New Mixed-Media Work! “Fundamentals of the New Normal”

I composed this mixed-media work for bassist James Banner. It responds to the radical uncertainty of life during a pandemic, particularly as it has hit musicians.

In the first part, ‘Playing on, nevertheless’, I explored fragmentation and playful resilience: a simple swung bass melody finds itself haunted by wails and murmurs, the instrument is fragmented and animated on the screen. In the second part, ‘Lost plots’, I invited James to improvise to film footage I’d shot in a deserted city, along with some visual explorations of lines: directions of travel (and U-turns) and lines of inquiry, lines of command, lines of power and of finance,  and lines of … strung out masks. In the third section, ‘Hope’, I try to find a way to imagine beyond the waste with which we have flooded the planet.