Sunday, July 19, 2015

Low Concept: gestures from O Superman : David Miller

Sat Apr 07, 2012

There were three sources of preexisting material in the performances of Low Concept: Brecht/Weill's song Die Seeräuber-Jenny ("Pirate Jenny"), the Adagio from Ravel's G major piano concerto, and Laurie Anderson's music O Superman music video. The first was evident, as I exposed the song in four stages, concluding with a kind of performance/staging in German. The second remained unnamed: I performed the first part of the Adagio, transcribed for a single piano, on a toy piano. If someone knew the music well enough they might have recognized it, though I don't believe anyone did. The third remained quite buried. I quoted only a brief passage from Anderson's lyrics, and only once. What I did quote and enact, at several points, was a description of the gestures she uses in her original music video (viewable here for example). Interesting intellectual property question, possibly: the video work is hers, her performance is hers, but the text below is "mine," I believe.

I did not attempt to describe one passage ("neither snow nor rain" etc.) where she makes use of sign language. I didn't want to hack around with a language I do not understand - like imitating the sounds of a spoken language you don't understand. You could just wind up mocking people.

The full rendition of Pirate Jenny segued directly into the italicized portion of the text below, which the audience had seen three times before, but now for the first time with the words: 'Cause when love is gone/there's always justice/and when justice is gone/there's always force/and when force is gone/there's always Mom/Hi Mom. That may have been the moment when people suddenly realized why Laurie Anderson was credited on the program. (Thank you Laurie Anderson. I still love this work.)

O Superman gesture score

Left arm raised, elbow at chest height and bent, fist closed at shoulder height

lowered almost horizontally, raised again, lowered, raised again

hand open, fingers together, thumb separate – elbow straightened and bent in a stiff handwaving gesture

arm dropped to side



arms at sides, elbows at sides, forearms slightly extended – straighten elbows so arms angled away from body

raise forearms and elbows away from sides – elbows bent at chest height, forearms up making V, hands open

then curl hands in to body above shoulder height

open hands flat again, make “money” gesture with fingers

rotate hands so backs of hands are toward body, forefingers point horizontally away from body

open hands flat so palms face front



left arm, elbow at side, palm open to front, 3rd-5th fingers curled slightly in front of index finger

gun gesture with thumb and index finger, 3rd-5th fingers curled in to palm

palm opens, facing up – forearm still at same angle to body and elbow at side

turn palm to face front, move palm toward viewer



right arm crossed in front of body, hand open, fingers together, placed above heart

open arm extended to right, elbow close to but not at body, slightly bent – forearm horizontal

turn palm up, raise left arm and hand in same position –look at left hand – tilt arms back and forth

turn arms over, palms down but curled out as if pushing away, then lower arms at sides and look down

raise arms away from body, elbows bent at chest height, fists at eye level

then drop arms – inverted, forearms hang vertically from bent elbow in same position, fists hanging at end of forearms

then repeat raising and dropping fists

raise arms to same height, elbows bent at same height, open palms pointing up making 90 degree angle with head

then move hands to face front

relax hands

lower left arm to horizontal position, hand open but facing down, wave hello with right arm in same position



Left arm raised, elbow at chest height and bent, fist closed at shoulder height

straighten elbow and extend arm, palm facing front, fingers together, thumb separate

bend elbow so upper arm is at 90 degree angle, separate all fingers and thumb, palm still forward

straighten elbow and turn hand into gun gesture

bend elbow and raise hand with gun gesture – when index finger is pointing up, curl hand into fist

straighten elbow with fist – when arm horizontal, point sideways with index finger

bend elbow with index finger extended – when index finger pointing up, curl hand to make a bird head silhouette

extend bird head slightly – open “beak” three times

raise hand to face front, open fingers, forearm toward body, elbow in same position

straighten elbow and extend hand with pointing forefinger

bend elbow and turn forefinger so pointing at self

turn hand and make “rabbit” with thumb and forefinger curled and touching, three fingers curled above
quickly extend forefinger pointing to left

bend elbow, open hand facing front, open fingers – bend elbow further so open hand angles towards body, then

straighten elbow so hand faces out

bend elbow again

straighten elbow so index and middle fingers extended, together, point left, thumb atop index finger, other fingers curled in

bend elbow so index and middle fingers point up

straighten elbow, then bend it again, all fingers together, palm slightly curling so fingertips point toward body

straighten elbow, palm facing up, pull left sleeve with right arm

bend elbow to make fist – facing toward body

straighten elbow – index finger pointing left

bend elbow – fist turns toward body, index finger curls over fist

mostly straighten elbow – relaxed finger extends at a gentle angle upward and out

immediately bend elbow, open fingers, palm facing front

straight elbow, palm forward – repeatedly bend and flex elbow with open fingers facing forward, increasing pace

end in fist with elbow bent



Notated by David Miller, March 2012