SINGLE COPY - Abstract
At the heart of SINGLE COPY is a set of rules that puts the relationships between the artist, the piece, and the audience to the test, while alluding, in real-time, to loaded questions regarding the value and even the real existence of the piece.
During the work, the artist struggles with the clash between his wish to create the best piece of work, and the timeframe allocated to do so, as well as the sense of mourning he feels each time he sends the only copy of his creation to an unknown future.
He is deprived the pleasure of performing live, because he only gets to share the creative process with the audience, never the completed piece.
He must always continue to move forward, in a seemingly endless cycle. His victory is manifest only in his ability to maintain a creative spirit on the assembly line.
The only complete copy of the piece will be given to a random member of the anonymous spectators.
What will the person receiving the free piece by surprise do with it?
Would the manner in which he or she has received it reduce or increase its value in their eyes?
Would they throw it away when they exit, or will they decide to keep it? Would they share it with others?
The person receiving the piece has now become a part of the piece. He or she has now become responsible for its fate. They will be the ones to determine what sound a tree falling in the woods makes.
It's a one man installation show in which a musician is working in an improvised studio area, surrounded by audience. Every 25 minutes (for a total of seven consecutive hours) he must create a piece of music, record it on analog tape, burn it on a single CD and then give this solely existing copy of his creation to a random member of the audience, only to begin recording his next piece on the sametape, overwriting his previous piece. The installation is operated by Noam Rotem, a critically acclaimed musician, and Daniel Meir, a musician and sound designer for films and video. Currently the installation is designed to run for two days, so that everyday a different musician performs for the total of seven hours.
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Single Copy is an ongoing performance by Musician Noam Rotem and sound Ddesigner Daniel Meir enter the lab and come out every 25 minutes with a new single, as part of a performance designed to expose the audience to the process of digital art. Some happy viewers will randomly win a unique creation.
The event, to be held for7 or 8 hours, is made up of 25-minute periods. Every 25 minutes, Rotem and Meir enter an improvised musical laboratory built at the center and work on a new piece using various instruments, recording and mixing equipment, their voices, and the voices of the audience. At the end of each process, the piece is burned to a CD, it will be named, and given to a random and anonymous participant at the event. " We are recording on a tape recorder, so technically we are not able to save our work, and we have to erase it every time we start recording the next piece. The only documentation will be on that disk, which is given a serial number and certificate of authenticity one of the participants."
In the performance, we are dealing with one of the important questions regarding digital art, and we actually wonder about the process of selling it and what gives it value . Currently, its value is determined mainly by the serial number and certificate of authenticity , but the experience of watching a digital creation does not really change, even if we are watching a copy and not the original."
The individual who receives the piece, is able to do as he pleases with it. "He can throw it away to the nearest trashcan, sell it or use it for his wedding video,"
"In addition to what the viewers get from the event , is also intended for us," says Rotem . "It's a process that challenges us, and we are interested in finding out what will come of it. Also, the beauty of the performance is that Danny and I are not important in this process . Any artist can do it, and our dream is for artists to make this experiment elsewhere. What we have created is a system of rules and laws, and within this set of rules, anything can be done."
Why 25 minutes ?
"From our experience, this is the amount of time enough to create a good track , mix it, and burn it, and it is short enough so that the process is carried out under pressure ," explains Meir. "It is important for viewers to see that we really make an effort ," says Rotem , "part of the beauty and power of this is that the viewers watch the process and see that we are suffering a little, that we sometimes get angry.
They are entering the mind of the creator and the physical creative process. It is an emotional roller coaster for us too: We are happy for something being born, and grieve for something that is gone prematurely, after the 25 minutes are over."
How will you decide who gets the single copy of each work ?
Meir: "Randomly, probably the first person we run into, or waiting near the studio ."
"When you create something you get attached to it , but then comes the moment when you have to part with it ... We think a lot about where all our ideas that remain on the editing floor go to, and the purpose of this event is to try to give them physical and visual representation ."
Single Copy - Manual
• Within the next 25 minutes you must record, print, and distribute a new piece.
• All the musical instruments and microphones in the room are at your disposition to record a piece whose length you decide, using as many
channels as you wish.
• Once you finish recording, use the CD burner to burn a single copy of the piece on a CD.
• Choose a name for the piece, and use a Sharpy to write it along with your name and signature on the CD.
• Place a sticker with a serial number on the CD.
• Place the CD in its cover and randomly choose one of the spectators to give it to (instructions for the person receiving the piece are
printed on the sleeve).
• Rewind the tape and start a new recording overwriting the previous recording.
• Carry out the entire process described in articles 1-7, every 25 minutes, for a total of seven hours. (You may take a 10-minute break after a
minimum of 3 consecutive executions of the whole process.)
• After completing the process for the last time, at the end of seven hours, erase the last recording and turn off all devices.
Single Copy - Owner’s Manual
You are in possession of the only existing copy of this piece, as well as the legal ownership rights to it.
The fate of this piece is in your hands, to do with it as you please. You may exhibit it it, play it, give it, sell it, or throw it away.
If you choose to share it with others, we welcome you to do so and send us your single copy to: singlecopy@ymail.com
