You Are My Happy Place

for three performers and GIFs

2017

The task for the three performers is to formulate musical gestures in correlation to the GIFs in the video and then perform them by following the instructions in the parts. In addition to the strict order of GIFs assigned to each performer, specific numbers and symbols—for repetition or variation of musical material—are given in the parts, as well as sporadic restrictions of register, dynamics, rhythm, or tempo, but the performers devise their own sounds. The sequence of numbers used for repetitions was extracted from a random position in the infinite digits of Pi, which was then processed further by the composer. The video partially displays random content from the website giphy.com, but as the piece advances, more and more GIFs selected or created by the composer are introduced, including a few that are recorded during the performance. The audience is invited to watch the GIFs and try to follow their connection with the performers, or simply enjoy the sounds created by them.