[TISEA 1992] Artist Statement: Rod Berry — Rotary Zithers

Artist Statement

Performance

Although my work has an important visual component, I still view myself primarily as a composer/musician coming from a history and tradition of music. I see my work as moving away from a model of music as something you sit down and have done to you toward one where the listener takes a more active role in perceiving and interpreting the work. As a student, I imagined pieces of music that one could literally walk around, choosing the order in which various aspects could be experienced. Most of my work has since towards this ideal.

My approach to soundwork has been greatly influenced by electronic and computer music. In this sense, I consider timbre) and spatial con-cerns (along with more traditional concepts of melody, rhythm and so and to be of primary importance, even when not using electronic sound sources. The computer intrigues me for its ability to offer both total control and varying degrees of ran-domness. In future I wish to produce work that can enter into some kind of dialogue with the observer/listener or even between various parts of itself.

  • Rod Berry, Australia