WESTERN FRONT – Vexations

Index
Events
Vexations

Description:

Erik Satie’s composition Vexations consists of a slow sequence of 152 notes to be repeated 840 times. Rober Racine performed the work in Grand Luxe Hall over the course of nineteen hours, with many audience members listening throughout the night. Prior to his presentation at Western Front, Racine performed the work in Montréal and Toronto.

Audio documentation is available upon request.

A darkened room is captured by a low-angle shot of a towering musician dressed in black bleeding into the darkness of an even larger grand piano. Mimicking the curvature of the wicker chair in which they sit, the artist bends into the piano.

Two audience members sit in a low-light room, with a perimeter of otherwise empty chairs. They direct their attention towards a musician playing in the darkness.

Captions:

Rober Racine performing Vexations, photo documentation, May 19, 1979.
Rober Racine performing Vexations, photo documentation, May 19, 1979.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.