On Saturday, November 9, I’ll be running a music and sound workshop from 2pm to 5pm at the San Francisco Art Institute. The workshop is part of a week-long series of events titled Subtle Channels: an OuLiPo laboratory. Here’s a brief description of Subtle Channels:
This multi-day celebration, presented by City Lights Booksellers & Publishers in conjunction with the Mechanics’ Institute Library and the San Francisco Art Institute, brings together members of the Oulipo and West Coast creators to trace potential literature from its origins to the present day and into the future, with discussions, readings, and participatory workshops.
Others presenting and presiding over workshops at Subtle Channels include Paul Fournel, the president of the Oulipo, as well as Hervé Le Tellier, Daniel Levin Becker, Rachel Galvin, Roman Muradov, and Doug Nufer.
My workshop’s description, from the Subtle Channels website:
Participants will produce a variety of original works in response to concise instructions, such as a medley of everyday noise, a fragmenting autobiography, and an exercise in municipal minimalism. Musicians and non-musicians are welcome.
To make the best use of the time, please bring a smartphone or other device capable of recording sound, and a laptop with Audacity or another sound-editing tool pre-installed. Basic ability to manipulate (cut, paste) audio would be beneficial, but tutorial assistance will be available on site.
The various projects that afternoon will draw from the approach of the weekly Disquiet Junto projects on SoundCloud, which use creative restraints as a springboard for productivity.
There is no fee for participation, but advance sign-up would be appreciated. There’s a sign-up sheet at the front counter at City Lights Bookstore (citylights.com) in North Beach, or you can reserve a spot by sending an inquiry to [email protected].
My sound/music workshop is one of three running on November 9. There will also be a cartooning event, led by Muradov, and writing events in both English and French. There are events earlier in the week as well, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Participants will share their work at an evening show-and-tell event.
More on Subtle Channels: an OuLiPo laboratory, which runs from November 6 – 9, 2013, at subtlechannels.tumblr.com.
The above image is Pierre Cordier’s “Chemigram 31/7/01: Hommage à Georges Perec”from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.