Anarchy in the Organism by Rob Godman

Anarchy in the Organism – live version
for Eb Clarinet, Live & Algorithmic Sound Projection and Responsive Video

Eb Clarinet - Kate Romano: Electronics - Rob Godman

Anarchy in the Organism is part of a Wellcome Trust Artist Residency awarded to Simeon Nelson. The public art version is installed at the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre,
London (April 2012). The work features four simultaneous algorithmic video projections and octophonic 'whispering windows' audio diffusion. Nick Rothwell has created a series of animated Voronoi
cell systems with tumours growing amidst the organisms causing systemic collapse. These algorithms are based on venous network geometries supplied by Simon Walker-Samuel, senior research
associate at the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging at UCH.

Central to the concept, is the idea of interruption, interference and disturbance. The music uses a rhythmic technique the composer is naming (somewhat erroneously…) Pulse Time Modulation
(PTM) - the idea being that a repeating sound (a pulse) is subject to a constantly changing tempo creating a shifting accelerando/rallentando effect. Where simultaneous multiple PTM’s take place, any definitive pulse quickly becomes perceptually complex and/or chaotic. PTM attempts to mimic the cycles of life - functioning on the macro and microstructure of the work (in a pseudo-fractal fashion). Breathing, tension and relaxation, physical and psychological time all
come under the auspices of the technique.
The live version of Anarchy in the Organism includes a live clarinettist whose sound is processed and diffused using rhythmic techniques detailed above. The performer provides an additional
function of interrupter, interferer and disturber. The audio-feed from the clarinet additionally provides an interaction with the algorithmic video.