Avi Amon | Musician

Tasked Phenomenology

Here’s a piece of sound design/sculpture that I worked on for a dance that went up this past weekend (pictures soon). While the dance was, in theory, about nothing, it was also about attempting and failing to complete a task. Our choreographers didn’t want any pitch or rhythm, so we relied on texture and density to help create a story. My collaborators and I sampled sounds of people performing tasks (scratching, opening a squeaky door, using hand-sanitizer, etc.) from around the city, and modified them until they became unrecognizable. Then we had fun layering and tinkering in Logic until we came up with what you hear above.

The dancers didn’t actually hear this - nor had we seen much of the dance - until the dress-rehearsal, so watching it come together was pleasantly surprising. At the time it might have been a bit stressful, but looking back, I think it was very cool to create things in a vacuum and let the art just work itself out.  AND it was nice to get out of the “traditional” composition world I’ve been living in for the past year.  

Choreographers: Erika Barbee, Ben Freedman, Carissa M. Landes
Composers: Avi Amon, Nikko Benson, Julia Gytri 
Set design: Stephan Moravski
Lighting: Vadim Ledvin
Costumes: Izzy Fields
Performers: Louisa Barta, Stanton Jacinto, Nick Katen, Catherine Kirk, Jayne Paley