Improvisation and Control, 2021 Zoom essays, audio-video, 30 mins Researched, written, produced and performed: Sean Dockray, James Parker, Joel Stern Narration: James Parker Presented by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Unsound and Liquid Architecture as part of the festival program Free Jazz III When the pandemic forced Machine Listening online, like everyone else, we quickly gravitated to Zoom as a means to connect, work, and perform together. The first three curated Machine Listening programs at Unsound 2020 were all held on Zoom and broadcast on YouTube and elsewhere. We thought of them a bit like pirate radio: a temporary station, with hosts, conversations, sounds and experiments.
When we were invited by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore to develop another online program in 2021, we wanted to try something a bit different. For Improvisation and Control, the radio format was interspersed with three audiovisual essays:
These works play with the essay format and with the expectations and limitations of Zoom as both a medium and a readymade.