As an extension of The Cardew Object at the ICA London (November 2009), this celebration of British avant-garde composer Cornelius Cardew (1936 – 1981) is a collaboration between Eugene Lang The New School for Liberal Studies, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at NSGS. Instigated by 2009-10 Vera List Center Fellow Robert Sember, it is part of an ongoing investigation into practices of radical learning by the sound art collective Ultra-red and the School of Echoes, groups of which Sember is a member.

Based on Cardew’s compositions and writings and his work as co-founder of the radical Scratch Orchestra, the speakers and workshop participants explore contemporary processes of collaborative and critical learning. Three Cardew maxims underscore the interdisciplinary, performative and experimental nature of this celebration:

1. The composer has to visualize the development of his ideas in time
2. Over a long period of time, nothing remains the same
3. The dynamic control of changes in time is a big part of composition

PROGRAM

An Introduction to Cardew
Friday, April 9, 2010 – 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The New School, Wollman Hall
65 West 11th Street (enter at 66 West 12th Street)
Admission: $8, free for all students, New School faculty, staff and alumni with valid ID

The colloquium will be launched on the evening of Friday, April 9, with focused lectures introducing the work of Cardew. Complete schedule and participants to be announced.

Workshops with New School faculty
Saturday, April 10, 2010 – 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor
Admission: $8, free for all students, New School faculty, staff and alumni with valid ID

New School faculty Ivan Raykoff and Evan Rapport will host public workshops developed in collaboration with the Lang class New Ears (Raykoff) and the New School for Jazz classes Cross-Cultural Improv and Punk & Noise (Rapport). Sound works produced in the Saturday workshops will be presented in a day-long performance on Sunday, April 11. Complete workshop schedule to be announced.

Performance
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 12:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Location to be announced
Admission: Free

Sound works produced in the Saturday workshops will be presented in a day-long performance on Sunday, April 11. Complete schedule of events and location of Sunday performance to be announced.

Presented on occasion of the Vera List Center’s 2009-2010 program theme “Speculating on Change.”

Posted on December 21, 2009

For the next few months, Switchboard features an annotated bibliography in development, related to the center’s theme for 2009-1010, Speculating on Change. The project is initiated by 2009-2010 fellow Robert Sember, a member of the sound art collective Ultra-red, and is part of their multi-year initiative, School of Echoes, an examination of procedures of collective investigation and social change.

The bibliography assembles a selection of “classic” texts as well as lesser known works that address philosophical, theoretical and ideological conceptions of change, with particular emphasis given to political and social change and shifting approaches to art and cultural production. The bibliography aims to be generous and wide-ranging rather than comprehensive or canonical, and includes a series of brief annotations written by Sember.

Check back monthly for new annotations and other updates. Recommendations for additions are welcome and can be forwarded to the Vera List Center.

Launch School of Echoes.

Posted on September 20, 2009