{"id":12180,"date":"2013-05-06T05:51:44","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T10:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=12180"},"modified":"2013-05-06T05:51:44","modified_gmt":"2013-05-06T10:51:44","slug":"from-parsnip-oboes-to-a-room-turned-walk-through-lute-musicworks-lives-on-the-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/05\/06\/from-parsnip-oboes-to-a-room-turned-walk-through-lute-musicworks-lives-on-the-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"From parsnip oboes to a room-turned-walk-through lute, Musicworks lives on the edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MW115_Cover\"<\/a>Canada’s Musicworks<\/em> magazine, to which I’ve contributed, has finally opened itself up digitally with a redesigned website that, instead of shutting out the casual visitor, has become a playground for people in search of avant-garde inspiration.<\/p>\n

The cover subject of Issue #115, which was launched with the new site, is veteran avant-gardist Akio Suzuki. The story is available online, as is an audio sample of his work — a feature that used to be available only by getting the CD that still comes with a printed copy of each issue.<\/p>\n

Browsing online, I was captivated by Resonate<\/em>, an interactive audio-art installation shown at a big Frankfurt show last year.<\/p>\n

The artists arranged a big room (inside an old container ship) with sculptural installations of elastic strings lit by video-enabled LED lights. Visitors could pluck the strings as a giant lute, beginning a show of light and sound.<\/p>\n

\"ParsnipOboe\"<\/a>I also found tidbits from previous issues, such as a DIY segment from Issue #110 on how to make an oboe out of a parsnip — with optional bell-pepper resonator.<\/p>\n

If you’ve been wondering how to keep the kids entertained this summer, this strikes me as a great way to connect them to the vegetable garden.<\/p>\n

But, as Andrea Warren writes: “A word of caution when attempting this DIY at home: temperature, saliva, vegetable quality, and a host of other factors make these instruments unpredictable. As with cooking, you\u2019ll find that experimentation, improvisation, and a good dash of patience will yield the best results.”<\/p>\n

There’s a lot to discover here.<\/p>\n

It made me think of one of those old slogans on the side of Honest Ed’s discount store: “Come in and get lost” — just as the visitors did inside Resonate<\/em> last summer (it was created by a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Masters students in Mainz, Germany studying design at the University of Applied Sciences and sound-art composition at Johannes Gutenberg University):<\/p>\n