At the end of last year, **De Player** approached **Varia** to develop a web-publication for their Pushing Scores project archive. The project investigated the state of the arts of composing scores in a contemporary environment and spanned over 2-3 years.
Varia contributed by developing an archival web publication where the vernacular vocabulary of De Player creates the possibilities of text-based navigation across the collection of items. The material is embodied by a dynamic, accessible and therefore active archive, which creates new relations, new perspectives and, at its best, new concepts for the production and/or processes of making scores. Navigating within the data structure of the archive becomes an act of score notation.
To test this De Player and Varia asked several artists to work with the tool and use the result as a starting point for a performance.
**Julie Boschat Thorez** and **Cristina Cochior** will give a brief introduction to the tool, followed by **Niek Hilkmann**, **Christine Cornwell** and **Robert Kroos**'s score interpretations. You are invited to join us on the 31st of May at Varia.
**Niek Hilkmann** is a Rotterdam based artist, musician and researcher with a background in art history, media design and musicology. He has a particular interest in the abstruse technological condition we are living in and the insufficient intellectual methodologies that seek to justify, or explain it. During the presentation of Pushing Scores he will utilize the spatial dimensions of Varia and recontextualize the scores created by the archive. In an ongoing performance unexpected correlations will be produced between the items in the archive and the physical surroundings in which they are represented.
**Christine Cornwell** is a composer, violinist, producer and workshop leader with a strong focus on collaborative projects and improvisation. In 2009, Christine started her studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Nic Fallowfield and Simon Smith.
Christine recently started an investigation into identities within musical collectives. By the time of this event, she will be a fresh graduate from composition at the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam. Christine has performed in venues such as TivoliVredenburg, The Forge, Barbican, Birmingham Mac, Friend's House in Euston and Ikon Gallery.
**Robert Kroos (aka Duckfood)** is a Rotterdam based musician, sound-artist and DJ working on all kinds of sound- and music related projects. For this special event he will be using the guzheng and electronics as instruments of choice.
