News & Columns > Scott Straley > Crestline Musician In 24-Hour Art Performance

Crestline Musician In 24-Hour Art Performance

By Scott Straley
Saturday, August 30, 2008

With an air of despair and gloom, Spencer Holden, 21, of Crestline sat in front of a piano inside the old Crestline Village Theater. The ceiling above the entrance deposited petals of white paint on the ground. The darken interior of the theater, bathed in dim yellow light spilled up from the stage with a post-apocalyptic feel.

Spencer Holden, 21, of Crestline plays Erik Satie's Vexations at the Crestline Village Theater on August 29, 2008. (Photo by Scott Straley.)

Holden, a local artist, enjoys expressing himself through film, music, and conceptual art. His works have been showcased at the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival and locally at the Lake Gregory Coffee Company. He is currently studying music and has developed a repertoire including Bach, Mozart, Corea, Debussy, and Satie.

On Friday evening, Holden droned mechanically at the keyboard, repeatedly playing a piece called Vexations by Erik Satie, depositing the spent sheets of music behind him to be tossed haphazardly by a lone oscillating fan. A few yards in front of him a black-and-white video of a fallen horse repeated its scene of desperation on an aged television.

Satie's instructions for the piece call for it to be played "840 times consecutively to oneself." Satie instructs the performer, "It will be useful to prepare oneself beforehand, and in utter silence, by grave immobilities." Vexations was first printed in 1949 and first performed publicly 1963. Satie was born in 1866 and died in 1925. It is not known if he ever performed the piece publicly.

Occasionally, the sound of street traffic — a motorcycle or truck rumbling by — would add to the atmosphere as if the town itself became part of the performance. Spectators, a few dozen mostly young people, sat silently or whispered in hushed voices, attaching their own meaning to the performance art.

Meanwhile, the sound of muffled laughter or a cough or the jingling of car keys or change also added their accidental percussive contribution. An artist, adorned with a white painters cap, and wearing a traditional painters smock captured elements of the performance from various angles. Repeated and silently, his motions echoed Holden's deliberation.

Holden will be performing the piece through 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Crestline Village Theater. The public is welcome to stop by to see the performance. He will play the piece continuously, with only very short breaks, if necessary.

This article was first published on Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 12:00 am. This article has been viewed 489 times.

Scott Straley is the founder of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. As part of the RIMOFTHEWORLD.net team, he is dedicated to keeping our community informed and engaged.

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