The Now Hear Ensemble will present Federico Llach’s Perishable Music as part of ArtNight Pasadena on Friday, March 9, 2018 from 6-10 p.m. at the Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA). Patrons will be able to take advantage of free admission, extended hours, and complimentary shuttle transportation at the PMCA and the other 19 participating cultural institutions. PMCA will showcase its three current exhibitions–Testament of the Spirit: Paintings by Eduardo Carrillo; The Feminine Sublime; and Ana Serrano: Homegrown–as well as an experimental, interactive performance in Kenny Scharf’s “Kosmic Krylon Garage.”
Llach’s Perishable Music installation explores the action of making music and its two-dimensional time operation: the ephemeral quality of the action itself against the perpetual renewal of human creative need. The piece—written for clarinet, saxophone, viola, bass, and percussion—calls for each musician to destroy the score in front of them before moving on to the next. Llach cleverly places a paper shredder in the center of the setup, so that the act of destroying the used material is dramatically featured. The shredding of the scores emphasizes the briefness of the performance activity, the remains of which slowly constitute an ever-growing mound of disordered matter. The immediate destruction also prevents the work from transcending, bringing it closer to the performative action. Indeed, it acts as a denial of the possibility of possession, trade, sharing, or copying, making debates of ownership and copyright meaningless. In contrast, the never-ending music—a sound that has no beginning or end, but is always happening—and the rotation of the performers both portray the creative process as something that is always renewed. Llach’s work gives each individual listener license to determine for themselves the beginning and end of the sonic event as he or she enters and exits the room at will, much like the happening and performance-art of the 1960s.
Performers will include Amanda Kritzberg (clarinet), Logan Hone (saxophone), Jonathan Morgan (viola), Federico Llach (bass), and Jordan Curcuruto (percussion).
The Pasadena Museum of California Art is located at 490 E. Union St.
