Meny
On September 8-11th, the spotlight was once again on Mike Mulshine's TechLab residency, following its initiation in Jönköping back in June. This time, the residency unfolded in the open setting of Mitt Möllan Mall in Malmö, resembling a shop window that allowed passers by to peer in through expansive glass windows.
Transforming the initially vacant space into a dynamic arena, Mike and the participants adorned it with pedestals, sofas, and an assortment of props, includingflowers, a ladder, and multiple lamps. Throughout the residency, the play of lights, switching on and off, signaled the initiation and conclusion of the participants' performances, adding an extra layer of intrigue. The room was cleverly divided into two distinct sections: a more expansive, open area and a smaller space configured as both a movie theater and a stage.
In the heart of the larger room, participants collaboratively crafted a floating 'work of art' using suspended debris. Dancer Lovisa gracefully navigated the spacewith a rope, encircling the entire room, while, on occasion, participants generated "music" by drawing on sheets of paper. Following the sharing event, ShareMusic seised the opportunity to delve into Mike's reflections on his experiences throughout both segments of the residency.
Why did you want to work with ShareMusic?
- I really like ShareMusic, it’s a wonderful organisation exploring new music interactions and experiences. I’dlove for other people to feel how I feel when I sing my songs or make music in general. So it always feels good to make music - it’s a joyful act even if it harbors pain, happiness, and joy at the same time. ShareMusic also seems to invite those values and prevents the opportunity to enact those values.
Mike describes the process during the residency as a highly collaborative process involving its participants, including extending out to the audience at the performance time. He also describes that the process involved the space in a fundamental sense.
- The space defined a lot of the process. Then it was up to the participants to find how the process unfolded as well as bringing what they had uniquely prepared, or just what they liked to do. They have their process, and their creative practice and they shared that. So things just got added on as we went, and everyone had a say. That’s the most important part, this co-creative thing when everyone’s voice counts, and their feedback is always heard.
Mike didn’t have any clear expectations before the residency - he just wanted to create a fun, musical experience, and a place to express and explore yourself in a structured way. He also wanted to invite people in, both performance members and the audience. The piece was called All at Once, which is about embracing differences and recognising that they always exist.
- I wanted to create a space where different voices could all coexist and feel like they have similar kinds of levels of agency and power in a sense, to expressand feel comfortable that way.
We inquire further and ask Mike to share some highlights from the residency.
- I loved the moments where the spontaneous, real-time decisions in rehearsals would shape what we would do in the actual performance, like "I liked when you moved that plant" or "Iliked how you tied that rope around the chairs, but I think it needs to be more dramatic". It is wonderful to experience this kind of spontaneous choreographic insight. It's been great to work with everyone who is open to doing that kind of thing.
One thing Mike wanted to emphasise was this:
- I saw the residency as an opportunity to evaluate the use of sensors and music technology in a performance context. When is it necessary and when does it work without? It's a question I've thought about a lot and now that the residency is over, I think that the most important thing to focus on is creating an accessible playground where people can do what they want and express themselves. This is something that can be achieved through this kind of musical process, which has been both co-creative and interactive even in a non-technological way.
Mike says that part of this whole process is embracing what you get and embracing everything at the same time.
- At the end of the day, we are creating a musical experience, not a rehearsed concert and we are not trying to strive for any kind of perfection. The concept of perfection was something that me and the participants reflected on at one point and we concluded that perfection is a bit of a myth. We created an experience we wanted, and that's what we achieved. We said before the show that if we rehearsed more, we would probably lose a lot of the spontaneity that we need and the sense of play. It was an amazing, fun, and creative moment.
ShareMusic is part of the project MuseIT, which is co-funded by the European Union and runs from 2022-2025. MuseIT stands for "Multisensory, User-centred, Shared cultural Experiences through Interactive Technologies." ShareMusic's role in the MuseIT project focuses on the part that concerns cultural co-creation, and we are working, among other things, on the development of a "Remote Performance Platform" that will enable musical co-creation at a distance. We are involved in other parts of the project, not least in creating an accessible archive of cultural assets.
In total, twelve partners from nine EU countries and three non-EU associated partners are involved in the project. The project coordinator is the University of Borås. All project partners are part of so-called work packages that have different focus areas.
ShareMusic organises a number of activities during the project, where different features and technical developments are explored in co-creative settings. Activities are often arranged together with other project partners.
