SELECTED WORKS ..................
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LOWER MANHATTAN CULTURAL COUNCIL
Between the years of 1836-1878 a military “School of Music Practice,” housed in the South Battery on Governors Island, taught enlisted boys to play the bugle, fife and drums for daily life and war skirmishes. On becoming an artist-in-residence, I took this history as an opportunity to learn to play the saxophone. While not used for these purposes, the saxophone debuted in military bands but later became known for its free and solo voice. Like the saxophone, Governors Island today is making a transition away from a military establishment and into an arts destination and public park. To exploit this parallel I began concocting ways to reanimate the island’s musical memory. For this project, I spent most of my time outdoors. It was the perfect place to learn to play an instrument because I had no neighbors - no one had lived there since the 1970s. I devised methods to make practice enjoyable - unlike the ones I was taught as a child. First I drew five black lines and a treble clef on a plastic faceshield. This gave me a limited range, so I tried a clear Plexiglas music stand with five lines of black tape. This also gave me a short depth of field, so finally I tied five black ropes to two telescoping poles and secured them in the field. This gave me live music to read and play from. I also noticed various throats throughout the island and played off of this parallel - goose necks, drainpipes and canons. With photographs I made sheet music for me and other musicians to interpret. Overall, this project is an instructional manual for teaching yourself how to play the saxophone.
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