17 november 2oo1
big orbit gallery, buffalo, ny
where to begin... yes, marina rosenfeld... while surfing, i found a notice that she was performing at the big orbit gallery in buffalo... since i now at long last have wheels capable of such a jaunt... i went... knowing of no other like-minded interested parties, the trip was an exercise in resonating dimensions of being alone... and in unfamiliar terrain... the route took me thru southern ontario... i was well-prepared with cds... so i rolled at a high rate of speed in my large smooth-riding capricious classik...
arrived in buffalo early enuff to grab a cheap room and hit a couple of record stores... the gallery was in an odd-shaped series of older buildings... the room was filled with white poured styrofoam pieces, mostly piled against the wall and labeled "do not touch"... except for the one in the center of the room with ice skates and suspended laces in the center... there was a better crowd than i imagine would go to the same event in day-twah... the first guy up was consistent with the parameters of "microsound" musik... a table set up with mixer, effects, buttons to push, knobs to twirl... the sounds he made were familiar for the genre, but it was an honest effort... and he was disingenuous in manner... and tho i did not get his name, i respect the interval he kept to...
the second set was by an augmented duo... there were the innards of a grand piano against the wall... a gopichand and various other percussives... and the requisite table full of electronics gear... unfortunately... it was a reunion of world music/jazz friends which went on and on in a masturbatory jam session based around the percussives... irksome... it belonged to another show... but the awfully polite boofalo crowd seemed to appreciate it... eventually it ended, which is the best thing i can say for it...
marina rosenfeld emerged quickly... she is a strikingly beautiful woman... she seemed to be waiting for a cue... the audience seemed sated by the jazzbos, so were yammering and comingling sheep... i moved up front, so i could watch her work... she stretched and began... her gear consisted of a set of turntables, a couple of effects, including a chorus, and a mixer... she plays custom-made acetate vinyls... using the sounds of the stylus on the grooves, the pops and crackles, processed and mixed, to create her works... _the fragment opera_... it was quietly graceful and articulated sound... her manipulations of the recordings lent a fragile but expansive environment of audible possibilities... at one point, she turned on a visual projector looping a piece which i think is called _the sea_... one becomes enmeshed in the textures, which are derived from an ongoing processing of choices... each piece lasting 5-10 minutes... separated by her changing of the occupants of the turntables in silence... she turns to the room, asking if time was over... asked her to keep going... after another piece, she mentioned that the recordings were all her stuff... she mixed a final piece using a dj olive record and an unidentified string quartet... it was a unique mix, yet identifiable with her work... obviously, i am quite enamored of her music... and i enjoyed having the opportunity to tell her so... afterwards...
~ r e b e l g r i s w o l d
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