FluCoMa Podcast #16 (Part One): John Bowers

by Jacob Hart

Episode 16 (Part One) of the FluCoMa Podcast where Jacob Hart talks with artist-researcher and creative coder John Bowers.

John Bowers

The Podcast

Chapters

1. Introduction (0:0)

2. Getting into music (1:6)

3. Discovering and disclosing (10:25)

4. The Brazen Head (15:9)

5. Approaches to improvisation (24:51)

6. An archival turn (36:26)

7. The floor potage (43:56)

8. Projects and infrastructure (47:48)

9. Room feedback system (50:48)

10. Dynamic tonality (1:1:18)

11. An eye for abuse (1:11:46)

12. Modalities of performance with a feedback system (1:18:52)

Overview

In this episode on the FluCoMa Podcast, we see part one of my talk with John Bowers. John is an artist-researcher whose work has appeared all over the world. In this first episode, we learn how he got into the field of experimental music making, hear about many of his influences and his approaches to improvisation solo and with others. We also take a look at a system for room feedback that he recently presented at NIME 2023. See part two of this podcast here.

Links

Here are the links to some of the things that were discussed during the podcast:

• 3BP (Three-Body Problem) with Adam Pultz Melbye and Paul Stapleton.

• Tonesucker (The Killing of St Alphege):

• Stuart Brisley.

• John Peel.

• Extreme Noise Terror and Cradle of Filth.

• Olivier Messiaen and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

• Henry Cow and Yes.

• Can.

• Fred Frith, Derek Bailey and Hans Reichel.

• Simon Waters at the University of East Anglia.

• Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.

• Fylkingen, EMS.

• Duo with Sten-Olof Hellstrom:

• Tomomi Adachi on the FluCoMa Podcats.

• David Tudor.

• The Rambert Dance Company. Merce Cunningham’s RainForest.

• Sonorities Festival. Piece with Owen Green.

• John Stevens.

• Dirty Electronics (John Richards).

• “Ontologies of displacement” talk at SARC (2021):

• Hal Foster.

• Thor Magnusson’s Musical Organics.

• Tacita Dean.

• Design Things by A. Telier.

• A hapless but enteritaining roar at NIME 2023.

• Alice Eldridge and Chris Kiefer’s Feedback Cello.

• Alvin Lucier, Nicolas Collins and Éliane Radigue.

• Karen Barad.

• Fluid.pitch, sigmund~.

• Jess Aslan on the FluCoMa Podcast.

• Zakiya Leeming and Chris Melen on the FluCoMa Podcast.