Showing @ Summerhall, Edinburgh until Sun 24 Aug @ 11:05

Aimed at children but with an appeal for all ages, Greg Sinclair’s I Do, Do I opens our eyes and ears to the possibilities of music. He deconstructs the world into the multitude of harmonious, cacophonous and silly noises that comprise it. Pencil, balloon and toothbrush become instrument in this playful performance.

His work is grounded in the 1960s movement Fluxus, an experimental form born of the work of artists like John Cage in which the disciplinary conventions of art are challenged, distorted and broken down. Or, as a one of the children Sinclair interviewed says, Fluxus is when ‘you do something silly and that’s music’. Sinclair plays with sense and sound, with the sense of sound, in a performance that is simultaneously self-conscious and liberating. ‘Do, do, do, do’ is a collection of notes, a command, a jazz scat, a poem and just a noise that is fun to repeat.

Interviews Sinclair conducted with various children intersperse the performance and so structure it. His work is not only directed at children but takes its inspiration from them. They dictate his clothing, dance moves and theme to create a performance of charming incongruities. Silliness, however, boarders the profound: in response to the question, ‘why do you think I’m not in an orchestra’, one girl answers wisely, ‘…because you want to just play and have fun with your music and not be so serious’.  I Do, Do I is heart-warming and will bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Showing as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014