The Art Guys®

"Future Music [In Three Movements] - Second Movement" (1995)

"Future Music" was composed in 1995. The version of "Future Music" that appears here was performed during "Nothing To It" on Saturday, May 3, 2008 at the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre of the University of Houston and was presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. Included in the evening's program was a postcard (pictured below) which was given to each audience which read:

"Using the front of this postcard, describe very briefly a sound you hear on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. CST On the front of this postcard, please state you location a the moment you observe this sound (street address, etc.) and return the card to The Art Guys. These descriptions of sounds will be posted on The Art Guys' website TheArtGuys.com after June 1, 2008."

Below is a map of "Future Music [In Three Movements] - Second Movement" as experienced by 29 audience members at 5:10 p.m., CST on Sunday, May 4, 2008. It's a selection of descriptions of sounds in and around Houston at that moment. Please click on the numbers to view the postcard submitted from that approximate location. The postcards are numbered arbitrarily with no significance except as identifiers.

When listeners first consider the second movement of "Future Music," they think ahead to the prescribed time in which to listen and therefore think of sounds in the future.  During the prescribed time of listening, they are then made aware of sound in the present.  And finally, as presented here, the piece is completed after the prescribed time of listening has long past.  So, in fact, it’s not music of the future at all, but music of the future first, present second, and lastly, the past.  It’s about time.  In some respects it's about time in reverse as well as how it is normally perceived.  And in this way, it gets to the very essence of music – a phenomenon of time, space and sound.

"Future Music" is dedicated to Scott Sommers, one of Houston's leading supporters of experimental music and whose program on KPFT – The Avant Garde – was the headquarters for experimental music in Houston for more than 25 years.

"What is most invigorating for me is music that is not yet written. I want something that I do not yet know." - John Cage

musical score for "Future Music":

The Art Guys
Future Music [In Three Movments]
1995

First Movement :

At some point during this evening's performance, we request that you scream out loud one word, any word, that has no relationship to this evening's activities.   You may do so at any point after reading this, but you must do so before the last piece of this evening's performance.   Judge for yourself as to the appropriateness of interrupting a particular performance.

Second Movement :  

Using the postcard on your seat, describe very briefly a sound you hear on [day/date/year/time/timezone].   On this postcard, state your location at that moment (street address, etc.) and return the card to The Art Guys.   These descriptions of sounds will be posted on The Art Guys' website: TheArtGuys.com after [future date to be determined].  

Third Movement :

At any time after [future date to be determined - anytime after date of performance], when you least expect it, think about this piece...and listen.