Knowing Now? - Reflecting on the Once in ‘upon a Time'
Keynote
26 August 2022
16:30 - 17:00 hrs (GMT+7)
C 312
Times are always changing: every next Now holds within it ever more past.
Building out from my virtual PGVIS presentations of the last two years in which an attempt has been to trace and reflect upon the pandemic Present, this presentation will explore dimensions of multi-dimensionality personally experienced over the past twelve months, with the ambition to be to energise equivalent reflection in you as fellow musicians, artists and music-lovers. At the centre will be an exploration of the term, “Subject to Change,” with the journey drawing from a series of recent performances and productions in Queensland and Southeast Asia which have teased contemporary concepts of Fantasy, fusing place, time and genre from ancient times to the recent present.
Given each now is but a ‘once in time’, should we be questing to be 'knowing' in the performative Now? Or might it be better to find separate Nows in which to reflect on and celebrate our recent past as the giver of future seeds, leaving the performative Now simply to be experienced more simply as Flow? What might this mean for Listening, as a central element in the Art of Celebrating the Musical Now? How might we be moved to prioritise more reflective Nows? And how often – or how rarely - is our Performative Now be primarily focused on story-telling, reflections reforming in the ever-present.
Don’t worry, there will be music – including Piazzolla, Schubert, and a mystery guest – recognising that Now is never entirely predictable.
I acknowledge here the extent to which I feel drawn to this way of exploring 'Now' as a reflection of time spent in Southeast Asia. Indeed, the richness offered over the past decade of PGVIS 'gatherings' (under Anothai's guidance) has been central in forming this perspective - thank you for the individual and collective mentorship and for so many Nows.