“The main point of Homework II: In The Garage is to show someone reading a generic instruction manual. This action is superimposed with a ritualistic attitude which transforms the reading and action of assembling the device into a trance.
The text alternates between the introspection of the performer and the text of the instruction manual. As the piece progresses, these two concepts merge.
The music does allude to the ritualist aspects and gives all the dramatical direction. It also shows the destruction of the individual via the paroxysm of physical activity.
I must say, however, that the narrative is quite allusive and doesn’t establish a clear plot. My difficult task was to be both precise and allusive…
The idea of body percussion and its short, percussive sounds is linked to the idea of building a mechanical / electronic device, both through the type of sounds and the “DIY” concept (the person in his garage building something produces all the sounds himself). This opposition between the mechanics and the absence of instrument (not so frequent into contemporary music) is the central point of the piece, because it questions the existence and the nature of the thing, of the tool, the object.”
François Sarhan