human component into the technology, not the other way around... For example, when she complains about "acoustic enhancement" (sound systems) of auditoriums. To Glennie, it's vital that there is a direct connection between performer and audience via the unprocessed sound waves. The audience must learn to listen with their whole bodies...

------->Glennie's "activism" represents a democratization of music-making. That music as an art can and should be available to all people. And people should be taught to really listen, even to experimental music....

And there are other vital ways that Glennie fits into the new art. Look closely at the kind of improvisation and tools Glennie uses. You'll see them 1,000 times again, weaving a golden braid through our emerging culture.

Just look at this very same work as an act of "film..."