Rummaging was developed through intuition: through experimentation,
but crucially through practice. Its evolution was an organic response to
a need to create a music that allowed a particular type of expression.
At the time of inception and during its early days, the practice existed
for its own sake, without theoretical consideration. It was only later
on, reflecting on an established practice, that it started to become
apparent there was a strong theoretical background that could be
explored, from ideas of physicality and viscerality, to relationships
with materials and objects.
A desire to expore this in the gaps has led to my undertaking a
practice-based PhD (at De Montfort University’s MTI Institute for Sonic Creativity, supervised by John Richards).
Provisionally titled “Rummaging: In Search of a Visceral Noise Music”,
my intention is to enquire, explore and codify, to look at what it is
that makes rummaging work as a performance practice, to investigate and
analyse through various philosophical and theoretical lenses, and
ultimately to uncover new potentials and new directions for the
practice.
