Amass
for clarinet and computer
ABOUT: Available on Decade Zero
Amass for clarinet and computer was completed in 2012 for clarinetist Mauricio Salguero. The work combines live instrumental performance, real-time digital signal processing, and triggered audio and video files. There are seven types of paired audio and visual materials that are presented in the work. Each pair of audio and video material develops nonlinearly and abstractly represents a social force, group, and/or organization. As the work progresses the divisions between the different types of materials progressively dissolves. The work symbolizes a society that desires change more than the stability of group identity or pursuing individual desires via currently available mechanisms. This work was inspired by the “Arab Spring” movements in the Middle East and the occupy Wall Street movements in the United States. The statement below summarizes the semiotic structure of the work:
When groups of individuals with diverse social and political identities recognize their common interests in dismantling unjust, unnecessary, and/or coercive institutions they amass and foment the conditions for profound change.