When text becomes tone
In the West Coast premiere of Manifestos 6: Ben Patterson, world-renowned artist Charles Gaines translates Fluxus artist Benjamin Patterson’s Variations for Double-Bass, a performance score composed of words rather than traditional musical notation.
By applying his own notation system to Patterson’s text, Gaines not only reinterprets the original work but also bridges the conceptual practices of early Fluxus artists with contemporary approaches to art and music.
Gaines initiated the Manifestos series in 2004, and it has evolved over time, with each iteration exploring different facets of historical and political narratives. Manifestos 2 (2013) translated texts including Malcolm X’s final speech and Olympe de Gouges’s 1791 feminist declaration into musical notation, performed by a nine-piece ensemble. Manifestos 3 (2018) continued this exploration, setting Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 speech and James Baldwin’s 1957 essay to music, highlighting the emotional resonance of these texts through the lens of musical composition.
Manifestos 6 will feature a 17-piece chamber ensemble led by conductor John Eagle, incorporating texts from a Patterson score and interview.