Paradigm presents … Fences and violins: a Jon Rose introduction *

* (restored)

“My aesthetic in purely musical terms is the idea of counterpoint. This is the one invention of Western music that is truly incredible, and counterpoint is the fundamental business of improvisers, too… When you’re playing on stage, there are bizarre things going on, and I couldn’t tell you what is happening, even though I programmed it. The audience certainly can’t. I think in terms of pure musical phenomenon.” –Jon Rose interview

 

 

Biography

Jon Rose is an Australian violinist born in the UK in 1951. Rose began playing violin at age 7 after winning a music scholarship to King’s School in Rochester. For over 35 years, Rose has been at the sharp end of new, improvised, and experimental music and media. A polymath, he is at much at home creating large environmental multi-media works as he is playing the violin on a concert stage.

His works merge history, environment, sound and improvisation to create provocative pieces. He has lived in England, Australia and Germany and preformed around the world.

Central to this practice has been ‘The Relative Violin’ project, a unique output, rich in content, realising almost everything on, with, and about the violin and string music in general. Most celebrated is the worldwide Fence project; least known are the relative violins created specifically for and in Australia.

From a variety of sources.

 

Video Performances

Fences- an overview

 

Fence 2 at whitecliffs

 

Wogarno

 

Exmouth

 

Barbed wire

 

An aural map of Australia

In this video Jon Rose gives an overview of some of the different sounds and types of music that he has heard in his journeys travelling around Australia playing fences. From the Western Australian Chainsaw Orchestra which begun as a protest against the logging industry in that state to fruit and vegetable instruments this is an aural introduction to the other sounds of Australia.

 

Interactive Violin

 

Rosenberg Museum

 

Playing in NY

 

Piano Racket

 

Pedal powered bicycle

More videos can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/violinspeak

 

Radio

Not quite cricket

Talking back to radio

Radio Salvado

Radio Ivories

More radio works here: http://www.jonroseweb.com/h_radio_list.html

 

Writings

On-

Aural map of Australia- Steve Elkins

Perhaps in the sonic map Jon Rose has made of Australia’s fences, we have a clue, a picture, of why music affects all of us so deeply. Perhaps our personal distinctions between music and noise reflects (and affects) our internal map of the borders we cultivate within ourselves and then project back upon the world we experience. Perhaps music is not just a movement of air that triggers emotional reactions in us, but a magnifying glass which makes us stand in relation to our notions of “self” and “other,” value and worthlessness, transcendence and the mundane, and re-evaluate them. Perhaps music compels us to rethink the maps our lives make out of the complex phenomena of the world around us. More here: http://www.steveelkins.net/Writings/Aural-Maps/23337840_nSKxjT

 

The great fences of Australia

Fences can be seen as analogies for the old binary battle between our species and nature, or our culture(s) and the wild. The desire for exploration, control, and exploitation of resources are fired by fences – indicating a frontier history of extreme hardship, violence, and getting. They also mark the notion of belonging, friend or foe, certainty and uncertainty, knowing and unknowing. Fences mark the boundaries of cultures and political systems, the perceived civilized and the great unwashed, a sense of the private and public, a hierarchical statement that says “I exist” and the rest – eh – somewhere over there on the other side. In a few places, the fence today is even used to protect the natural world from our own excesses the rest can be read here: http://www.jonroseweb.com/f_projects_great_fences.html

 

Out there

For nearly 40 years Jon Rose has been at and the sharp end of experimental, new and improvised music both in this country and on the global stage. He is a violinist, instrument maker, software developer, composer, performer, provocateur, innovator and inspiring mentor to three generations of music explorers.

Central to his practice has been ‘The Relative Violin’ project, realising almost everything on, with, and about the violin – and string music in general. Most celebrated is the worldwide fence project, but there are more than 20 relative violins, experimental string instruments created for and in Australia. Beyond instrument making, the project has involved writing books, making radiophonic works and films, the creation of the fictional Rosenberg family, and many multi-media performances.

His recent projects have included interactive ball projects and ‘Pursuit’, an orchestra of mobile, bicycle-powered musical instruments combined with wireless transmission technology. These are some manifestations of Jon’s desire to create music which can be considered democratically as belonging to everybody – anybody can do it. Read and listen to the rest here: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/summerfeatures/summer-features-jon-rose/4363608

 

By-

Fences of Israel

Over three days I played a total of eight fences in Israel. The old 1967 border fence with Syria, suitably perched on the edge of an uncleared mine field, attracted the first police interest. I was informed that the mines were sliding down the slope, under my feet, and would blow me to kingdom come. Udi and Victor, my Israeli guides for the day, thought it was nonsense too. However nothing would have persuaded me to play the fence from the other (mined) side.

Also on the Golan Heights, a performance on a Kibbutz fence had the owner in a panic; a neighbour had telephoned to say that someone was sawing down his fence (saw, bow – it’s all the same you know.) After Victor had explained what I was doing, the guy walked slowly backwards away from us, speechless, got in his car, drove off at speed. This is all very different to playing fences in outback Australia. In over 35,000 kilometres of playing fences here, only one person has ever complained. On the contrary, there is usually advice as to where to go and get even better sounding fences (even from the Coober Pedy police). The rest can be read here: http://www.jonroseweb.com/f_projects_israel_fences.html

 

language of improve

The history of Improvisation however is something other than jazz and has not run into a dead end. In fact since Free Jazz, the practice of improvisation (free or otherwise) has exploded into a myriad of styles and languages. A veritable Tower of Babel.

Improvising musicians talk about language and vocabulary in the context of musical style. The old axiom about music starting where language stops can easily put a stop to debate and understanding about the processes going on; a reluctance to debate doesn’t help in trying to understand the wealth of differences in sonic material generated by the contemporary improviser.

In any discussion of music as language, there are a number of issues that can be taken as general context, common notions within which all music operates – although applying universals to styles of music is often too simplistic.

Read the rest here: http://www.jonroseweb.com/c_articles_lang_of_impro.html

More writings and his works can be found at Jon Rose website: http://www.jonroseweb.com/

 

Discography (partial)

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** Misanthrope, I think a Moreau Island ride was designed but never built at some point by some park, I can’t remember which. Maybe John Waters could be coerced out of retirement if he spent an afternoon at your house. Lucky Kayla. Not only is our vaccine situation a mess, as I’ve said, but tonight we’re going back into confinement for the third time, with govt. permission required to even leave my apartment, etc., the whole deal for at least a month. Talk about the joy totally being sucked out of you. ** David Ehrenstein, Yes, I’m reading about that. Shocking is hardly even the word. Everyone, FaBlog takes on the recent spa killings in the US of A right here. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, B. I can’t disagree with you. You doing okay or hopefully much better in your cyber-blocked world? ** Dominik, Hi, D!!! Oh, it’s only very cool for me to get to spread the word. Shit, sorry about the horrid second half of the project assignment. Is it out of your hair now, I hope? Nice word, maybe even better than varicose. Since we’re going back into confinement here tonight, and since I’m feeling depressed about that, the only love I can imagine this morning is a button that fast-forwards the world, or at least Paris and Budapest, so let’s put our fingers on that love button and double push it, G. ** Chris Kelso, Hi. Yeah, I’m pretty sure the word punk being in Cyberpunk is what got me interested. No, I don’t know that Alasdair Gray book. I’ll find it somewhere. I have read something(s) or other by him, and I remember liking it/them. Very cool and thanks for including our interview in your book. Apocalypse Party is a great press. You’re in excellent hands, not that I probably need to tell you that. Thanks, man, and you stay safe too. ** ae, Hey there, ae, great to see you! Thanks about the post. Yeah, unbelievable that that Eiffel Tower ride was actually almost built. Mickey’s Dick Smasher, however, wouldn’t get too far. Sadly? I’ve never heard of that Krishna theme park, wow, and I’m pretty on the money about theme park history and lore. Fascinating. I’m going to go google the shit out off that. Krishna food is so good, yes. Uh, given that we go back into confinement tonight, things aren’t so hot here and with me, to be honest, but I’ll live. Great you got your vaccine. No, the vaccine rollout in  France is a sluggish mess, a big national scandal. I don’t think I’m even close to getting mine. It’s ridiculous. I know two other books called ‘Exquisite Corpse’ that are about entirely different things, but not that Black Dahlia one, so I’ll search for it. Thanks. The package? Uh, I don’t know. What was in it? Sorry, my brain is out of sorts this morning due to imminent confinement gloom. Thanks for sending it, no matter what. Right, it’s the weekend, isn’t it? Please have a spectacular one! ** Right. Today I have restored a quite old post made for the blog by a long lost d.l. who went by the moniker Paradigm and who I believe was an Aussie about the pretty curious and fascinating musician/composer Jon Rose who, among other things, makes music using wire fences. Dig in, please. See you tomorrow.