Memorative signs and material constituents : live media practice and the activation of popular music

Scott, JE

Abstract

In response to the working group call this year, I am sharing developments in a current strand of research, aspects of which were presented as part of the interim event in April. Here, I explored music as a ‘memorative sign’ (Rousseau in Boym 2001: 4); specifically how different modes of nostalgia related to a sonic past could be activated through live media practice - mixing sound, image, object and text - in the present. The focus for this presentation was working from Boym’s two strands of nostalgia, ‘restorative nostalgia’ which ‘stresses nostos and attempts a transhistorical reconstruction of the lost home’ and ‘reflective nostalgia’ which ‘thrives in algia, the longing itself and delays the homecoming – wistfully, ironically, desperately’ (2001: xviii). Experiments so far indicate that both approaches have some value in evoking and holding affective and nostalgic states through and within a live media space.

In developing these approaches, I am now focusing on a more detailed consideration of what the live media mode of activating popular music does. Van Dijck claims that in listening to music, ‘memory will be enabled and constructed through its material constituents’ (2009: 114). As such, the variety of technologies and modes I employ, both to play and play with popular music in my live intermedial practice, will be considered, according to how each ‘enables’ and ‘constructs’ memory. Equally, I will consider how these ‘material constituents’ and modes of activation create ‘spaces between individuals and communities’ where ‘memory gets shaped and negotiated’ (117) as part of the live media event. As such, this is a mixed mode presentation, including elements of live media practice, which are framed through exposition of the ideas surrounding the development of the research, as indicated above.

Citation

Scott, J. (2015, September). Memorative signs and material constituents : live media practice and the activation of popular music. Presented at Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) Annual Conference, University of Worcester

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: Theatre and Performance Research Association (TaPRA) Annual Conference
• Conference Location: University of Worcester
• Start Date: Sep 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Nov 30, 2015
• Publisher URL: http://tapra.org/
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference