kino21 and The Exploratorium present

The 10,000 Mile Bike Race

A Live Music-Film-Narration performance

• TEXT - Alfred Jarry


• NARRATION - Brent Cunningham


• MUSIC - Graham Connah


• FILM - Kerry Laitala, Jerome Hiler, Paul Clipson, and Bill Basquin


• CONCEPT and DIRECTION - Konrad Steiner

MUSICIANS - Aaron Novik - clarinet; Darren Johnston - trumpet; Evan Francis - flute; Marty Wehner - trombone; John Finkbeiner - guitar; Lisa Mezzacappa - bass;
Vijay Anderson - drums; Graham Connah - keyboards, piano

PROJECTIONISTS - Bill Basquin, Paul Clipson, Rosario Sotelo, Konrad Steiner

Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) was a French author and dramatist ... also a prankster, a brilliant student, a lousy soldier, and an alcoholic. His work was scandalous (UBU ROI), satirical (THE PASSION CONSIDERED AS AN UPHILL BICYCLE RACE), and unclassifiable (THE EXPLOITS AND OPINIONS OF Dr. FAUSTROLL, 'PATAPHYSICIAN).

Along with the darker figure of Lautreamont, he was a clear precursor in France to the spirit of dada, surrealism and absurdist theater. However in his time he was a member of no movement or group.

As he was dying in poverty, his body ravaged by tuberculosis and years of drug and absinthe use, his last request was for a toothpick.

The Supermale was written by Jarry, diminutive in stature but casting a large shadow over French Literature, in the few years before his death. Published in 1906 the short novel concerns a debate among men over the limits of human, specifically male, prowess.

A chapter from this book called "The 10,000 Mile Race" has been used as the basis of our performance, interpreted simultaneously through music, film, and
oration.

This excerpt features the main characters of the novel in bit parts and foregrounds many of Jarry's obsessions: alcohol, bicycles, and fantastical technology. The idea was to project this text into sound and image, refracted through the imaginations of the artists.

The piece was constructed by assigning sections of the text to the filmmakers and composer for the purpose of creating an accompaniment to the narrator, reading Jarry's text. The three interpretations were developed separately over several months, and the puzzle was assembled for the first time on October 16th, 2008 for the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts triennial Bay Area Now exhibit.

Actually, that was our dress rehearsal. This will be our second - revised and dynamically improved - performance.