Music Research Strategies Performing Political Education (Towards a Solidarity Economics Conduction System for Improvisers)

Description:

Music Research Strategies is an ongoing project by experimental percussionist Marshall Trammell that instigates performances and social practice collaborations at sites of political opposition. Over the course of Marshall Trammell’s two-week residency at Western Front, he hosted three participatory improvised music workshops connected to his ongoing Insurgent Learning Workshop series. Using ideas developed by the US Solidarity Economy Network as a framework, the cumulative workshops served as a public and collective process towards developing a new language through improvisation. In collaboration with Vancouver-based musicians John Brennan, E. Kage, and Dae Shields, Trammell presented his research on the potential of music to operate as a powerful tool for collective organizing.

The first night of the program, Insurgent Learning Workshop: Solidarity (Cooperative) Economics Conduction System consisted of an artist talk by Trammell and an open rehearsal with John Brennan.

The second night, Indexical Moment/um: Solidarity (Cooperative) Economics Conduction System, consisted of three “conductions” with collaborative and solo improvisations by Trammell and Brennan.

Presented in collaboration with Afro Van Connect Society, the series concluded with Social Impact Assessment: Music Research Strategies with John Brennan that featured with an open rehearsal between Brennan, Kage, and Shields. 

Curated by Pablo de Ocampo.