Recitals of Artist’s Music and Sound Works

Fifteen works for computer operated piano. First performed November 1998 at Museum Fridericianum, Kassel. Commissioned by The Chartwell Trust.

• Programme: [html]

Slave Pianos (of the Art Cult)

Ten works for computer operated piano. First performed on Tuesday 9 March 1999 at Stills Gallery, Edinburgh. Commissioned by The [Chartwell Trust].

• Programme: [pdf,html]

An Evening With Slave Pianos

Four works for computer operated piano. First performed on Saturday 15 May 1999 at Moore St Gallery, Melbourne. Commissioned by Darren Knight Gallery.

• Programme: [html]

Music of the City

Five works for string quartet. First performed on Friday August 6 1999 at Darren Knight Gallery, Waterloo, Sydney. Commissioned by Darren Knight Gallery.

Programme: [pdf,html]

¡¡Emancipate the Dissonance!!

1. Pianology
2. Slave Chamber: menage a quatre
3. The Vibrational Liquid of Improvisation
4. Caged Uncaged: Unleash the Beats

Pianology

Two works for computer operated piano. First performed on Thursday 2 December 1999 at Lombard-Freid, New York. Commissioned by Lombard-Freid Fine Arts.

Slave Chamber: menage a quatre

Five works for string quartet, violin and computer operated piano. First performed on Friday 3 December 1999 at Lombard-Freid, New York. Commissioned by Lombard-Freid Fine Arts.

The Vibrational Liquid of Improvisation

Seven works for double bass, percussion, guitar and computer operated piano. First performed on Saturday 4 December 1999 at Lombard-Freid, New York. Commissioned by Lombard-Freid Fine Arts.

Caged Uncaged: Unleash the Beats

Six works for violin and computer operated piano, four percussionists, computer operated piano and tape, and turntablist. First performed on Sunday 5 December 1999 at Lombard-Freid, New York. Commissioned by Lombard-Freid Fine Arts.

The Compromised Economy of Desire and Fear

Nine works for trumpet, piano accordion, turntablist, two-channel tape and electric ensemble. First performed simultaneously at The Public Office Carpark, Melbourne and China Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles on Saturday 26 February 2000. Commissioned by China Art Objects Galleries.

China Art Objects Galleries: SLAVE PIANOS

China Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles, Saturday 26 February 2000. Commissioned by China Art Objects Galleries.

Non-Objective Labour: Towards a dialectical theory of corruption

Five works for string quartet and computer operated piano. First performed on Saturday 15 April and Wednesday 19 April 2000 at Baltyiski Dom Theatre in St Petersburg and at The Contemporary Music Centre in Moscow. Commissioned by the Sergey Kuryokhin International Music Festival.

Songs of Life

SLAVE PIANOS INTERNATIONALE BIENNALE 2000
exposition/recitals of artists’ music and sound works

15 July - 22 October, 2000

1. Non-Objective Brass
2. Aperto
3. A Long Tale with Many Notes

Non-Objective Brass

Five works for Brass Choir. First performed on Wednesday 26th July 2000 at the Australian National Gallery, Canberra. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia.

• Programme:
  • Cover: [jpeg]
  • Text: [pdf,html]

Aperto

Eight works for percussionist, interactive computer display and turntablist. First performed on Monday 17th July 2000 at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne. Commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art.

• Programme:
  • Cover: [jpeg]
  • Text: [pdf,html]

A Long Tale with Many Notes

54 min. Twenty-seven works for string quartet, fax machine, and white board. First performed on Saturday 15th July 2000 at RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. Commissioned by RMIT Gallery.

• Press Release: [jpeg]
• Programme:
  • Text: [pdf]
  • Cover: [jpeg]
  • Essay: [html]

The Broccoli Maestro

36 min. A chamber opera in two acts for six voices and six players and two-channel tape. Libretto by Slave Pianos after writings by Tony Clark and his circle. First performed on Friday 22 June and Saturday 23 June 2001 at the North Melbourne Town Hall. Commissioned by Chamber Made Opera.

The Strange Voyage of Bas Jan Ader

28 min. A radio play in one act for six players, six instruments and two-channel tape. Text by Slave Pianos after writings by Bas Jan Ader and Donald Crowhurst. First performed on Sunday 14 October and Tuesday 16 October 2001 at the Klangbrucke in Aachen and Malkasten in Dusseldorf. Commissioned by the Neuer Aachener Kunstverein.

The Voyage, or Three Years at Sea, Part II: Bas Jan Ader, Matthew Benedict, Karl Haendel, Nina Katchadourian, Slave Pianos. September 7 to October 23, 2011. Exhibition curated by Cate Rimmer Opening Reception: Tuesday September 6, 2011 at 7:30pm Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr University of Art + Design

SLAVE PIANOS: A diagnosis, 1998–2001

Audio recordings, documents, texts and scores; ed. Christoph Keller; with essays by Giovanni Intra, Mark von Schlegell, Rob Adlington, and John McDonald (English). 32 x 32 cm, boxed set in cardboard cassette, 500 copies. Revolver, Frankfurt am Main, 2001.

Foreign Knowledge: I Have Made A Heap of All That I Could Find

48 min. A documentary monodrama for soprano, narrator, computer operated piano and two-channel tape. Text by Slave Pianos after writing by Peter Tyndall. First performed on Friday September 27, 2002 at the Old Court House Building, Ballarat. Commissioned by The Kunstlerhaus Bethanien and The University of Ballarat.

Two Lives in Flux: And Vice Versa

47 min. An acoustic theatre for two soloists, two choirs, folk ensemble, six instruments and two-channel tape. Text by Slave Pianos after writings by George Maciunas, Vytautas Landsbergis and colleagues. First performed on September 6 2004 in Vilnius. Commissioned by Vilnius Festivals.

A Schema and Historo-Materialist Pro-gnostic

The MCA, Darren Knight Gallery and the Remembering the 20th Century Committee presents: SLAVE PIANOS Pianology: A Schema and Historo-Materialist Pro-gnostic. A lecture demonstration for overhead-projector, whiteboard, audio-cassette machine and computer operated piano. First performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 4th Floor on Sunday 22 October 2006 in Sydney.

Glenn Barkley. Multiplicity: prints and multiples from the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the University of Wollongong. Exhibition catalogue. Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2006.

Dissident Consonances

or: THE IRON CURTAIN, THE FLUX-LABYRINTH & LITHUANIAN HOUSE or: Chairman George Maciunas & President Vytautas Landsbergis.

music, art, non-art, theatre, diaries, letters, poetry, testimonies, political writings, manifestos, film, dance, games, food, drink and other objects by Slave Pianos, George Maciunas, Vytautas Landsbergis, Jonas Mekas, Leokadija Maciunas, Claudio Monteverdi, Henry Purcell, Jean DeMaque, M.K.Ciurlionis, Anonymous (14th Century), Ottavio Rinuccini, Keith Humble, George Brecht, Nam June Paik, Joseph Beuys, Larry Miller & Joe Jones.

First performed with Astra Chamber Music Society at Lithuanian House, 44 Errol Street, North Melbourne, 5pm Saturday 26 / 5pm Sunday 27 May 2007.

Never Forever: Fluxus Was a Sajudis Trick!

Fluxus East and the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien present NEVER FOREVER: FLUXUS WAS A SAJUDIS TRICK! or: Checkmate / FluxWake for Rimvydas Survila / George Maciunas — or: Dissident Consonances

7pm, Friday 28th September 2007. ART FORUM BERLIN, Messedamm 22, Berlin Charlottenburg. Entrance Art Forum opening: 60 Euros / 2 persons.

The Execution Protocol

THE EXECUTION PROTOCOL: A WAR OF CURRENTS: FLOATING PAINTINGS / PIANO EXECUTION — ON ANDY WARHOL’S ELECTRIC CHAIR

$250 | 250 Clouds | 200 People | 88 Notes | 2000 Volts

Andy Warhol Silver Clouds (1966) / Slave Pianos Electric Chair (2007).

Monday the 22nd of October, 8:30 - 11:00pm. The Great Hall of The National Gallery of Victoria. Commissioned by the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Archival Materials and Audio Catalogue

Slave Pianos orange neck kerchiefs, Slave Pianos yellow and black neck kerchiefs, Slave Pianos boy scout shirts, piano key beanie, piano key scarves, piano key tie, red ‘Damp Audience’ apron, orange Slave Pianos attire (two shirts, one pant), Slave Pianos kookaburra neck kerchief rings and sheet music holders, Slave Pianos music stands, floppy discs, 12" vinyl, 7" vinyl, Slave Pianos sickle bows, small Slave Pianos sign, books, posters – NGA, Oz Zen, bear (in tube), cassette tapes, some motor type thing, piano phone, ‘Damp Audience’ wine bottles, Slave Pianos chess pieces, moustache and nose novelty glasses, A3 and A4 files containing photos, posters, postcards, catalogues, artwork, scores, Under the Influence catalogues, large Slave Pianos sign. Installed 11 September to 16 November 2008. Commissioned for Under the Influence by the QUT Art Museum.

The Execution Protocol

The Execution Protocol, or Pianology: A Schema & Historo-Materialist Pro-gnostic. Work for audio triggered musical tesla coil, wire cage housing, midi to square-wave converter, Slave Piano mechanism, electric chair housing Bosendorfer grand piano and large security monitor, interactive computer teletype terminal operating Slave Piano mechanism and tesla coil, offset printed scores in display vitrines, wall mounted catalogue cards with score extracts, and archival materials in large display case.

Installed from 6 December 2008 - 28 February 2009. Commissioned for The Same River Twice: Part I by The Institute of Modern Art.

Scholte Gestalte

Scholte Gestalte:
A re-enactment of an investigation.

Proposed for production July 2010

Penalogical Pianology

PENALOGICAL PIANOLOGY
CRIME & DISCIPLINE & PUNISHMENT &c.
As Enacted Upon THE FATAL SHORE, 1788–2010
or The Inspection House versus New South Wales

Installation at Biennale of Sydney, May 12 to August 1, 2010

The Fatal Score

THE FATAL SCORE or THE SPECTACLE OF THE SCAFFOLD. (The Way Up and the Way Down are One and the Same) [50 min.] Soprano, actors, instruments, military band. 3pm, Sunday 16th May, 2010, Cockatoo Island, Sydney, NSW. Biennale of Sydney.

• Programme: [html, pdf:A & B] (A4, 6pp)

NOTE C. NEW CATHAYSIA AND GONDWANALAND, A DIAGNOSIS

Victoria University of Wellington, Darren Knight Gallery & the Remembering the 20th Century Committee present: SLAVE PIANOS NOTE C. NEW CATHAYSIA AND GONDWANALAND, A DIAGNOSIS at Adam Art Gallery, Friday 18 June 2010, 8pm. A lecture demonstration for overhead-projector, two whiteboards, two data projectors, rapid wire and pulley mechanical communication system, audio-cassette machine, record player, two actors, violin, two clarinets, bassoon, EMS VCS3 and computer operated piano.

See Who’s Dying

See Who’s Dying or The Last Stop West

Un-realised proposal, July 2010

The Execution Protocol (III) - Mutually Assured Production

Installation from May - July 2011 at Monash University Museum of Art.

• Invitation/Advertisement [pdf]
• Documentation: Photo [jpeg]
• Catalogue Essay: J. Welchman [html]
• Reviews: S. McSpedden [html] ,D. Rule [html] ,R. Nelson [html]
• monash.edu.au/muma/muma/archive

The Gift: Redaction and Decontamination

For actor, mechanised piano, control console, wall plotter.

Saturday 23 July 2011. 3.30 — 4.30 pm at Monash University Museum of Art.

• Invitation [pdf]
• Programme [pdf,html]
• Documentation: Photo [jpeg] ,Video [mp4]
• Reviews: P. Brophy [html] ,D. Rainforth [html,pdf]

Sedulur Gamelan/Gamelan Sisters

Sedular Gamelan (Gamelan Sisters) consists of two interlocking wooden structures that reconfigure elements of traditional Javanese architecture through the De Stijl philosophical principles of neoplasticism to create an abstraction of an 18th century double grand piano.

These two cases house 56 traditional Gamelan instruments from Yogyakarta that have been automated to function as a self-governing electro-mechanical orchestra, performing transcriptions of Indonesian, American & Australian experimental music and avant-garde sound-art of the 1970s and 80s.

The work examines parallels and intersections between ancient Javanese mystical systems, the musical structures that traditionally articulated these, and the derivations and misconstruals of colonial European & post-colonial American visitors.

• 23rd June - 21st July 2012 at Darren Knight Gallery
• Opening: Saturday 23rd June 4–6pm
• Invitation: [pdf]

Reproducing Building

A scheme to transform RMIT University’s architectural landmark, the Design Hub, into a towering piano keyboard and digitally scrolling piano roll. The building is located on the corners of Swanston and Victoria Streets and was designed by Sean Godsell and Peddle Thorpe Architects.

The glass cells of the building’s second-skin on the southern and eastern walls will be internally illuminated. Computer controlled LEDs will animate a curated program of transcriptions of 20^th century avant-garde art, architecture and experimental music.

In the ground floor piano control room a mechanically operated grand piano will perform the transcriptions in real time and will provide public access to detailed information about the works performed, housing scores, recordings, commentaries, working diagrams and archival materials. The performed music will also be transmitted over FM bandwidth for radio access by anyone in proximity to the building.

The Reproducing Building elaborates a concise and coherent visual and musical argument, transferring seminal art works ordinarily considered hermetic, arcane and esoteric into a public spectacle that is immediately obvious and humorous.

• Architectural renderings: [jpeg]
• Commentary: P. Tyndall [html,html]

Unrealised proposal in collaboration with Jean-Paul Rollo and Romas Kesminas.

The Lepidopters: Mandible One

Part one of a proposed three-part text by Mark von Schlegell.

The Lepidopters, Mandible One: Mind of the Moths has been made for a book, edited by Helen Hughes and Amelia Barikin, examining correlations between world-making in science fiction and contemporary art.

It has been drawn as a 24 page comic book by “Iwank” Erwan Hersi Susanto.

The comic nominally tells the story of an invasion of the Indonesian archipelago by alien moths, who plan to colonise Earth by engaging in inter-species reproduction.

• Text, by Mark von Schlegell: [pdf,html]
• Drawings, by “Iwank” Erwan Hersi Susanto: [jpeg]

SYNOPSIS

SLAVE PIANOS have surely justified their motto, “Nothing Human is Alien to Us”. Co-founded in Australia in 1998, its members have made music, pulled hoaxes, divorced, married, and even given birth. Slave Pianos have taken hostages, grown flowers, kept pets, written books, volunteered as human guinea pigs for medical research, played cricket, held picnics, put on plays, saved lives, studied, committed arson, committed suicide, murdered, raped, pushed drugs, gone mad, formed a union, and found God. SLAVE PIANOS are Michael Stevenson, Danius Kesminas, Neil Kelly and Rohan Drape. Slave Pianos are represented by Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney.