The Rotators

Description:

Lamps, blenders, hair dryers, power tools, a vintage floor sewing machine, turntables, and vinyl records all came together in The Rotators, an improvised sound performance by Ujino Muneteru. 

Muneteru stood behind a DJ booth—as one would expect for a DJ set—but the promise of an emancipatory underground experience was fragmented by a familiar homey atmosphere embedded within the haphazardly collected and placed household goods that even served their function, including table lamps that provided ambient lighting. As Muneteru played, the audience navigated propulsive club beats ingeniously sourced from his adhoc instruments interspersed with rituals of hospitality—at one point Muneteru used the action of a blender both to provide a beat sample and make a banana smoothie that he served to the audience. 

Informed by the urban experience and domesticity fused with club and dance music, The Rotators was a showcase of both hybrid musical instruments but the public and private realms. 

Presented in partnership with the New Forms Festival.

Video documentation is available upon request.