Matthew Whiteside

The walk began as I was expecting, a walking tour with historical facts about Strasbourg combined with musical interludes from composers who also described their work. A kind of walking pitch / history session. This ended up in the European Parliament for a guided tour.

As we left the Parliament and walked toward ARTE Broadcaster the headphones started picking up what we thought was a broadcast interview and interference. As we got closer it got stronger until…. We were noticed. The interview was happening outside and it became increasingly manic and absurd. The presenter beckoned us to follow over a bridge sharing a stream of consciousness philosophy on bridges. The street artist from earlier that felt like a nice chance occurrence was on the bridge improvising, the presenter became increasingly manic engaging passers by. But were they? Or were they fellow performers? Was the book he picked up from an outdoor library a prop or a chance occurrence? The line had totally disappeared. Who was performer, prop, passer by, audience, participant???

It was a very surreal experience that I wasn’t expecting. The not expecting made it weirder and made the effect even greater but not knowing how long it was going to last was disconcerting.

I think it was a brilliant idea, really well executed but highlighted to me the need to tell audiences and participants when something will end so they can make a choice. But then, if we knew would it have been as effective? I don’t know. It is something to ponder.

#composerlife #composer #performanceart #soundwalk #festival