***Mar 2006 Focus pg 1-32 - Focus Magazine

the arts in juneJune 21-22CHRISTOPHER REICHE: VEXATIONSOpen SpaceVICTORIA-BASED COMPOSER AND pianistChristopher Reiche will undertake the colossaltask of a complete solo performance of EricSatie’s Vexations in a fundraiser for OpenSpace. The composition consists of one pageof music, with the instructions that it be played840 times. Thus, a complete rendering of thework can take anywhere from 18 to 24 hours.This year marks the 50th anniversary of thework’s first complete performance, by JohnCage’s FLUXUS Art Movement. At that timeit was done relay style, with performers spellingeach other off every two hours.Reiche’s fascination for the work ignitedduring a 2002 trip to the National Art Galleryin Ottawa. He recalls that, “I didn’t findVexations. Vexations found me.” The worksof Robert Racine were on exhibit, and includeda video of his performance of Vexations in the1970s. Reiche was blown away: “It was like,‘wow…this is a thing!’ A momentous piece ofmusic…it is possible for one person to do it.”It was then that he decided to undertake thetask himself, which he first did in 2009. Heexplains, “I had been duelling with the pieceon a conceptual level, trying to decide whatit would be like to perform it.” He performedit as a house concert, inviting his friends. Ittook 26.5 hours.Vexations is a challenging work for theperformer. The score, Reiche explains, “isnotated in a way that is purposefully difficultto read as a musician. It is needlessly obscure.”A complete performance also requires themusical equivalent of training for a marathon.Satie himself stated that, “To play this motif840 times in succession, it would be advisableto prepare oneself beforehand, in the deepestsilence by serious immobilities.”Reiche interprets this as an instruction tomeditate, attempting hour-long meditationsthroughout the day. “I find it easier to do reallylong things if I’m already used to doing reallylong things,” he says. He also performs musicalmeditations by taking familiar fast pieces andplaying them ridiculously slowly. He findsthat, “if it’s a piece that I’m really familiar withand I want to play it quickly, I get boredwith it at an extremely slow tempo, but partof it is just the discipline of doing the task.”Preventing injury is another side to his preparations.This is done through technique: “I’mplaying my scales every day, you know, buildingup some muscle in my hands. I’m also doingexercise to help build muscles in my hands.”The music of Vexations is haunting andmysterious, and music theorist Robert Orledgenotes the potentially hallucinogenic effects ofthe work on the performer and the audience.Reiche disagrees. When one becomes accustomedto the repetitions, he sees the work as“a really nice, coherent sound world…it justbecomes a pleasant environment to live in!”To help raise funds for Open Space, youcan sponsor repetitions for $10 each or $25for 3. These can be purchased at Open Spaceor www.vexations.brownpapertickets.com.Also see www.openspace.ca. Runs June 21 atnoon until finished. 250-383-8833.—Lisa Szeker-MaddenChristopher Reiche rehearses at Open Space as Wendy Hough works on her large-scale drawingvisual artsContinuing to June 9KOSHASHINArt Gallery of Greater VictoriaThis exhibition presents a rare opportunity to viewone of the world’s largest collections of early Japanesephotography. There are more than 230 works in thisexhibition from the personal collection of Arlene Hall.The photographs in the exhibition reflect the transitionalperiod 1860 - 1899, when feudal Japan was openingto the outside world . Drop-in tours, June 1 & 9, 2-3pm.1040 Moss St, www.aggv.ca, 250-384-4171.Continuing to June 10WENDY HOUGH WALL DRAWINGSOpen SpaceWendy Hough has been working on a large-scaledrawing as part of her Wall Drawings series–throughto its erasure– as the installation becomes an ongoingpublic performance. 510 Fort St, 250-383-8833,www.openspace.ca.Continuing to June 15OH! YOU PRETTY THINGSDeluge Contemporary ArtOf his 15 paintings focused on house cats, artistTodd Lambeth states: “These small scale, representationalworks are meditations of space, time, colourand form and are a deliberate attempt at destabilizingthe icons of modernism…The banal subject of theubiquitous family cat is transformed into images thatcelebrate the humility and comfort of our private lives.”Wed to Sat, 12-5pm, 636 Yates St, 250-385-3327,www.deluge.ws.Continuing to June 15CREATING CON[TEXT]Legacy GalleryDr Carolyn Butler Palmer and her grad studentsgathered interviews with people associated with thelate downtown businessman/arts supporter MichaelC. Williams. Featuring paintings by Angela Grossman,Jack Shadbolt, Emily Carr, and others, the exhibit allowsstories of artists, dealers, collectors, and viewers toinfuse the works of art with more meaning. Wed-Sat,10-4. 630 Yates St, 250-721-6562, www.uvac.uvic.ca,with interviews at http://pnwartists.ca/williams.Continuing to June 29PLAY, FALL, REST, DANCEOpen SpaceArtist-in-residence Valerie Salez invites willingparticipants to reconnect and come into alignmentwith larger forces through the use of music, videotaping,and photography. 510 Fort St, 250-383-8833,www.openspace.ca.PHOTO: JACQUELYN BORTOLUSSIContinuing to July 7POSTCARD FROM VICTORIAArt Gallery of Greater VictoriaAn immersive exhibition featuring video, artifactand works on paper that raises questions of place,class, authenticity and belonging. An array of postcardsof the Empress Hotel from as early as 1900 areincluded in the installation. 1040 Moss St, www.aggv.ca,250-384-4171.18 June 2013 • FOCUS