Piano Personae: Performance, Subjectivity and Experimentation

Catherine Ann Laws

Piano Personae: Performance, Subjectivity and Experimentation

Music

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

Abstract

The arts of the last century have pushed us to interrogate notions of the self, exposing the fragmented, fluid, dynamic, embodied and contingent nature of subjectivity. Musical subject-formation through performance is inherently intersubjective: every musician develops a sound, style and performance persona through a process of identification with and differentiation from the playing of others, whether peers, teachers, or idolised performer-heroes. Nevertheless, the discourse of the individual self persists. Developing an ‘authentic’ performing ‘voice,’ predicated on the self, is often regarded as key to musical success, while popular media commentary encourages the idea of performance as self-realisation.

This presentation considers these issues via performance of my version of Annea Lockwood's Ceci n'est pas un piano (originally 2002, for piano, recorded voice and electronics). The research is part of a practice-led project ‘Piano Personae’, examining the relationship between performance, experimentation, embodied knowledge and subjectivity.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 17 Jul 2016
Event	Fourth Performance Studies Network International Conference - Bath Spa University, Bath, United Kingdom Duration: 14 Jul 2016 → 17 Jul 2016

Conference

Conference	Fourth Performance Studies Network International Conference
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Bath
Period	14/07/16 → 17/07/16

1 Invited talk

Performance and Subjectivity: Annea Lockwood's 'Ceci nest pas un piano'
Catherine Laws (Invited speaker)
23 Nov 2015
Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk

Cite this

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title = "Piano Personae: Performance, Subjectivity and Experimentation",

abstract = "The arts of the last century have pushed us to interrogate notions of the self, exposing the fragmented, fluid, dynamic, embodied and contingent nature of subjectivity. Musical subject-formation through performance is inherently intersubjective: every musician develops a sound, style and performance persona through a process of identification with and differentiation from the playing of others, whether peers, teachers, or idolised performer-heroes. Nevertheless, the discourse of the individual self persists. Developing an {\textquoteleft}authentic{\textquoteright} performing {\textquoteleft}voice,{\textquoteright} predicated on the self, is often regarded as key to musical success, while popular media commentary encourages the idea of performance as self-realisation. This presentation considers these issues via performance of my version of Annea Lockwood's Ceci n'est pas un piano (originally 2002, for piano, recorded voice and electronics). The research is part of a practice-led project {\textquoteleft}Piano Personae{\textquoteright}, examining the relationship between performance, experimentation, embodied knowledge and subjectivity.",

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language = "English",

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T1 - Piano Personae

T2 - Fourth Performance Studies Network International Conference

AU - Laws, Catherine Ann

PY - 2016/7/17

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N2 - The arts of the last century have pushed us to interrogate notions of the self, exposing the fragmented, fluid, dynamic, embodied and contingent nature of subjectivity. Musical subject-formation through performance is inherently intersubjective: every musician develops a sound, style and performance persona through a process of identification with and differentiation from the playing of others, whether peers, teachers, or idolised performer-heroes. Nevertheless, the discourse of the individual self persists. Developing an ‘authentic’ performing ‘voice,’ predicated on the self, is often regarded as key to musical success, while popular media commentary encourages the idea of performance as self-realisation. This presentation considers these issues via performance of my version of Annea Lockwood's Ceci n'est pas un piano (originally 2002, for piano, recorded voice and electronics). The research is part of a practice-led project ‘Piano Personae’, examining the relationship between performance, experimentation, embodied knowledge and subjectivity.

AB - The arts of the last century have pushed us to interrogate notions of the self, exposing the fragmented, fluid, dynamic, embodied and contingent nature of subjectivity. Musical subject-formation through performance is inherently intersubjective: every musician develops a sound, style and performance persona through a process of identification with and differentiation from the playing of others, whether peers, teachers, or idolised performer-heroes. Nevertheless, the discourse of the individual self persists. Developing an ‘authentic’ performing ‘voice,’ predicated on the self, is often regarded as key to musical success, while popular media commentary encourages the idea of performance as self-realisation. This presentation considers these issues via performance of my version of Annea Lockwood's Ceci n'est pas un piano (originally 2002, for piano, recorded voice and electronics). The research is part of a practice-led project ‘Piano Personae’, examining the relationship between performance, experimentation, embodied knowledge and subjectivity.

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 14 July 2016 through 17 July 2016

ER -

Piano Personae: Performance, Subjectivity and Experimentation

Abstract

Conference

Activities

Performance and Subjectivity: Annea Lockwood's 'Ceci nest pas un piano'

Cite this