Racer Session #399 | Judith Hamann | November 5, 2017
Full list of performers can be found at this session's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NAJO8XmLhk
Greetings, fans of the avant!
We are very thrilled to be hosting cellist Judith Hamann, all the way from Melbourne, Australia. Judith is an artist whose performance practice stretches across various genres - encompassing elements of improvised, art, experimental, and popular music. Currently her work is focused on expressions of immersion and saturation: explored through durational, spatialised and electroacoustic approaches to sound. She is a champion of new and rarely performed music, immersive approaches to sound, and engages with a range of interdisciplinary and experimental projects.
It is incredibly exciting to be hosting Judith, and after hearing reviews of her Friday performance at the Woodland Theatre, we’re buzzing to see what she does on Sunday at Gallery 1412. She’s written some lovely notes for us below, which I encourage you to read! We’ll see you at 8pm for the session in our temporary session home.
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“Central to my approach to improvisation is the relationship between instrument and the body of the performer, not in a theatrical sense, but rather its position at the center of listening, responding, reinterpretation and transformation of material. For me, often the physical gesture that “feels right” is the thread that I will follow during a performance, sometimes surprising me with its aural results.
“The solo performance that I will present for this session is drawn from a collection of materials, etudes if you will, that I have been collecting and moving through that pivot around different conceptions of “shaking.” This has taken the form of examining low frequency vibration sound installation work, developing cello techniques that actually shake the body of the instrument, and micro versions using a combination of humming, cello tones, and just intonation frequencies that activate site specific psycho-acoustic activity. The interest in shaking as an overarching concept stems from research into sound as both activator and healer, and how vibration, space, and tone can affect perception and the body.
“Recently, I feel that my improvisation takes an approach that is more akin to constructing and navigating a place or landscape, rather than a narrative approach: finding and exploring certain areas, moving through contour, texture, and color.
“Of course, I’m very excited to play and respond and be pushed and shaped by all of you. Looking forward,
Judith Hamann”