project ruori is interested in participating in the PURE exhibition.

project ruori is a performance-art collaborative based in the Central Ohio area.  More information about us and our past works can be found at http://ruori.org/ .

In addition to being interested in collaboration with others, we propose a performance toward the beginning of the exhibition that would transition into a kinetic sound sculpture to remain through the end of the exhibition.

The performance consists of four performers. Three performers — each inside a cylindrical white Cocoon of fabric — surround a large, clear plastic Machine with an opening at the top and three openings at the bottom. A fourth performer, dressed in white, drops metallic balls into the Machine. The metallic balls ricochet off obstacles inside the Machine and stochastically come out of one of three holes in the bottom of the machine, into one of three cups. Each of the three cups corresponds to one of the three cocooned performers, and a ball dropping in a performer's cup signals that performer to enact a musical event — playing a singular sound or a pre-recorded voice sample, or changing the current musical pattern. This continues for about 30 minutes. At the end of this time, the performer dropping the metallic balls into the Machine replaces him- or herself with a mechanical device that performs the same function, and exits the area. The mechanical device continues until the supply of metal balls is depleted, at which point the performers in the Cocoons emerge, set up lasers on the top of the Cocoons, place light sensors in the cups under the Machine, and exit the stage.

What remains in the performance area at this point comprises the installation: three empty Cocoons, an empty metal ball Machine, and a mechanical device moving an infinite supply of nonexistent metal balls through the Machine. Visitors to the exhibition are free to walk around to view this display from different angles.  As they do, they interrupt the laser beams' paths to the light sensors — inadvertently, at first — which triggers similar musical events to those produced by the Cocooned performers.

In fitting with the PURE aesthetic, the proposed performance and installation emphasize the way that humans establish barriers between themselves and their tasks to maintain the desired distance and sterility. The human act of "creating" in today's world is often concealed or systematically dissected, and the quality of the product is determined by its marketability.

The distinction between "Music" and "Sound" is now as hard to define as the distinction of "creativity" that separates humans from machines — as with the barrier between "interactivity" and "contamination". Who can be considered "creative" in our proposed performance — the inanimate Machine (which effectively makes all of the decisions), or the humans who react to its output?

When the performers abandon their stations, they surrender any semblance of control not only to the mechanization of output but also to the unpredictability of the ambient humans in the installation space. As these humans interact with our piece, they contaminate the music with their presence. They may also gradually realize the control they exert, and become infected with a creative desire to influence the music by controlling their movements through the space.

We will provide all necessary equipment (computers, sensor apparata, sound amplification).  All necessary equipment can operate off of one 15-amp grounded electrical outlet. We intend to hange the Machine from the ceiling; if cables cannot be pre-installed, we would appreciate the availability of a ladder.