How To Give Up Control Of Exactly One Limb

Durational performance-installation. 2018.
Variable dimensions. Cello performer, cello and bow, motor, electronics, musical score of J.S. Bach’s Cello suites, instructions.

In How To Give Up Control Of Exactly One Limb, a cellist performs for extended durations (~2-4 hours) while their bow-hand is attached to a floor mounted linear-track motor which moves the performer's arm. That is, the highly trained performer gives up control of their bow-arm, delegating the control of the rhythmic bowing motion to a mechanical prosthesis.

The technological aid - used primarily in hospital beds to adjust patient's laying angle - is both a limiting crutch for the hyper-trained musician, and yet offers new opportunities for deep focus on the remaining musical parameters under the performer's control. Timbre, tone, and note-choice are magnified; a difference of millimeters, a slight change of pressure leads to dramatic changes.

Performing for long durations of meditative, repetitive practice, the performer re-interprets J.S. Bach’s cello suites according to a series of verbal and improvisational rules. Through this re-interpretation of classic cello repertoire - practiced for hours at ends by cellists worldwide - the performance subtly investigates notions of instrumentality, the expressive possibilities of both human and machine, and the possibilities and difficulties of bionic hybrids.

Production Credits:
Concept and design: Adam Basanta Cello performance: Filippa Hillerud
Commissioned by Audiorama (Stockholm, SWE).

Photo by Bodil Andersoson Bolstad.