The title of this work comes from a speech heard by the protagonist of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel We:

' “A book tells a story about a savage and a barometer. The savage noticed that every time when the barometer indicated rain, rain actually fell. And since the savage had his heart set on getting rain he tinkered with the barometer until he had let out just enough quicksilver to bring it to the level of rain. You’re laughing – but [. . .] the savage at least had daring and energy and logic – even though it was wild logic.” '

The concerns of the piece that derive from this include complicating the relationships between cause and effect, and exploring the border between transcendence and failure. Removed from its context, the phrase ‘wild logic’ can be read as an intriguing description of the creative process; much of this piece, then, simply enjoys letting ideas generate themselves, commingle, and dissipate.

Performed by Ensemble Nikel at Paine Hall, Harvard Univeristy, on February 18, 2012.

Wild Logic

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Wild Logic

Joel Rust