KOLLEKTIVNYE DEYSTVIYA (COLLECTIVE ACTIONS). THE DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE ACTIONS, Photo and Video
JOURNEYS TO THE COUNTRYSIDE. VOLUME FOUR
41. SCORE
The action took place at Monastyrski’s apartment and involved the recording of the "Score" soundtrack. The expositional set of the action included four black boards of various sizes nailed to the walls of the room. White ropes were wound round the nails.
The audience received eight copies of the "Score" text, each of these was represented by a stack of photographic copies (30x24 cm) of the aforementioned text printed in reverse (white letters against black background) and glued to cardboard sheets.
The audience was prompted to look through the text of "Score". As the lights were out during the demonstration of the slide sequence, each viewer was given an electric torch to read the text with.
On the day before the performance the same text was read aloud and tape-recorded by Monastyrski, full stops and hyphens marked by clanging of a typewriter and ringing of a bell respectively.
As soon as the lights were out and the audience began reading the text of "Score", Monastyrski who was standing beside a wall/screen and S. Romashko sitting in an armchair turned on a Walkman and while listening to the soundtrack via headphones, began vocalizing the marked orthographic signs (Monastyrski –full stops and Romashko – hyphens).
This part of the action lasted 15 minutes. At the same time slides of "The Wall" series were projected on a screen. A sequence of 30 slide photographs pictured bare papered walls of Monastyrski’s apartment in locations covered with black boards during the action. Besides that, in the course of these 15 minutes S.Letov manipulated a sound modulator with "Musical dropper" to produce a 8-minute-long looped minimal rhythmic sequence (piano, Monastyrski).
Then, proceeding to the second part of the performance, Monastyrski repeated aloud text recorded on the Walkman cassette (as a sequel of the "Score") and dedicated to the Iron Flute and inserted an iron rod of Totoki-Tosui (which he had been holding in his hands) into a rectangular black box with a label: "The Reutovo Station. Next stop is Zheleznodorozhnaya". This box was on a bigger black box previously used during the "Translation" performance, but for the "Score" it was slightly changed: electric torches were removed and a single blue flashing light was inserted. Two holes on the box’s left side were covered with red glass filter, while the two on the right side produced a bluish effect.
A board-screen, previously used during the "Discussion" performance (although its marking signs were covered with iron sheets) was sitting on this box. The slide sequence was projected on it in the course of the action.
Parallel to the box and opposite to its two right holes, a mace-shaped large iron rod was lying on the floor. Its slide photograph opened the demonstration of "The Wall" sequence (in the first part of the performance).
The last 15 minutes of the action featured demonstrative conditions of a free environment (audio-vocal happening). Letov modulated his breath through speakers accompanied with the "Musical dropper". Monastyrski and Romashko chatted over an "inner" background of Meredith Monk’s music (which was recorded on the same tape with the "Score"soundtrack). The viewers could examine the slide sequence "Trains, bushes, towers, mannequins" and chat with each other (encouraged by Monastyrski and Romashko’s free speech example).
Before the very end of the action instead of "The Musical dropper" the cassette from Monastyrski’s Walkman was set to playing back through speakers without any electronic distortion effects. On it there was a musical quote from Meredith Monk. It consisted of a rhythmically monotonous, but constantly amplifying piece of "mechanical" music (2 minutes 10 seconds). It was accompanied by the slide sequence "Motor, Garbage truck, Instruments, Motor".
The autonomous audition of the soundtrack recorded during the action (the goal of the whole event) can be accompanied by demonstration of the slide film in the following order (reversed during the action):
1. Rod
2. Trains
4. Trains
8. Trains
10. Trains
11. Trains
12. Bush
14. Trains
15. Trains
16. Trains
18. Bush
19. Tower
20. Trains
22. Trains
24. Bush
25. Tower
28. Trains
29. Trains
30. Bush
31. Tower
32. Trains
33. Trains
34. Trains
36. Bush
37. Tower
38. Mannequin "Overcoat"
39. Mannequin "Raincoat" with phone booth
(Note: slide #1 "Rod" can be followed by "Fragment of marble facing of a tower" slide. In this case the overall number of slides is increased by one).
The listed slides remain on the screen for 22-23 seconds. When Monastyrski’s voice appears on the soundtrack with the Iron Flute text, the following slides are shown on the screen with a 17-19 seconds interval:
40. Motor (close-up of housing)
41. Garbage truck (fragments of van)
42. Garbage truck (fragments of van)
43. Garbage truck (fragments of van)
44. Garbage truck (fragments of van)
45. Garbage truck (fragments of van)
46. Garbage truck (fragments of van)
Then "The Wall" slide sequence is shown with 24 seconds interval:
1. Blue slide (kitchen’s wall)
49-76. Pictures of papered walls
77. Picture of an eight-blade star on the piano’s top
Besides that, the graphic sheet with red full stops and hyphens (transferred from the album where N. Panitkov was writing down these orthographic signs after Monastyrski and Romashko's voices) can be considered an autonomous artwork.
Moscow
26th of November, 1985
A. Monastyrski, I. Makarevich, S. Romashko, S.Letov, N. Panitkov, E. Elagina
Viewers:
I. Kabakov, V. Sorokin, I. Nakhova,
Vs. Nekrasov, V. Mochalova, I. Bakshtein, Yu. Leiderman
