One of my primary interests during the 1970s was the writing of scores for actions. These ranged from very prosaic instructions for simple activities to more complex narratives that prompted interpretations and developments as they were translated into public actions. Some of the later scores became more closely related to experimental poetry and seem to have value as texts in themselves – regardless of whether they lead to actions or not. Other scores can be considered as drawings. In some cases the scores note ideas that activate the mind and require no external realisation or activation.

Here are a selection – roughly in chronological order.

 

PROPOSITION <> QUERY (c. March 1970)

An action text in two movements.

Words to be clearly pronounced at a comfortable and even pace.

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

To be repeated for as long as possible (4-5 hours). At an indeterminate point (indicated by italics above) the emphasis is shifted from ‘I am’ to ‘am I’. This is the pivotal moment. It may not be noticed by the audience, if there is an audience, but it marks the change from one movement to the other.

 

One series of scores is titled Object Music. Here are a couple of examples:

Object Music: 240471

A.  orange peel

B.  newspaper

C.  scissors

D.  pencil

__________________________

ABCD; BCDA; CDAB; DABC;

ADCB; ADBC; DACB; BADC;

BDAC; CADB; ……………….

 

 

Object Music: 040571

blossom.

tiles.

thin twigs.

Book of the Dead.

AIR  . FLAME  . RAINBOW SMOKE

any evening any where

 

Some of the scores are very enigmatic – possibly intended to set the mind wandering, prompting reverie and imaginative play, as in this example:

During this period I developed an alternative persona. His name was Maybe and he crops up in a number of actions and scores – including A Day at the Hermitage, 1976. Here are three examples:

 

Another series of scores was titled, Macromusic:

Macromusic: 110871

Any number of performers.

Any length of time.

Anywhere.

Each performer has a bowl of water, a knife and an equal number of raw unwashed potatoes.

The performers proceed to scrape or peel their potatoes as they would normally – in their own way, at their own speed.

Each member of the ‘audience’ is then given a piece of potato to hold against their foreheads for as long as they wish or can endure.

Macromusic: 281272

Drumfingers.

One large drum with beating skin uppermost.

Drummers (2, 3 or 4) sit around it, close enough to be able to touch the centre of the skin.

Using fingers, palms, knuckles, nails and skin chatter amongst yourselves for as long as you have things to say.

Macromusic: 050173

Standing Water II.

Pair of size eight Wellington boots filled with water standing in an empty bowl.

Leave for as long as it takes to find the humour.

Once you’ve found it put them on, take a walk in them, listen to the music.

 

And a last example of a score that includes a drawing and a text. The text reads:

My body is a house of dreams.

Knock once & the doors will close.

Knock twice & you’ll get no answer.

So keep your hands in your pockets

& come in quietly.

In 1972-73 Clive Robertson and Paul Woodrow organised the W.O.R.K.S. festivals of artworks that inhabited the marginal zone between art and everyday life. A number of my works were performed in Montreal, Calgary and elsewhere, including: Transplant, Standing Water, Drumwash and Mouth Water. A review of the W.O.R.K.S. events was included in the Early Autumn, 1972 volume of Artscanada magazine.