Full: Radical Divination
Composer and visual artist
Gino Robair presents Radical Divination, his “opera of augury through papermaking.”
During this event, papermakers create—using performative, game-based structures—a score for an operatic work. That score then serves as a platform for interpretation by an ensemble of musicians. Although considered a craft rather than a performance-based artform, papermaking embodies its own rich choreography and provides an environment for artistic exploration.
Performers include Michelle Wilson and
Gino Robair (papermaking), Krys Bobrowski (invented instruments).
Kyle Bruckmann (oboe),
Tom Djll (trumpet and electronics), Cheryl Leonard (amplified objects),
John Shiurba (guitars), and
Karen Stackpole (gongs).
As a composer and visual artist, Robair explores the way nonstandard and graphical notations influence interpretive performances across different media: music, dance, video, and theater. He is currently working toward a PhD in performance studies at UC Davis, developing performative models for improvised papermaking and letterpress printing.
Videos featuring musicians playing at this event
Gino Robair and John Butcher, 2008
The premiere, at the 2013 Outsound New Music Summit, of Wrack ...Awaits Silent Tristero's Empire (made possible by the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commissioning program).
Tender Buttons at Second Act, SF, 2016; live video processing by Bill Thibault