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David Tudor's "Rainforest": An Evolving Exploration of Resonance

Author(s): John Driscoll and Matt Rogalsky


Source: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 14, Composers inside Electronics: Music after David Tudor (
2004), pp. 25-30
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1513502
Accessed: 22-08-2015 16:27 UTC

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David Tudor's Rainforest: An Evolving
of
Exploration Resonance

JohnDriscoll ABSTRACT

and MattRogalsky Oftheworksof DavidTudor,


nonewouldseemto bebetter
knownthanRainforest
IV,his
large-scale
performedinstallation
ofthe1970s.Although ithas
receivedwidespreadandwell-
documented public
perfor-
mance,Rainforestsgermination
HAND III
I, II
MATTROGALSKY:
RAINFORESTS the existence of RainforestlVimplies inthemid-1960s inelements of
that there must be RainforestsI, II Bandoneon! (1966)andits
The key word in the title of this article is "evolving."As we sur- evolution
overa periodof 10
and III. But identifying these ver-
vey David Tudor's electronic music career, it is important to years,fromversions1(1968),11
bear in mind that the specific instances that we call his "pieces" sions has not been a clear-cut pro- (1968-1969),I1(1972)andIV
or "works"could just as well, and perhaps more correctly, be cess and has brought me to a more (1973)throughForestSpeech
viewed as points in a continuum. Certainly this is the case for holistic perspective. As Tudor said (1976),havenotyetbeen
in a 1988 interview, "Mypreference adequatelyassessed.Thispaper
the works in his Rainforestseries, which stretches for a decade followsRainforests
trajectory
over four "versions"and in which I include, as an experimen- is to use modular materials which MattRogalsky
chronologically:
tal prelude, his 1966 Bandoneon!,and as a kind of postlude, can change from piece to piece. focusesontheearlyversions of
ForestSpeech(1976-1979). And also it enables me to expand a thework,andJohnDriscoll
describesthecollaborative
The most convincing arguments for approaching Tudor's piece by adding components to it of Rainforest
IV.
development
work from this perspective are the recurring comments I have which were not in the original for-
heard in interviews and discussions with his colleagues: that mation" [1].
his performance practice was based on experimentation and In my half of this article, I wish to
constant change; that it was a rarity for a piece to be assem- look at the development of the small-scale versions of Rain-
bled in exactly the same way twice; and that Tudor's score di- forestbetween 1966 and 1972, prior to the 1973 workshop in
New Hampshire that led to the creation of the large-scale
agrams, while giving some idea of the principles at work in his
compositions, are definitely not to be mistaken for blueprints group version, RainforestIV. "Small-scale"refers to the scale of
that might define an "authentic"performance setup. the loudspeaker objects; for versions I-III, this meant of a size
that permitted packing in a suitcase for ease in touring.
Observing the stream of the works' development as parti-
cles rather than as waves, we can clearly hear that the com- The first version of Rainforestwas commissioned by the
Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC) in 1968 for an
positions that Tudor named-these points along a
continuum-do have quite specific sonic identities. Moreover, initial fee of $500 plus $25 per performance [2]. The piece
has its origins, however, in Bandoneon!,the work Tudor cre-
ated for the show 9 Evenings of Theatre and Engineering in
October 1966. We could look even further back than this:
John Driscoll (composer), Shadow Interactive, Inc., 114 Devonshire Drive, New Hyde
Park, NY 11040, U.S.A. E-mail: <jdshadow@optonline.net>. Tudor's interest in the resonance of physical objects probably
Matt Rogalsky (media artist), 94 Main Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7K 3Y8. E-mail: has its origins in the experience of performing such works as
<mrogalsky@wesleyan.edu>. John Cage's CartridgeMusic (1960), which depends on the
An earlier version of this article was presented at the symposium "The Art of David Tudor: basic idea of revealing the sonic characteristics of everyday ob-
Indeterminacy and Performance in Postwar Culture," held at the Getty Research Institute,
Los Angeles, California, 17-19 May 2001. Documentation of the symposium is available at: jects. The work that Tudor identifies as his own first composi-
<http://wiww.getty.edu/research/conducting research/digitized collections/david tion, FluorescentSound (1964), is a creative extension of the
tudor/symposium.html>.
CartridgeMusic principle: the amplification of small sounds.

Fig. 1. Rainforest
IV generalizeddiagram,1973. (@Estateof DavidTudor)

RAINFOREsT (1•)

v.ectc P #L ,
G., Pcc-u
5t6,SAL btrlluh
Wur; Lr
vf, -''''''
"" -I1
SI6•AI-~S 'c

** ; $
1,
I •.JetT *#,•~I t T"p0jov?Cp ,o
afnC
(Aw
$*./Amps
4'-~f!
WL4~t
,
*A J it S

? 2004 ISAST LEONARDO MUSICJOURNAL, Vol. 14, pp. 25-30, 2004 25

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?X
~~
I:::
P~'H\a~x::V~t&
Li?

o::':
n-f~"(T
1: ........A:
.. good ones out of a wide range of appar-
ent possibilities. Tudor described Rain-
forestas a piece that "teaches itself" [10],
and here we catch a glimpse of him as its
gw
-N
I x-V
-i?:.
:1iN
4:: first student.
Following 9 Evenings, the loudspeaker-
~
"" iai~;r
cN object idea was laid aside for a number
:Cj. of months, until Merce Cunningham
commissioned a piece from Tudor for his
new dance Rainforest.In Tudor's words,
..11.
:%i::~:? j3
MerceCunninghamaskedme fora piece.
.. ...........?c~ Well, I have those things lying around, so
'X-: I might as well put them to use. So, the
:177qw.
14~ first thing I did was to work on an ampli-
fier to run them. I made an eight chan-
nel amplifier with small capacity. And I
:X-1:1, Ik. made objects which I could travel with.
And theywere so smalltheydidn't have
any soundingpresencein the space,so I
then amplifiedthe outputswith the use
of contactmicrophones[11].
The use of contact microphones on
Fig. 2. Sliding Pitches in the Rainforestin the Field, installation view, Chocorua, New Hampshire, the transduced speaker-objects in this
1973. (Photo @ John Driscoll)
first version of Rainforestharkens back to
CartridgeMusic and FluorescentSound. It
also raises the question of exactly where
According to interviews, Tudor's in- parently descended from a design devel- the sonic identity of a Rainforestobject is
terest, dating back to 1965, lay in finding oped for underwater use by the U.S. Navy. to be found; the (in)fidelity of Rainforest
a means of making objects reveal their Tudor obtained a number of the com- objects depends not only on the objects
own resonant characteristics rather than mercial transducers, and they were inte- themselves but also and as much on the
using them as instruments to be played grated into his contribution to the 9 frequency response of the object in each
manually. He put it this way: "One didn't Evenings, Bandoneon!, as "instrumental stage of transduction. The transducers
have to think of the generation of elec- loudspeakers" mounted on four radio- do not transmit bass frequencies effi-
tronic music from signal source to the re- controlled carts [6] that roamed the ciently; the piezoelectric phonograph
producing output, but one, instead, space during his performance. Sound was cartridges originally used for pickups
mightjust as well start from the other end directed to 12 conventional loudspeakers have good bass response but roll off
and go back and arrive at a signal in addition to the roving carts,which were quickly in higher frequencies. All these
source." Tudor described this revelation used for "spatialvariation" [7]. limitations contribute to the overall sonic
as an instantaneous "dream-vision of an The four instrumental loudspeakers presence of a Rainforestobject, which of
orchestra of loudspeakers, each speaker were, according to Tudor's notes: course is ultimately dependent on the
being as unique as any musical instru- 1. aluminum sheets (suspended ca. 15 choice of sound materials to be trans-
ment" [3]. ft) duced through it.
The type of audio transducer that 2. steel traywith vibrating appendages Gordon Mumma recalls that while
Tudor found to cause physical objects to 3. two 14-inchwooden planksmounted Tudor was developing the piece, he did
resonate in the way that he imagined was at 902 not have a name for it, and when he
basically a speaker without a cone, which 4. plate glass (push-pull driven) [8] heard that the dance was to be called
could be attached to a wall or a door and Other notes describe materials con- Rainforest,he said, "Now there's a title"
so become part of a home hi-fi system. sidered: [12]. So any connection between the title
The year 1966 was apparently one of en- * sheet rock of the piece and its sonic content is ap-
thusiasm for the idea of such a device: * glass parently coincidental. However, in a later
Among Tudor's papers we find a Popular * wood: description of the piece, Tudor wrote,
Mechanics article from June 1966, de- masonite "The composition was implemented thru
scribing to the home hobbyist how to barrel the construction of special insts. [instru-
"Build a FANTASTIC CONELESS * metal: bronze thundersheet ments], which can be manipulated to
LOUDSPEAKER!Here are the complete * furniture produce sounds resembling those of na-
plans that you asked for after reading * try: ture"; and in an interview in the 1980s,
about this amazing speaker in our De- metal pipe const. Tudor described Rainforest I's sound
cember issue" [4]. Also found in the fibreglass sources as "oscillators that made animal-
Tudor collection is a copy of the same ar- jointed metal const. like and bird-like sounds" [13]. Thus con-
ticle from a September 1966 Portuguese Piano [9] nections to an (imaginary) natural
edition of the magazine [5]. Here we get a sense of Tudor going soundscape do exist, even in this strictly
In 1966, audio transducers were not through the learning process that all sub- electronic version of Rainforest.
available only to hobbyists willing to sequent Rainforestparticipants have ex- An anecdote fromJean Rigg in March
spend hours painstakingly constructing perienced. Not all materials make good 1970 illuminates these connections-or
them; they were commercially available resonators; it requires a process of trial their boundaries-further. Tudor was
as well. The commercial models were ap- and error to come up with a handful of not touring with the Cunningham Conm-

26 Dyiscolland Rogalsky,David Tudor's Rainjfrest

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General Description
The work is improvisational by nature
and typically performed by a minimum
of four performers continuously for 3-6
hours at a time. Between 16 and 40 sculp-
tural speakers are suspended in the
space. The work has been installed in ap-
proximately 36 different locations (mu-
seums, universities, performance centers
and theaters), with over 125 individual
performances to date.
The character of a RainforestNIperfor-
•,j
.
.. .
. II
., ... ?i. ??;•,•
mance is that of an informal social envi-
ronment in which visitorsare encouraged
to wander and physicallyinteract with the
..'s: . , work (e.g. placing one's ear against the
idi sculptures; feeling the vibrations in one's
hand or against one's head; and even bit-
ing an object, allowing the sound to travel
through the bones in one's head). Per-
formers are also free to move about dur-
ing the performance to monitor the
Fig. 4. Installationview,L'espacePierreCardin,Paris, 1976. (Photo @RalphJones) sculptural speakers and engage in dis-
cussions with the audience. Chairs are
placed at the performers' tables to en-
their resonances into a four- or eight- To be too obsessive about getting the courage this interaction. David requested
channel conventional sound system version numbers right is to risk losing that two particular audiences be invited
(Cage did not share Tudor's system but sight of the broader picture: that of a mu- when possible-the blind and children.
had his own four-channel loudspeaker sical practice based on constant modifi-
setup solely for his live and prerecorded cation and innovation. Tudor found it Origins of RainforestIV
vocalizations). A preparatory list of useful to retrospectively organize the RainforestNIwas technologically a direct
sound sources per object identifies a se- Rainforestseries in this way, which sug- outgrowth of the earlier Rainforestver-
lection of laboratory brainwave record- gests that each version represents a sig- sions, using low-powered amplifiers, elec-
ings, water sounds, "vibes" (earth nificant stage in the. development of an tronic and tape source signals and sound
vibrations), and a favorite nightjar idea. But Tudor was himself at times ap- transducers fastened to objects (Fig. 1).
recording [23]. A recording of the pre- parently indecisive about how to number However, the characteristics distinguish-
miere performance of this version at the series [25], and this does much to ing RainforestNIfrom other versions are:
Radio Bremen has been released on New suggest how Rainforestmay resist such pi- * The creation of a visual and sonic en-
World Records [24], and in the mix we geonholing. vironment with 16-40 suspended
can aurally identify other Pepsi sounds as sculptural speakers
well: a beetle walking, a wasp chewing, * The size of the sculptural speakers
the mosquitoes buzzing in their jar. JOHNDRISCOLL: (some as large as 12 X 12 ft)
RAINFOREST IV * The duration of the performance
Unfortunately, the New World release
of this excellent recording, documenting As Matt Rogalsky mentions above, the ti-
(typically 3-6 hours)
one of the major (and most pointedly tles of the different versions of Rainforest * The projection of a strong acoustical
egalitarian) collaborations between were not as evident as one might assume. presence in the space by each sculp-
Tudor and Cage, has muddied the waters The title RainforestNonly appeared in ture
where identification of the various ver- print during negotiations with Rene * The use of a vibration pickup to am-
sions of Rainforestis concerned. Tudor's Block over the RainforestLP that he pro-
plify the resonant frequencies pres-
contribution is (mis-)identified as Rain- duced on Edition Block in 1981 [26]. The ent in the sculpture through the
forestII, and the CD liner notes give a mis- first use of the RainforestNVtitle was for speakers, creating a reflection of
taken description of the piece, stating the installation at the Holland Festival in what the audience hears directly in
that Cage's vocalizations were used as the 1982. A description of Rainforest,which I the object but with additional har-
primary input to Tudor's loudspeaker- authored with David Tudor, follows: monic content
objects. As far as I have been able to as- IVis an electro-acousticenvi- * The collaboration of 4-10 perform-
Rainforest
certain from Tudor's notes and diagrams ronmentconceivedby DavidTudorand ers (i.e. Composers Inside Electron-
and from available recorded evidence, realizedby the group ComposersInside ics, discussed below) in the creation
that was never the case on this 1972 Eu- Electronics.Eachcomposerhasdesigned
and constructeda set of sculpturesthat of the sculptural speakers, sound ma-
ropean tour. The CD notes read, "War- function as instrumentalloudspeakers terials and the visual environment.
bling sine-wave oscillators are used for under their control,and each indepen- Rainforest Vevolved out of a workshop
Rainforest I ... but, by contrast, Rainfor- dently produces sound material to that David presented at the New Music in
estHis designed for vocal input." I agree displaytheir sculptures'resonantchar- New Hampshire Festival at Chocorua,
acteristics.The appreciationof Rainfor-
with this general description, but unfor- est IV depends upon individual New Hampshire, in the summer of 1973.
tunately RainforestHis not the piece doc- exploration, the audience is invited to The first performance, entitled Sliding
umented on the CD. move freelyamong the sculptures[27]. Pitches in the Rainforestin the Field, took

28 Driscolland Rogalsky,David Tudor's Rainforest

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place in a large barn and lasted for ap- formed the work for well over 500 hours evolve over extended periods inter-
proximately 5 hours. The "Sliding in total. Over the years a number of other spersed with short-duration local sound
Pitches" part of the title came from a composers/artists performed including events unique to one object.
joint circuit-building workshop by Gor- David Behrman, Cynthia Black, Nic Because numerous performers are in-
don Mumma and David Behrman, and Collins, Russel Frehling, Takehisa Ko- volved and the work is performed for up
"in the Field" came from the name of the sugi, Ben Manley, Virginia Quesada, to 5 continuous hours, it is never musi-
inn at which the festival was held Prent Rodgers, Ann Sandifur, Richard cally the same from performance to per-
(Stafford's in the Field). The many sculp- Teitelbaum and Andrej Zrajic. formance. It is an improvisational
tures included a metal bedspring, a huge coordination of the sound materials, but
wine barrel, toilet floats, cast-iron wagon Origins of the Sound Sources one that has become extremely familiar
wheel rims, a stainless-steel milk con- Each RainforestIVperformer is responsi- and ingrained in the performers. Since
tainer lid, lawn sprinklers, a copper still, ble for producing the sound materials for there is no single listening point, the
a Styrofoam box and a large metal cable the particular sculptural speakers he or work is never heard in the same way by
(Fig. 2). The performers included John she constructs. These sound materials any two audience members or perform-
Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, Linda Fisher, have covered the gamut from electroni- ers, who are arranged in the periphery
Martin Kalve, Greg Kramer, Susan cally produced to highly amplified natu- of the space (Fig. 3). This is why per-
Palmer, David Tudor and Bill Viola. ral sounds (e.g. a fly walking on paper). formers occasionally walk about testing
This first realization of the work was The only restriction David ever men- the sonic balance and density in other
probably as much a revelation to David tioned is that there should not be any parts of the space.
as it was to the other performers, for a prerecorded musical material used.
unique visual and sonic environment was The choice of source material is moti- Evolution of Sculptural
created. This performance set the stage vated by the unique set of resonant char- Loudspeakers
for the evolution of the work over the acteristics that each sculptural speaker The creation, design and construction of
next 31 years. David stated that his in- presents. After investigation, the com- the sculptural speakers is left to each in-
tention at Chocorua was to "give away" poser creates material that will tease the dividual composer. The use of specific
the RainforestIVwork [28]. This desire speaker's resonant nodes into strong vi- sculptures varies greatly from installation
lay at the heart of the long collaboration bration, creating responses that are highly to installation based upon:
that grew into an extended family of as- nonlinear. It is the equivalent of tickling * Weight and shipping cost
sociates eventually known as Composers someone-a little input at just the right * Number of performers (each com-
Inside Electronics (CIE). spot creates great output. The resonance poser maintains a personal collection
nodes of the sculptural speaker con- of objects)
Composers Inside Electronics tribute to what is heard as much as do the * Scale and nature of the performance
Following the Chocorua performance, original sounds and in some cases influ- space
more RainforestIVinstallations involving ences the result even more. It is possible * Balance of the sonic properties of
the core group took place: in 1974 at the to input a sound that is unrecognizable various materials (metal, plastic,
Everson Museum, SUNY Buffalo; and in coming out of the sculpture. For exam- glass, etc.).
1975 at York University, Mills College, ple, David occasionally used two out-of- Because of the varying backgrounds of
The Kitchen, Fort Worth Art Museum, phase transducers to create results that each composer, some sculptural speakers
DeSaisset Art Gallery and the Los Ange- did not exist in the source material. may be found objects, while others may
les County Museum. The 1975 perform- There are no coordinated starting be more elaboratelyfabricatedsculptures.
ances at York University and the Fort points and ending points to the work The simplicity or elaborateness of the
Worth Art Museum involved both David other than the scheduled durations of sculptural speakers was never specified.
and me giving workshops with students the performances. The work relies upon The repertory of available sculptures
and then performing with the students. the performers listening to each other increases exponentially as more installa-
This led to installations in 1976 at the and responding accordingly. Given the tions of the work take place. Many were
Houston Contemporary Art Museum duration of the work, it is possible to cre- unique to a particular installation and are
and the WalkerArt Museum, followed by ate large shifting sound characters that retired because of difficulty in trans-
many other venues.
David formed the performance group
that became CIE in order to present a se-
ries of 13 performances and four installa-
tions for the Festival D'Automne at the Fig. 5. Children
biting sculpture,
:.. 4
*
Gallierain Paris (1976). The group ICA, Philadel- 7;
Mus•e
name evolved from discussions between phia, 1979.
David and me, and reflected David's fas- (Photo ? Kira
Perov)
cination with how electronic components
take on their own personalities and sug-
gest musical directions derived from in-
tense experimentation with them-thus,
Composers Inside Electronics.
This newly formed group (Paul De-
Marinis, John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein,
Linda Fisher, Ralph Jones, Martin Kalve Mi

and Bill Viola) became the collaborative


nucleus for Rainforest IV and has per-

Driscoll and Rogatlky, David Tudor's Rainforest 29

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porting them due to their size or weight. evolved as daylight gave way to artifi- 7. Tudor-Fullemann interview [3].
A number have persisted and become al- cial light (the most striking use of 8. David Tudor, working note for Bandoneon!,David
most "classic"sculptures that appear and light was that by the lighting designer Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 3, Folder 2.
reappear, some of which grow larger and Beverly Emmons at the Lincoln Cen- 9. Tudor [8].
mutate with time. ter installation in 1998)
* Assembly/disassembly-installation 10. David Tudor, interview with Matt Rogalsky, 28
Installations at the Los Angeles County March 1995, Tomkins Cove, NY Published elec-
Museum of Art and the Walker Art Cen- required 1 to 3 days and disassembly tronically at <http://www.emf.org/tudor>.
ter lent themselves to the creation of new approximately 1 day. 11. Tudor-Fullemann interview [3].
sculptures given the easy access to Dis- Because of my sculptural background,
12. Gordon Mumma, e-mail correspondence, April
ney's surplus materials in Los Angeles the task of organizing the space often fell 2001.
and Honeywell/3M's surplus in Min- to me; sometimes it was done in collabo-
13. Tudor-Fullemann interview [3].
neapolis. ration with Phil Edelstein, with input
from all the performers. 14. Letter fromJean Rigg to David Tudor, 11 March
1970. David Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 58,
Creating the Visual Folder 11.
Environment
CONCLUSION 15. Gordon Mumma, e-mail correspondence, April
A critical aspect of the collaboration 2001.
is the arrangement of the objects in The various versions of Rainforestpresent
16. Gordon Mumma, e-mail correspondence, April
the performance space so as to create a rich and stimulating vision of David's 2001.
both a visual and a sonic environment. exploration of resonance. In a testament 17. If the description (which includes four "options"
Once a sponsor indicates interest in the to the scope of this vision, RainforestIV for performing Rainforest)had been written in 1968,
work, a site visit is usually necessary to ver- still is being actively performed 31 years it would likely not have included any but the version
after its inception, and a new'group of for dance (option 1). Because the list includes an op-
ify that the space can accommodate the tion that fits the version performed in 1972 on tour
requirements of the work. Some sites performers have emerged to carry the with John Cage in Europe, but does not include an
have presented unique challenges: at the work forward, including John D.S. option that fits the version developed in 1973 (the
large group version known as Rainforest It), I infer
DeSaisset Art Gallery, some 20 suspen- Adams, D'Arcy Philip Gray, Ron Kuivila that the list was written in 1972 and back-dated to
sion points had to be individually drilled and Matt Rogalsky.Planning is currently 1968, when the first version was premiered.
into the concrete ceiling; a suspended under way to explore the creation of a 18. David Tudor, Rainforestdescription dated 1968.
grid was custom-constructed at the permanent installation of RainforestIV. David Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 3, Folder 2.
Musee Galliera in Paris. Other sites allow In the fall of 1995, a student version of 19. Tudor-Fullemann interview [3].
easy installation, such as the Clark The- RainforestIVwas presented at Bard Col-
20. These include score diagrams and notes that ref-
ater at Lincoln Center, with its pipe grid lege. David was in attendance, though at erence the 1972 version as "Rainforest 3"; David
for suspending both the sculptures and the time he was blinded by a stroke and Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 3, Folder 28.
the theatrical lighting. in a wheelchair. While I was wheeling 21. Peter Poole, telephone conversation, March
The numerous issues that are consid- David around, we stopped at one partic- 2001.
ered in the installation of the work in- ular sculpture that tickled his interest, 22. Ritty Burchfield, conversation, New York City,
clude: and he turned to me and said, "See, this March 2001.
* Staggering the sculptures to create was the reason we did this." 23. David Tudor, notes for Rainforest,1972. David
pathways through the environment Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 44, Folder 8.
(Fig. 4) References and Notes 24. New World Records 80540-2, released 2000, doc-
* The use of strong anchor points for uments Tudor and Cage's premiere performance of
1. Interview with David Tudor, Radio 100, Germany
suspending heavy objects and audi- 14 June 1988. David Tudor Papers, Getty Research Rainforest/Mureauat Radio Bremen, 5 May 1972.
ence safety Institute (GRI) (980039), audio CD C157A. 25. For instance, in one note from 1974 Tudor refers
* Higher overhead suspension for ob- 2. Contract between David Tudor and Merce Cun-
to the 1973 large group version of Rainforestas "RF
III." David Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 109,
jects having a "loud"acoustical pres- ningham Dance Company for commission of Rain- Folder 18;John Driscoll says that this version was not
ence forest, 12 June 1968. David Tudor Papers, GRI identified as RainforestlVuntil the 1980s (e-mail cor-
(980039), Box 16, Folder 10.
* Hanging fragile objects, such as respondence, April 2001).
3. Interview with David Tudor byJohn David Fulle- 26. RainforestIV(Berlin Version) Edition Block/Gra-
Tudor's sculpture with four Slinkies, mann, Stockholm, 31 May 1984. Published elec- mavision LP GR-EB1 (1980).
out of reach tronically at <http://www.emf.org/tudor>.
* Creating sculptures that many peo- 27. Publicity document byJohn Driscoll and David
4. PopularMechanics(June 1966).
Tudor, 1979.
ple can access at once-numerous
5. David Tudor Papers, GRI (980039), Box 37,
objects have worked well this way;the Folder 6. 28. Tudor-Fullemann interview [3].
toilet ball floats and the 55-gallon
6. The carts had been developed for choreographer
drum often had couples or individu- Deborah Hay's 9 Evenings performance piece, and Matt Rogalsky 's work as a media artist often
als inside while others listened on the Tudor's borrowing of them apparently caused some focuses on exploration of abject, invisible/in-
outside; a gourd with fishing poles friction; according to Robert Kieronski, one of the audible or ignored streams of information. Re-
Bell Labs engineers working with Tudor, Tudor saw
often had multiplevisitorsbiting on the gadgetry assembled for the series as a commu- cent projects include a series of performance
them (Fig.5); a long copperstripsus- nal pool of resources to be drawn upon by all-a view and installation works exploring radio si-
not shared by some of the other artists. Of the dishar- lences, a commission from the Berliner Fest-
pended high above and arcing down mony resulting when Tudor began borrowing things,
to floor level accommodated many spiele for a new version of John Cage's
Kieronski states, "Billy, of slightly socialist lean- Fontana Mix, the sound installation Auri-
people at once ings..., did not adjudicate the fray.... Cage was
* A good dynamic balance in the happy with the chaos. Nobody bothered Rauschen- cle in Norwich Cathedral (U.K.), and Per-
berg." Robert Kieronski, e-mail correspondence, 3 fect Imperfect, a collaborative series of
placement of the objects according December 2000. "Billy"is Billy Kliver, spearhead of exhibitions with U.K. artist Chloe Steele. He
to size, shape and sonic properties Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT), which is currentlystudying in the MusicDepartment
* Use of theatrical lighting-due to produced the 9 Evenings; Robert Rauschenberg was
also an EAT founding member; both he and John of City University, London, researching the
their duration, performances often Cage contributed performance pieces to the series. history of David Tudor's Rainforest series.

30 I)riscoll and Rogalsky, David Tudor's Rainforest

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