Between II: on Robert Ashley
with Kyle Gann, Will Holder, Brian McCorkle, Paul Pinto, Scott Rogers
November 26, 2021, 6pm
– November 27, 2021, 6pm


Between is a series departing from music-based practices that temporarily converts the Kunstverein’s exhibition spaces into a stage for international musicians, performers, and artists. It takes place in the empty spaces between two exhibitions for the duration of 24 hours. The series’ second iteration is dedicated to the late U.S.-American composer Robert Ashley and brings together contributions by Kyle Gann, Will Holder, Brian McCorkle, and Paul Pinto as well as Scott Rogers.

Ashley’s compositional process is characterized by innovative forms of notation as well as a collaborative practice. The event is dedicated to one of his signature works, Perfect Lives. Originally produced for television in the early 1980s, the seven-part opera forms a vocal-aesthetic exploration of the culture of the American Midwest.

The operatic work will be recited and performed, respectively, in its entirety over the duration of the event by Paul Pinto and Brian McCorkle, both members of the Varispeed Collective and former collaborators of Ashley. Additionally, the two will collaborate on an audiovisul installation of Ashley’s She Was A Visitor. Composer and Ashley biographer Kyle Gann introduces his practice through selected and reconfigured interview recordings. Artist Scott Rogers has conceived new audio pieces composed of bird calls that are played at hourly intervals and in temporal relation to the dawn in Munich. Typographer Will Holder will recite A Last Futile Stab At Fun, originally presented by Ashley as a lecture with the title The Meanings of Modernism at the Walker Art Center on October 29, 1979.

You can either reserve your ticket prior to the event via info@kunstverein-muenchen.de, or buy it onsite upon entering the event. The entrance fee is 5 EUR (reduced) and 7 EUR (regular), and grants access for 24 hours.

Between: on Robert Ashley is a collaboration with the Filmwerkstatt Düsseldorf.


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Line up

Friday, November 26

from 6pm hourly at 38 min past the hour
Scott Rogers – Xeno-Canto (2021)

7–7.30pm
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Backyard) (1983)
recited by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

8–9pm
In Memoriam... Mary Cecil, Victoria Callihoo (Née Belcourt), and Eleanor (Helene) Thomas Garneau
played by Will Holder

9–9.30pm
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Living Room) (1983)
recited by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

10–11pm
Interview recordings with Robert Ashley
compiled by Kyle Gann

11–11.30pm
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Bar) (1983)
performed by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

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Saturday, November 27

until 6pm hourly at 38 min past the hour
Scott Rogers – Xeno-Canto (2021)

12–11am
Robert Ashley – She Was A Visitor
audiovisual installation by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

11–11.30am
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Park) (1983)
recited by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

1–1.30pm
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Bank) (1983)
recited by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

2–3pm
Interview recordings with Robert Ashley
recorded and compiled by Kyle Gann

3–3.30pm
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Supermarket) (1983)
recited by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto

3.30–4.30pm
Robert Ashley – A Last Futile Stab At Fun (A lecture to be sung or chanted, 1979)
recited by Will Holder

5–5.30pm
Robert Ashley – Perfect Lives (The Church) (1983)
performed by Brian McCorkle & Paul Pinto