Rainforest IV at 50

Abstract

Rainforest by David Tudor was a commissioned piece in 1968 for Merce Cunningham’s dance RainForest, in which Tudor experimented with using found objects (with transducers) as loudspeakers (Rogalsky 2006, 93). In 1973, Tudor “gave the piece away” and led a workshop of emerging artists in New Hampshire (Rogalsky 2006, 183-184), expanding the work to the immersive experience known as Rainforest IV. Fifty years later, our goal was to capture the creativity and community of the 1973 workshop, while incorporating new approaches.
 From exploring scrapyards to borrowing vintage geography equipment from Queen’s University, we collected items that contributed unique acoustics to the sounds we wanted to match with them. Our collection was narrowed down to 30 items chosen by participants during our workshop at the H’Art Centre, a local art centre, after two weeks of testing objects and sounds. Although many types of sounds were used, there was discussion around the use and practice of field recordings. At the end of our workshop, we took our objects to the Baby Grand Theatre, where they were suspended, lit, transducers attached, and fed sounds that suited them best. A significant difference from 1973 was the use of impulse responses, in place of contact microphones, to enhance the sounds. During a 5-hour live performance, our session was recorded and then played back through our objects as a stand-alone installation over the following ten days. 
 I discovered through this process that community is the heart of Rainforest IV. Tudor’s kindness influenced both the participants, through shared meals and encouraging advice (Adams, et al. 2023) and the piece itself. In 2023, shared skills, ideas, and meals helped create both an “electronic ecology” (Rogalsky 2006, 205), and a community. Despite our changes, Tudor’s vision of community was ever present- as if it came from the piece itself.
 
 Bibliography 
 Adams, John DS, John Driscoll, Phil Edelstein, Linda Fisher, Ralph Jones, Ron Kuivila, Petr Kotik, and Susan Stenger, interview by Matthew R Rogalsky and Laura J Cameron. 2023. David Tudor's Rainforest IV at 50: A Conversation (July 15).
 Rogalsky, Matthew R. 2006. "Idea and Community: The Growth of David Tudor's Rainforest, 1965-2006." London: none, April. Accessed 2023.