This afternoon I did an hour and a half of ‘real’ radio at the studio of Radio Oltranzista: http://www.radioltranzista.net/. Federico Bonelli had asked me to come to the studio to play some stuff and I’d quickly copied a bunch files from my harddisk to choose from. I know of Federico’s love for futurism and interest in poetry – so I started with James Joyce reading Anna Livia Plurabelle. Then via Cage’s Roaratorio and Imaginary Landscapes 4, to Walter Ruttmann’s Weekend. Then, to wake up, some loud USA/USB, after 8 minutes merging to Oorbeek, to old wax recordings from Uzbekistan (1905) and Angola. Followed by Ezra Pound and Charles Olson reading poetry, ending with a glorious set by Pho. We’ll do it again. It was great fun. The magic of radio still exists when you’re in a studio, making a program live, improvising.

Eindelijk eens zomerweer (al ergerde het slechte weer me nauwelijks: veel te veel te doen). Harde en lastige westenwind (of gewoon ook slechte benen?), zonnetje, twintig graden. 16.00 – 19.00.

Marcusstraat – Diemerpark – Muiden – Muiderberg – Naarderbos – Valkenveen – Gooilustroute – Tafelberg – Bikbergen – Valkenveen – Naarden Vesting – Hakkelaarsbrug – Ton Storkpad – Weesp – Gaasp – Duivendrecht – Weespertrekvaart – Marcusstraat

Yesterday the audio-input and/or output of the logic board of my Powerbook G4 was destroyed. It happened while playing a composition of Thomas Köner. Whenever I turn on the volume on the laptop there’s a very loud high pitched noise. And I mean very loud – much louder than you’d image would be possible. Think: ear-piercing. Everything else still works. Well, the option is to have a new logic board installed (400 – 700 euro’s), or just keep working on this machine and not use sound. And eventually when other parts start breaking down buy a new one. Hmmm.

So I started testing my old white ibook, the one that had screen problems. Maybe I could use that for playing music?

This is the time of the endexam exhibitions of the arts academies. So I’ll plug the exhibition of the Frank Mohr Institute, that runs from now till the 8th of July in the building of Media Arts Friesland in Leeuwarden (Nieuweweg 1a, in the centre, above the Halfords/MacDonalds). Painting and Interactive Media are in the same building. Worth a visit if only for the organ-installation of Steven Jouwersma: http://borgels.blogspot.com/. Also the rest is very much worth the visit.

I’ll also point you to the exhibition of ‘our friendly competitor’ the Piet Zwart Institute, whose students will invade the stage of Worm in Rotterdam: http://www.wormweb.nl/agenda.php?id=1002.

Then, connected to the upcoming 5daysoff-festival, Montevideo has a show with a lot of sound art, (In)visible Sound: http://www.montevideo.nl/nl/agenda/detail_agenda.php?id=361&archief=M

But most of all I’d like to plug the breathtaking exhibition that Lucas van der Velden curated at the Vleeshal and the Kabinetten van de Vleeshal in Middelburg – with very careful, precise, concentrated works of Thomas Köner, Jürgen Reble, Jan-Peter E.R. Sonntag and Ryoji Ikeda: http://www.vleeshal.nl/.

Went to see the three choreographies written for three Duivelsdansen of Simeon ten Holt at the Oude Kerk. I did not go to hear the music of Ten Holt. I will gladly admit that his music has its own value and its own signature – but I experience it as high culture kitsch. I went there because F. has worked together with Hillary Blake Firestone – one of the 3 choreographers/dancers.

I didn’t like much of the dance either. The first dancer moved very beautifully but ran out of ideas after five minutes, the rest was fragmentary and overly dramatic. The last piece was even worse. It was full of moments were I imagined myself as a teacher asking the aspiring student “why didn’t you go for this, why didn’t you explore that, try to be more radical, dare to be minimal.” It was utterly boring, stupidly dramatic, and well, a sort of good taste amateur theatre, only better performed and with a much more expensive decor. And then there was this superfluous gimmick of the grand piano slowly making its way through the space…

Hillary Blake Firestone’s piece saved the night. She used gaffer tape (an idea she “stole” from F. – who used tape extensively for the decor in Hillary’s Featherweight). She demarcated the space, she dared to be playful and she dared to be minimal. Her physical dance – in which she referred to the body movements of track atlethics – grabbed the attention, and what’s more, through her dance she made me realize how Ten Holt also refers to stride piano in his work. (Which made me a more sympathetic towards the music).

When you want to make a choreography for Ten Holt, you have, I think, two choices: be just as minimal as the music (wear yourself out, as a dancer, doing the same thing over and over again), or completely go against it. The other two dancers didn’t do either and just brought some unbearable ‘drama’ to ‘kitschy’ music, in a beautiful church. Hillary dared to do something different and dared to be minimal – as long as she did that, it was utterly convincing.

15.15 – 19.30. En dan is het prachtig zomerweer, met een flinke zuidwestenwind die eigenlijk fijn aanvoelt, een fijn zonnetje en 20 graden. Tochtje Langevelderslag (ijsje & ijsthee op het terras, aan zee is het fris, achter de duinen warm).

Marcusstraat – Amstel – Kalfjeslaan – Amsterdamse Bos – Schilpholweg – Boesingheliede – Vijfhuizen – Cruquius – De Glip – Groenendaal – Leyduin – Tweede Doodweg – Ruygenhoek – Langervelderslag (+ blokje richting Noordwijkerhout) – Zandvoort – Kopje van Bloemendaal – Duin en Kruidberg – Santpoort – Spaarndam – Brettenzone – Rembrandtpark – Vondelpark – Amstel – Marcusstraat