Simply put, the performance consists in dynamically generating noise music from the alcohol drunk by the performer during the performance.
During the performance, the performer drinks alcohol and several breathalyzers (breath analyzers or alcohol sensors) are used to generate sounds and interacts with the visual. In addition, the abuse of alcohol inevitably leads to uncontrollable results and the body of the performer becomes itself a musical instrument.
Artist StatementPerforming live acts in front of an audience is not always an easy process. One is exposed to the fear of making mistakes, to fail to communicate something meaningful or the intended message to the audience or just to the inability to entertain. The pressure to perform a good act can somehow be overcame by consuming alcohol. However, there is a risk of loosing the control of the performance that might be affected by a too high consumption of alcohol.
The Nunk on Droise performance proposes to use the stress reliever that is alcohol as a mean to achieve the performance itself. In addition, it puts the performer in a position of weakness where the gradual loss of control over the performance and his own body becomes an intrinsic part of the performance.
Let's not forget too the guilty pleasure of getting drunk in public and the even greater pleasure of doing so together with the audience (as experience has proved it, being offered free drinks is not unusual).
The performance is a comment on what an artist is ready to do/sacrifice for achieving his personal goals, whatever they are.
Technical StatementSeveral alcohol sensors (five in the current version and an additional wireless one inserted in a beer can) output each a voltage that depends on the alcohol content in the breath of the performer. These voltages are measured by an Arduino board and sent to a program written under OpenFrameworks that processes them and sends them through OSC (Open Sound Control) to a Pure Data patch. The patch dynamically generates sounds from the received data.
In addition, the use of a microphone allows the sound emitted by one of the (un)desirable effects of the consumption of various alcohols in a very short time, namely vomiting, to be processed too by the Pure Data patch.
Media
Flickr
YouTube (demo video)
Live performances
2010.05.30 with ... @ Gari Gari, Tokyo (Flickr).
2010.03.21 @ Bullet's, Tokyo. (video)
2009.12.17 @ Bullet's, Tokyo. (video: part 1/2 & 2/2)
2009.12.12 @ Soup, Tokyo. (video)
2009.10.15 @ Bullet's, Tokyo. (video: part 1/2 & 2/2)
2009.09.06 @ dorkbot tokyo, Tokyo.
2009.06.11 @ Oblo, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2009.04.28 @ Gamuso, Tokyo.
2009.03.29 @ Gari Gari, Tokyo.
2009.03.20 @ Gamuso, Tokyo (YouTube).
2009.01.30 @ Fourth Floor, Tokyo (YouTube).
2008.12.21 @ Soup, Tokyo (Flickr).