Concert Diary is an on-going project, where “chapters” of the diary are made up of collections of film, video, and audio recordings that are edited together anew for each presentation. The material is a mix of observational/diary recordings that focus on sound, along with material made in collaboration with musicians. The project as a whole looks at how sounds are experienced as music by drawing together finished musical performances with rehearsals, raw sound material, experiments in sound, and observational material that is focused on sound.

The edited sequences are looped on televisions that are arranged in the room, in such a way that a viewer can hear–but not see–all of them at the same time. Because the sequences are all different lengths, the combinations of images and sounds across the televisions are constantly changing. For a viewer, the result is a changing composition that presents opportunities to discover the musical qualities of sounds, and which presents the work of musicians who are working in a post-Cage experimental tradition as part of a concert of sound always in flux.

The first chapter, called Concert Diary (what’s a life?) has portraits, performances, and conversations with composers Carmina Escobar, Julia Holter, Sepand Shahab, Laura Steenberge, and Tashi Wada. It also stars Katouche, a cat.

This project received funding from the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts Artist Project Grant program.