[New York Close Up]

[Museum of the Moving Image--Astoria, Queens]

THOLLAM MCDONAS: Oh man!

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEW MARINELLI: This is going to be a great shot when the doors close.

MARTHA COLBURN: Ahhhhh!

["Martha Colburn & The Musicians"]

MARTHA: God!

Yes, this is the set list for tonight.

[Martha Colburn--Artist]

Which I very tentatively edited my program to and hope nothing changes.

We’re going to start our live show. I’m Martha Colburn, these are musicians.

[APPLAUSE]

♪

["Destiny Manifesto" (2006)]

Well, with animating you end up having to spend a lot of time at home.

Like and when I say a lot, you know maybe you’ll go out once a month.

♪

Tonight, this is basically the live manifestation of everything, it’s not just my work.

It’s the work of the musicians who...who do the soundtracks regularly for the really concrete films I make.

♪

Animated stuff takes me a year. They make the sound.

But this is an opportunity for us to be alive.

♪

["Triumph of the Wild II" (2008-2009)]

♪

So some are completely improvised and some are compositions they wrote and some are not.

And...and we just kind of will make it work, I hope.

♪

You know it’s kind of chance. It’s freedom.

I mean I have to give the freedom...have to give the musicians freedom if I’m not giving them a million dollars too, I mean let’s face it.

You have to be able to have fun.

♪

[APPLAUSE]

I uh, make these paddles which go in front of the projector so....

And I can go red and green on either projector or...

Some are just kind of...flashy and garish for no reason.

♪

It’s just fun...fun, flamboyant, fun stuff.

Just improvisational stuff outside of animating which is so oppressive.

And this is very freestyle. Voila!

♪