Musica Electronica Viva at Baggie's

Musica Electronica Viva at Baggie’s is a quintessential Videofreex work in its documentation style and explicit discussion of the Videofreex project. The video is a live recording of an experimental music performance, Musica Electronica Viva, at a recording space and venue in New York City. The video documents the performance in its entirety, examining the experimental instruments filling the performance space and filming the crowd’s interactions with various modules of the work. In one clip, an audience member projects low-pitched vocal modulations into two microphones that then incorporate the audio information into the performance itself.

Halfway through the performance, one of the musicians expresses his discomfort with the presence of the camera because his previous interactions with documentation media had been solely with the government radio station in Italy that played an actively negative role in his community. The Videofreex explain their project and purpose, noting that “media is in the hands of people like us.” The musician accepts this explanation and continues with the performance and interview. Later, he interjects in regards to the camera that it is “fun when you just relax, really ridiculous though.”

— Charlotte Strange