Project mumblings
I want to have six tracks on each cd, so that will make a total of 12 in all. I also want to have an intro track to both cds, which technically makes it 14 in all (16 if I count the filler tracks)
For the first track I will talk in a strange whisper for one cdd and I will talk normally in the other. The first track will instruct the listeners on what they should be doing.
The second track will be recorded silence so that the listeners aren't rushed while making their decisions.
I have written out the questions and figured out what I want the set up to look like. I wrote questions for one cd, but I wrote answers for the second cd. So the second disc will contain my answers to my own question. I have the tracks paired off so that the questions and answers are different track numbers from each other. This way the answers can coordinate randomly, or perhaps even match up depending on the listener's answer.
I decided to ask questions concerning the past, particularly childhood. I read that people usually haven't formed a full reaction and memory about things that are fresh or that recently happened. Your childhood has very significant memories however that you can draw from. Also your childhood tends to be so separate from the person you have become that you are more willing to share details of it.
I decided on this method also due to my studies in my hypermedia class concerning non linearity. I'm interested in creating this personal narrative and breaking it up into these small parts. Then, by allowing others to interact with each part separately, I get to see my stories retold with different reactions and elements added to it.
As an onlooker I also get to watch this beautiful (I'm hoping) dynamic between two people communicating to each other without listening to each other. The two people will be sitting directly across from each other, positioned in an almost confrontational manner due to the proximity and exclusivity of their position. They will more than likely be uncomfortably aware of the other person, yet they will have to listen to my voice and answer my questions, disregarding the other person.
So all in all I'm getting two things as an artist. i get to see this non linear narrative come together. I also get to see conversation created through two separate conversations.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sound Project: Progress #3
Oh, boy...to be honest, I've been putting this project off, because every time I start to brainstorm, I get stuck, and can't come up with anything solid. But I know how I want to work. When it comes to sound, I'm largely interested in focusing on degradation and disintegration or reinvention and reinterpretation, specifically of stories and how they change every time someone hears it being told or retells it--like the game of Telephone. Well, as I mentioned in our last in-progress critique, I wanted to use that and a story, specifically a fairy tale, and how it evolves, taking into account the many different versions that have been made of it.
However, a major wrench in the works of this project is my ability to be creative. I'm not beating myself up or acting all "woe is me" when I say that my creative skills are extremely lacking, for although I can come up with fun ways to make things, I am simply not a cerebral person and have a lot of trouble working on concept and creating "art," as opposed to kitsch or illustration. So this next part of my idea is shamelessly corny and absolutely cheesy, but I'm desperate, and it's a diving board.
I was thinking about using a spoken version of the original, Hans Christian Anderson version of "The Little Mermaid," and somehow audibly degrading it, or using a combination of the many adapted versions and the old one, and putting them in speakers in seashells, sort of as if sea shells were gossiping about it and in this ongoing game of underwater telephone had butchered the version until it was a mere--er, shell--of its original form. I'm sorely tempted to call it "The Little Murmur."
However, a major wrench in the works of this project is my ability to be creative. I'm not beating myself up or acting all "woe is me" when I say that my creative skills are extremely lacking, for although I can come up with fun ways to make things, I am simply not a cerebral person and have a lot of trouble working on concept and creating "art," as opposed to kitsch or illustration. So this next part of my idea is shamelessly corny and absolutely cheesy, but I'm desperate, and it's a diving board.
I was thinking about using a spoken version of the original, Hans Christian Anderson version of "The Little Mermaid," and somehow audibly degrading it, or using a combination of the many adapted versions and the old one, and putting them in speakers in seashells, sort of as if sea shells were gossiping about it and in this ongoing game of underwater telephone had butchered the version until it was a mere--er, shell--of its original form. I'm sorely tempted to call it "The Little Murmur."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
project storming
Okay so I was debating on whether or not to use cassette tapes, ipods, or cd players. I feel that the mediums can significantly impact my piece.
The cassette tapes are really interesting. I love the audible whirring you get while the cassette is playing. It gives me this sense of nostalgia and almost this sacredness (due to age) of this technology. Also the experience could be a bit unreal if you're sitting in present day surrounded by technology, yet you're being manipulated by this obsolete audio player. Also there's a very physical element to the cassette player in how you have to be constantly aware of its actions when it's rewinding, fast forwarding, and even playing. Unfortunately, I think the fact that it doesn't have the ability to separate tracks and skip to different tracks will hinder parts of my project, or the potential of my project- so I decided against it.
The ipod was a choice in the fact that it's the height of our current audio technology, as well as it's available to me. I shot this idea down first however, because the ipod does not solely concentrate on audio like the cassette player and the cd player. It has many visual and physical elements to it which can have nothing to do with the sound playing. I don't want the people experiencing my project to be distracted or even have the potential to be distracted by something within my realm of control. In order to fully immerse my audience, I must provide them with the perfect tool for immersion.
That being said, the cd player was my last and best choice. I can use the settings to easily navigate through tracks, and so can the people who use it. It has a good interface design so there should be little confusion on what to push and how to operate it. The majority, if not all of the class should have some experience with this medium so they won't be afraid to interact with it. Also i can record onto a cd and put it in the player.
I choose a cd player (the small portable kind) over the stereo because I don't want the source of the sound to be an overwhelming presence. You should be aware of it, but not because it visually forces you to be aware of it.
I bought a second set of headphones today which compliment the ones I already have. So now I have a hot pink and a bright blue. I really liked the boy/girl color scheme, and I'm contemplating on the nature of my dialogue playing off of that. Either it be where the boy always has the blue set and the girl the pink, or the boy with the pink and the girl with the blue? Or I can do it where the audio is from a feminine perspective in the pink and a male perspective in the blue? I don't want sexism to be a central thing however. I'm very set on the whispering voice and the voice that elicits reactions. However I feel that the colors can serve as a compliment to a smaller idea which can back up the overall piece. I'll think on it.
The cassette tapes are really interesting. I love the audible whirring you get while the cassette is playing. It gives me this sense of nostalgia and almost this sacredness (due to age) of this technology. Also the experience could be a bit unreal if you're sitting in present day surrounded by technology, yet you're being manipulated by this obsolete audio player. Also there's a very physical element to the cassette player in how you have to be constantly aware of its actions when it's rewinding, fast forwarding, and even playing. Unfortunately, I think the fact that it doesn't have the ability to separate tracks and skip to different tracks will hinder parts of my project, or the potential of my project- so I decided against it.
The ipod was a choice in the fact that it's the height of our current audio technology, as well as it's available to me. I shot this idea down first however, because the ipod does not solely concentrate on audio like the cassette player and the cd player. It has many visual and physical elements to it which can have nothing to do with the sound playing. I don't want the people experiencing my project to be distracted or even have the potential to be distracted by something within my realm of control. In order to fully immerse my audience, I must provide them with the perfect tool for immersion.
That being said, the cd player was my last and best choice. I can use the settings to easily navigate through tracks, and so can the people who use it. It has a good interface design so there should be little confusion on what to push and how to operate it. The majority, if not all of the class should have some experience with this medium so they won't be afraid to interact with it. Also i can record onto a cd and put it in the player.
I choose a cd player (the small portable kind) over the stereo because I don't want the source of the sound to be an overwhelming presence. You should be aware of it, but not because it visually forces you to be aware of it.
I bought a second set of headphones today which compliment the ones I already have. So now I have a hot pink and a bright blue. I really liked the boy/girl color scheme, and I'm contemplating on the nature of my dialogue playing off of that. Either it be where the boy always has the blue set and the girl the pink, or the boy with the pink and the girl with the blue? Or I can do it where the audio is from a feminine perspective in the pink and a male perspective in the blue? I don't want sexism to be a central thing however. I'm very set on the whispering voice and the voice that elicits reactions. However I feel that the colors can serve as a compliment to a smaller idea which can back up the overall piece. I'll think on it.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
New project idea
New idea:
Janet Cardiff inspired
create two headphones. Have two people facing each other. Two different recordings going on. One has the whispering voice and one has the crying voice. The voices prompt the listeners to talk back to them- creating this disembodied dialogue between the two people sitting across from each other. The audio should be timed almost as if the person across really is participating in a conversation with the other person. So the people in the headphones are unsure if the person across from them are saying the same thing the recorded voice is saying. The onlookers get to hear this interesting conversation unfold.
I will think deeper about the exact dialogue and what I exactly want to elicit from the two participants and post later.
Janet Cardiff inspired
create two headphones. Have two people facing each other. Two different recordings going on. One has the whispering voice and one has the crying voice. The voices prompt the listeners to talk back to them- creating this disembodied dialogue between the two people sitting across from each other. The audio should be timed almost as if the person across really is participating in a conversation with the other person. So the people in the headphones are unsure if the person across from them are saying the same thing the recorded voice is saying. The onlookers get to hear this interesting conversation unfold.
I will think deeper about the exact dialogue and what I exactly want to elicit from the two participants and post later.
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
The description was vague for me but I feel that it sounds like its surroundings. I believe the Mobile Stealth unit takes in the sounds around it and spits them back out as it continues to move. It is an audio mirror which can only say what has been said. It is a reflection that forces others to pay attention and be more aware of what has been said.
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a “painting” or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
She creates Boom paintings which are paintings in the shape of actual boom-boxes. She started off doing these boom paintings on a small scale. They however grew to greater proportions where she made them not only large but multiplied them. Her paintings were inspired by her place near the inner city.
Ironically her work is something which artists have to ponder, while it immediately clicks with people from the inner city from which she was inspired. The sound is sampled from various events or people in relation to her West Indian African American culture. These vivid sounds, like slavery hymns or cries from riots paint an image, hence the latter term of Boom Paintings.
The description was vague for me but I feel that it sounds like its surroundings. I believe the Mobile Stealth unit takes in the sounds around it and spits them back out as it continues to move. It is an audio mirror which can only say what has been said. It is a reflection that forces others to pay attention and be more aware of what has been said.
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a “painting” or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
She creates Boom paintings which are paintings in the shape of actual boom-boxes. She started off doing these boom paintings on a small scale. They however grew to greater proportions where she made them not only large but multiplied them. Her paintings were inspired by her place near the inner city.
Ironically her work is something which artists have to ponder, while it immediately clicks with people from the inner city from which she was inspired. The sound is sampled from various events or people in relation to her West Indian African American culture. These vivid sounds, like slavery hymns or cries from riots paint an image, hence the latter term of Boom Paintings.
three tales
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
from what I remember, three tales are 3 separate instruments coming together to form this soundtrack. One of the tales was the recording of the Hindenbrg going down, the incident at Bikini with the atom bomb, and the scientists debating over Dolly and the cloning issues. They chose the issues because they wanted markers of the technology in their lifetime, however they didn't want to concentrate solely on explosions. The atom bomb and the Hindenberg were huge markers that couldn't be overlooked, but they had the potential to take the piece in a direction more concerned with exlosives. The use of Dolly recordings acted as a negation and helped the project span out to incorporate more.
If I had to pick a technology to express the zeitgeist of my lifetime I would choose a recording of Bill Clinton saying he did not cheat on his wife(to show the phenomenon of the media and its endlessness...or its infamy), the dialing of the internet with the router (that high pitched screech as it tried to connect with your phoneline network), and recordings of the various Mac vs. PC commercials. I have been immersed in technology so deeply and so long that technological disasters don't stand out in my mind. what I consider natural disasters could very well be technological ones. My overall experience has been positive though, so my soundtrack would reflect that.
from what I remember, three tales are 3 separate instruments coming together to form this soundtrack. One of the tales was the recording of the Hindenbrg going down, the incident at Bikini with the atom bomb, and the scientists debating over Dolly and the cloning issues. They chose the issues because they wanted markers of the technology in their lifetime, however they didn't want to concentrate solely on explosions. The atom bomb and the Hindenberg were huge markers that couldn't be overlooked, but they had the potential to take the piece in a direction more concerned with exlosives. The use of Dolly recordings acted as a negation and helped the project span out to incorporate more.
If I had to pick a technology to express the zeitgeist of my lifetime I would choose a recording of Bill Clinton saying he did not cheat on his wife(to show the phenomenon of the media and its endlessness...or its infamy), the dialing of the internet with the router (that high pitched screech as it tried to connect with your phoneline network), and recordings of the various Mac vs. PC commercials. I have been immersed in technology so deeply and so long that technological disasters don't stand out in my mind. what I consider natural disasters could very well be technological ones. My overall experience has been positive though, so my soundtrack would reflect that.
9/28/09
Listen to Sexmachine. How would you describe Obadike’s work Sexmachine? What is the source material for Sexmachines? Is it a mash-up, a musical composition? Please elaborate.
It’s a sound piece consisting of a three main segments separated by silence. The source material sounds like a combination of very short sound bytes. These pulsating rhythms of increasing speed do suggest a mechanical, repetitive movement, but the richness of the sounds creates a very lifelike buzz, like humming cicadas. If it consists of short bits from James Brown’s “Sex Machine”, then it is certainly a mashup. I’m not entirely certain if the rhythm is enough to merit being called a musical piece. Obadike has basically broken down a song (I’m assuming) to the point where it is unrecognizable as music, then built it back up into a sort of robotic , non-musical sound.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three tales are the crashing of the Hindenburg, the introduction of atomic testing, and the cloning of Dolly the sheep. These events were chosen for the distinctive shift they caused in global technological thinking. As for my generation, genetic engineering is still very relevant. Definitely the advent of the personal computer and the Internet.
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
It sounds like whatever it is programmed to sound like; a whisper in the ear, projected white noise, etc. It is a traveling speaker pulled by a bicycle. The rider can impose different sounds upon unsuspecting subjects by simply biking by them.
It’s a sound piece consisting of a three main segments separated by silence. The source material sounds like a combination of very short sound bytes. These pulsating rhythms of increasing speed do suggest a mechanical, repetitive movement, but the richness of the sounds creates a very lifelike buzz, like humming cicadas. If it consists of short bits from James Brown’s “Sex Machine”, then it is certainly a mashup. I’m not entirely certain if the rhythm is enough to merit being called a musical piece. Obadike has basically broken down a song (I’m assuming) to the point where it is unrecognizable as music, then built it back up into a sort of robotic , non-musical sound.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three tales are the crashing of the Hindenburg, the introduction of atomic testing, and the cloning of Dolly the sheep. These events were chosen for the distinctive shift they caused in global technological thinking. As for my generation, genetic engineering is still very relevant. Definitely the advent of the personal computer and the Internet.
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
It sounds like whatever it is programmed to sound like; a whisper in the ear, projected white noise, etc. It is a traveling speaker pulled by a bicycle. The rider can impose different sounds upon unsuspecting subjects by simply biking by them.
Questions
Listen to Sexmachine. How would you describe Obadike’s work Sexmachine? What is the source material for Sexmachines? Is it a mash-up, a musical composition? Please elaborate.
It sounds, literally, like a sex machine (a machine designed for sex). The sounds are obviously very mechanical in nature. I can't really tell if it's a mash-up... It sounds like it might be, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not. There are some parts of it that just sound like a "sex machine" with the microphone held really close to the moving parts, but there are other parts that sound like they're tacked on afterwards (like sampled sounds added on). I think it could definitely be considered a musical composition; I'm not sure if I were call it that, but I can definitely see it being called that by others.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three tales are about Hindenburg, the atomic bombings at Bikini, and the cloning of the sheep, Dolly. They chose each of these subjects because they thought they reflected very different technologies that defined the respective time periods.
I think that a lot of music, not even "art music", but regular music out there already does a pretty good job of being about the zeitgeist of our time. Things perhaps as common as techno or rap music. I think perhaps a combination of those would be a pretty accurate musical description of what our time is like --a combination of technical/mechanical sounds with some "lyrics" about certain events of the time.I think some technologies that would fit in there would be things like computers, video games, VHSs, CDs, DVDs, HDDVDs, Blu-rays, mp3 players, harddrives, the Internet, TVs. I'm sure there are other important/massly used technologies out there that would also fit (weapons, scientific instruments, etc.).
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
Well I imagine that there’s sound coming from the bicycle part of it (the wheels, the gears, the turning of the hand bars, etc.). Other than that though, I’d think it sounds like different shades of static-y noise (pink noise, white noise, etc.).
From the reading alone, it’s kind of hard to understand what it does… It sounds like it generates noises based on some kind of input from a networked user who is not necessarily in the same place as the device itself.
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a “painting” or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
It seems to me that Robinson is using “pictorial sound” more to represent the overall image of an event, place, or idea rather than using it as a direct representation of one particular scene. I think the sound and visual support each other by having them both remind the viewer/listener to the same thing (instead of the visual pointing to something different than the audio).
It sounds, literally, like a sex machine (a machine designed for sex). The sounds are obviously very mechanical in nature. I can't really tell if it's a mash-up... It sounds like it might be, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not. There are some parts of it that just sound like a "sex machine" with the microphone held really close to the moving parts, but there are other parts that sound like they're tacked on afterwards (like sampled sounds added on). I think it could definitely be considered a musical composition; I'm not sure if I were call it that, but I can definitely see it being called that by others.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three tales are about Hindenburg, the atomic bombings at Bikini, and the cloning of the sheep, Dolly. They chose each of these subjects because they thought they reflected very different technologies that defined the respective time periods.
I think that a lot of music, not even "art music", but regular music out there already does a pretty good job of being about the zeitgeist of our time. Things perhaps as common as techno or rap music. I think perhaps a combination of those would be a pretty accurate musical description of what our time is like --a combination of technical/mechanical sounds with some "lyrics" about certain events of the time.I think some technologies that would fit in there would be things like computers, video games, VHSs, CDs, DVDs, HDDVDs, Blu-rays, mp3 players, harddrives, the Internet, TVs. I'm sure there are other important/massly used technologies out there that would also fit (weapons, scientific instruments, etc.).
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
Well I imagine that there’s sound coming from the bicycle part of it (the wheels, the gears, the turning of the hand bars, etc.). Other than that though, I’d think it sounds like different shades of static-y noise (pink noise, white noise, etc.).
From the reading alone, it’s kind of hard to understand what it does… It sounds like it generates noises based on some kind of input from a networked user who is not necessarily in the same place as the device itself.
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a “painting” or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
It seems to me that Robinson is using “pictorial sound” more to represent the overall image of an event, place, or idea rather than using it as a direct representation of one particular scene. I think the sound and visual support each other by having them both remind the viewer/listener to the same thing (instead of the visual pointing to something different than the audio).
Electric Sheep
Basically Electric Sheep is an open source screen-saver that evolves dependent on user taste. Anyone is allowed to create and submit a "design" which is basically a fragment of code that gets woven into a larger set which is displayed as a continuous screen-saver. While the screen-saver is running , users can press up or down on the keyboard to vote up or down the particular Electric Sheep. The most popular sheep will "breed" with other popular sheep to create new designs and patterns based off of its parents. On the website, you can track your favorite sheep and see its "genetic" history. While most of the new designs are through selective breeding, the system is dependent on people uploading new designs in order to stimulate the "gene pool."
While this is designed entirely for visuals, this same methodology could be easily applied to music creation, having users determine which combinations of sounds work the best together.
-Jason
Electric Sheep Homepage
While this is designed entirely for visuals, this same methodology could be easily applied to music creation, having users determine which combinations of sounds work the best together.
-Jason
Electric Sheep Homepage
Questions
Listen to Sexmachine. How would you describe Obadike’s work Sexmachine? What is the source material for Sexmachines? Is it a mash-up, a musical composition? Please elaborate.
Based on my immediate reaction, I think that the piece was interesting, however I don't think it is something that would have made me want to listen more. I think that if I had a better understanding of how it was composed that my reaction would be different, but as it stands, while it may be unique, I didn't feel as if it piqued my interest as much as other pieces that I have heard. I am unsure of the source material, however it sounds as if it is a compilation of real noises as well as ones that have been digitally created or enhanced. I would consider this a mash-up more than a musical composition based on the lack of a specific rhythm. I think it can be argued that every sound work is a composition, when presented with the two choices (and without background information) I feel that in my opinion, this is a mash-up. I am interested in learning how this was created, as I feel that this will create more significance for the piece.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three Tales are the Hindenburg, Bikini, and Dolly. Each of these names are representative of major mile-stones in technological advancements that have occurred within the last century. However, each one of these topics not only shows the advancements of humans, but also the problems that come along with these changes. As we progress, it shows our change from an emphasis on ability to an emphasis on ethics. I think that each subject not only pushed the limits of what the human race was capable of, but each of the three instances were moments in science and technology in where we had to re-evaluate our role in the world. We have gotten close to having "God-like" abilities, and these three moments are widely recognized moments where people had to think about the impact that they had on their environment.
As for what I would chose as the zeitgeist of my time would have to be the internet. I don't find it interesting because it revolutionized the way in which we work, but I find it interesting that it changed the way in which we are able to learn and access information. Basically anyone can use the internet to teach themselves a variety of skills and learn about the history of our discoveries. Because of this, education and the way in which we learn and process information has changed dramatically. While institutionalized knowledge still has a hefty price tag, the internet offers this information either for free, or for a low cost to the user. Also with the idea of pirating software and information, people are essentially able to appropriate knowledge. While the classroom is a good setting to facilitate learning, the information used is generally similar to what can be find online. I am not saying that we should do away with the traditional style of education, but I think that it is something that needs to be reapproached.
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a “painting” or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
Based on my immediate reaction, I think that the piece was interesting, however I don't think it is something that would have made me want to listen more. I think that if I had a better understanding of how it was composed that my reaction would be different, but as it stands, while it may be unique, I didn't feel as if it piqued my interest as much as other pieces that I have heard. I am unsure of the source material, however it sounds as if it is a compilation of real noises as well as ones that have been digitally created or enhanced. I would consider this a mash-up more than a musical composition based on the lack of a specific rhythm. I think it can be argued that every sound work is a composition, when presented with the two choices (and without background information) I feel that in my opinion, this is a mash-up. I am interested in learning how this was created, as I feel that this will create more significance for the piece.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three Tales are the Hindenburg, Bikini, and Dolly. Each of these names are representative of major mile-stones in technological advancements that have occurred within the last century. However, each one of these topics not only shows the advancements of humans, but also the problems that come along with these changes. As we progress, it shows our change from an emphasis on ability to an emphasis on ethics. I think that each subject not only pushed the limits of what the human race was capable of, but each of the three instances were moments in science and technology in where we had to re-evaluate our role in the world. We have gotten close to having "God-like" abilities, and these three moments are widely recognized moments where people had to think about the impact that they had on their environment.
As for what I would chose as the zeitgeist of my time would have to be the internet. I don't find it interesting because it revolutionized the way in which we work, but I find it interesting that it changed the way in which we are able to learn and access information. Basically anyone can use the internet to teach themselves a variety of skills and learn about the history of our discoveries. Because of this, education and the way in which we learn and process information has changed dramatically. While institutionalized knowledge still has a hefty price tag, the internet offers this information either for free, or for a low cost to the user. Also with the idea of pirating software and information, people are essentially able to appropriate knowledge. While the classroom is a good setting to facilitate learning, the information used is generally similar to what can be find online. I am not saying that we should do away with the traditional style of education, but I think that it is something that needs to be reapproached.
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it “do”?
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a “painting” or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
Sex Machine
Obadike's sex machine, I think successfully conveyed the feeling of being machine like and man made. Although it wasn't clear to me which portions he used from the original James Brown, sex machine. I suppose in a loose sense it could be considered a mash-up of two unlikely things coming together but both elements seem highly modified and a bit disjointed.
Questions!
Listen to Sexmachine. How would you describe Obadike's work Sexmachine? What is the source material for Sexmachine? Is it a mash-up, a musical composition? Please elaborate.
Sexmachine does not appear to be any sort of musical composition. It is a mash-up of sounds emitted by sexual aids--vibrating motors and the like--that create a sonic image of stimulation. It starts off in slow waves and picks up to a perpetual hum. I hate to betray my artistic ignorance (though I always do), I can't really determine how to describe it....or interpret it.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot are events during the 20th and 21st century that represented technological milestones--significant points in the advancement of technology, for better or for worse. The first tale illustrates the Hindenburg disaster, an example of failed technology. They chose this tale because of the memorable image it left behind in the memories of those who witnessed its explosion--a visual representation of technological failure. The second tale was that of the atom bomb, one of the most significant technological discoveries in history. It was so completely significant because it was the first time humans had created something that could obliterate the planet. The third tale was that of the cloning of Dolly, a technology emerging from medicine and study of genetics, directly suggesting options for the future.
If I were to create a piece on the most poignant technologies of my lifetime, I suppose I would have to include the internet, which has doubtlessly had the greatest impact on my life--moreso than arguably any other technology. It's how I stay connected with the world, and my life is on it--bank accounts, medical records, proof of my schooling...a second technology--at the risk of sounding like a high schooler suggesting the obvious--would be the cellular phone. Looking at the way things are now, what with people constantly on their phone, I don't know how we could thrive if a reversal would occur and all mobile phones were destroyed. (How would we locate our friends at the mall?!) A third technology that happened during my lifetime (otherwise I would choose the airplane) would be the digital camera. This is mainly because I can't think of any other form of modern technology I know enough about to list (because I am sure there are more groundbreaking instruments utilized in medicine, but how should I know what they are or what they do), but also because they are so much more versatile than the film based cameras. Their size and volume allow for complete discretion, where pictures can be taken in places that do not allow photographs (recently speaking the conveyor belts at Egg Production facilities which were discreetly photographed to reveal large quantities of male chicks being disposed--live--via meat grinder).
Sexmachine does not appear to be any sort of musical composition. It is a mash-up of sounds emitted by sexual aids--vibrating motors and the like--that create a sonic image of stimulation. It starts off in slow waves and picks up to a perpetual hum. I hate to betray my artistic ignorance (though I always do), I can't really determine how to describe it....or interpret it.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
The three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot are events during the 20th and 21st century that represented technological milestones--significant points in the advancement of technology, for better or for worse. The first tale illustrates the Hindenburg disaster, an example of failed technology. They chose this tale because of the memorable image it left behind in the memories of those who witnessed its explosion--a visual representation of technological failure. The second tale was that of the atom bomb, one of the most significant technological discoveries in history. It was so completely significant because it was the first time humans had created something that could obliterate the planet. The third tale was that of the cloning of Dolly, a technology emerging from medicine and study of genetics, directly suggesting options for the future.
If I were to create a piece on the most poignant technologies of my lifetime, I suppose I would have to include the internet, which has doubtlessly had the greatest impact on my life--moreso than arguably any other technology. It's how I stay connected with the world, and my life is on it--bank accounts, medical records, proof of my schooling...a second technology--at the risk of sounding like a high schooler suggesting the obvious--would be the cellular phone. Looking at the way things are now, what with people constantly on their phone, I don't know how we could thrive if a reversal would occur and all mobile phones were destroyed. (How would we locate our friends at the mall?!) A third technology that happened during my lifetime (otherwise I would choose the airplane) would be the digital camera. This is mainly because I can't think of any other form of modern technology I know enough about to list (because I am sure there are more groundbreaking instruments utilized in medicine, but how should I know what they are or what they do), but also because they are so much more versatile than the film based cameras. Their size and volume allow for complete discretion, where pictures can be taken in places that do not allow photographs (recently speaking the conveyor belts at Egg Production facilities which were discreetly photographed to reveal large quantities of male chicks being disposed--live--via meat grinder).
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it "do"?
First of all, I have to state that I don't believe the Mobile Stealth Unit is girded with an appropriate title, as although it is mobile, it is hardly efficient as a stealth device. I think that because it is so called, it attempts at blending in with its surroundings by simultaneously recording the ambient noises around it and regurgitating them back through the speakers built into it. I imagine that its purpose is to bring the sensorial world to the world, by broadcasting it wherever it goes. It sounds like what we hear everyday.
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a "painting" or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
Nadine's work often references shapes and textures with which we are culturally familiar through her installations. She also configures a variety of sounds in layers as one would push colors around on a canvas. The sounds that are emitted from separate speakers (arranged to resemble both the facade of a Baptist Church in Atlanta and a pipe organ) change as the listener moves, who is able to hear different strains according to his or her location--just as the viewer of a painting glimpses a different detail depending on where he or she is standing.
Blog Questions
Listen to Sexmachine. How would you describe Obadike's work Sexmachine? What is the source material for Sexmachine? Is it a mash-up, a musical composition? Please elaborate.
It's an auditory composition made out of different textured sounds kind of wobbling and fading in and out and layering across each other. I don't think it's a mash-up, in that I don't recognize any of the source material as something borrowed. It kind of sounds like he could have recorded his own sounds and then repeated and digitally altered them to create the weird echoing, warbling effect that he got.
What are the three tales told by Steven Reich and Beryl Korot? Why did they choose each subject? If you were to create a piece that expressed the technological zeitgeist of your lifetime, which technologies would you pick and why?
What do you think Mobile Stealth Unit sounds like? What does it "do"?
Reflect upon how Nadine Robinson uses both the form of a "painting" or picture and sound in her work. How does the sound support the visual and the visual support the sound?
Listen to Sexmachine. How would you describe Obadike’s work Sexmachine? What is the source material for Sexmachines? Is it a mash-up, a musical composition? Please elaborate.
I believe Obadike's Sexmachine is a mash up moreso than a musical composition. The vibrations and undulations can be heard clearly, painting the picture of eroticism and literal sex machines. I believe the composition is a little too simple to be considered a musical composition, however if it went on for longer with a bigger contrast between the climax and the rest of the piece, I would consider it more of a musical.
The source material, to my understanding, is recordings of dildos, vibrators, and other sex toys. He mentioned that he wanted to let the sounds of the actual sex machines build their own image, which I believe he did successfully.
I believe Obadike's Sexmachine is a mash up moreso than a musical composition. The vibrations and undulations can be heard clearly, painting the picture of eroticism and literal sex machines. I believe the composition is a little too simple to be considered a musical composition, however if it went on for longer with a bigger contrast between the climax and the rest of the piece, I would consider it more of a musical.
The source material, to my understanding, is recordings of dildos, vibrators, and other sex toys. He mentioned that he wanted to let the sounds of the actual sex machines build their own image, which I believe he did successfully.
Project 1 Progress so Far...
here are two example pictures of what i want to do:
i'd like to take pictures of certain cityscapes and "map out" sound waves based on the outlines of the cityscape. for example, as you can see in the pictures, ive done just that. i plan to do this for a number of different cities.
here are a few points that were brought up in class about my idea:
-different landmarks
-use different angles (have different sounds)
-hertzian space
-maybe use google earth to attach sound to place
-tours?
-postcards
as of now, i plan to use MetaSynth for the "drawing" of the sound waves:
as you can see, this is a quick "sketch" of what a soundwave from a cityscape would look like in MetaSynth.
i'd like to take pictures of certain cityscapes and "map out" sound waves based on the outlines of the cityscape. for example, as you can see in the pictures, ive done just that. i plan to do this for a number of different cities.
here are a few points that were brought up in class about my idea:
-different landmarks
-use different angles (have different sounds)
-hertzian space
-maybe use google earth to attach sound to place
-tours?
-postcards
as of now, i plan to use MetaSynth for the "drawing" of the sound waves:
as you can see, this is a quick "sketch" of what a soundwave from a cityscape would look like in MetaSynth.
Monday, September 21, 2009
I just realized I never posted about my project
I brainstormed a week ago about it but never posted the blog.
brainstorm: Make person sit in chair. attach speakerbud to hands and legs at maximum volume. Have big headphones cover person's ears. These headphones will be emitting low ominous hum which should cancel out the sounds from the small earbuds but not the vibration. In each of the buds should be a different sound. Like the right ear could be one sound and the left ear should be another sound.
The headphones should be one sound and then the buds on the legs should be 2 different sounds as well. So there should be 5 sounds in all creating this experience. Ideally the person would allow themselves to be blindfolded and sat alone. The sounds would all correlate the experience of being somewhere unfamiliar and some sort of creature or thing coming close. The sounds in the earbuds should correlate with what that body part should be experiencing.
The headphones are what the person hears. The ones on the hands should emulate the trees and bugs and heat. The legs should be vibrations- heavy vibrations representing the thing coming closer and closer.
brainstorm: Make person sit in chair. attach speakerbud to hands and legs at maximum volume. Have big headphones cover person's ears. These headphones will be emitting low ominous hum which should cancel out the sounds from the small earbuds but not the vibration. In each of the buds should be a different sound. Like the right ear could be one sound and the left ear should be another sound.
The headphones should be one sound and then the buds on the legs should be 2 different sounds as well. So there should be 5 sounds in all creating this experience. Ideally the person would allow themselves to be blindfolded and sat alone. The sounds would all correlate the experience of being somewhere unfamiliar and some sort of creature or thing coming close. The sounds in the earbuds should correlate with what that body part should be experiencing.
The headphones are what the person hears. The ones on the hands should emulate the trees and bugs and heat. The legs should be vibrations- heavy vibrations representing the thing coming closer and closer.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Sound Project: Progress #2
Okay, I'm still working on fleshing out the base idea for the sound project. What I'm interested in right now is an Audio Altered Book. An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its meaning. To make one, the artist will take the book, whether it is old, new, recycled, or multiple books changes it using a variety of techniques:
cut, tear, glue, sample, edit, repeat, double up, invert, speed up, slow down, copy, over dub, remove, add to, change pitch, lower sound quality, vary volume, echo, etc...
By examining the definition of an altered book and ignoring the word book, I easily recognized the relationships between this artform and sampling. Both altered books and sampled projects rely heavily on appropriation. The result of this experiment might be an elaborate mash-up.
One of the many things I need to consider is how to present this project. I need to find out how I can visually and audibly combine the notion of an altered book and a sampled sound work in order to best present it. One suggestion would be to look for the devices in cards where one can record a message and have it play once the card is opened. Maybe take a series of songs or sound files, completely manipulate it, and present it in book form? An altered album.
cut, tear, glue, sample, edit, repeat, double up, invert, speed up, slow down, copy, over dub, remove, add to, change pitch, lower sound quality, vary volume, echo, etc...
By examining the definition of an altered book and ignoring the word book, I easily recognized the relationships between this artform and sampling. Both altered books and sampled projects rely heavily on appropriation. The result of this experiment might be an elaborate mash-up.
One of the many things I need to consider is how to present this project. I need to find out how I can visually and audibly combine the notion of an altered book and a sampled sound work in order to best present it. One suggestion would be to look for the devices in cards where one can record a message and have it play once the card is opened. Maybe take a series of songs or sound files, completely manipulate it, and present it in book form? An altered album.
Fresh From Chelsea
The first work to catch my attention was the large wall drawing in the front right corner; I believe it was colored in black and turquoise (sorry, didn't catch the title or the artist). The texture and quality of line of this piece made me immediately recall medieval illustrations and 16th-century Italian and German woodcuts. I felt it was also reminiscent of the style used in various illustrations for childrens stories, such as John Tenniel (Alice in Wonderland), Walter Crane (Aesop's Fables), and John D. Batten (English Fairy Tales), all of whom reported to have referenced the styles utilized in the woodcuts of the middle ages.
A recent appropriation of this style can be seen on the illustrated covers of Gregory Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Son of a Witch, and Wicked.
Speaking of spinoffs and alternate versions of The Wizard of Oz, I felt that the chaotic composition of this piece was rather tempestuous, Ã la tornado of Oz fame. Circular patterns--the wheel, the strokes--also gave a windy impression, insinuating turbulence.
A recent appropriation of this style can be seen on the illustrated covers of Gregory Maguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Son of a Witch, and Wicked.
Speaking of spinoffs and alternate versions of The Wizard of Oz, I felt that the chaotic composition of this piece was rather tempestuous, Ã la tornado of Oz fame. Circular patterns--the wheel, the strokes--also gave a windy impression, insinuating turbulence.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Chelsea Show
I really like the sculpture in the middle of the room. It immediately (and most strongly) reminded me of the Tower of Babel. Come to think of it, I didn't get a look at the title, so it very well may be something like that. But the shape, the structure, the color, everything about it reminded me of the Tower.
I could also see some inklings of influence from something like Lord of the Rings. It has a very medieval colossal tower kind of look to it.
The doorway/arch-like openings all over the sculpture reminded me of the houses carved out of mountains from certain past civilizations.
The scaffolding around the piece made me think of some of scaffolding used in (near) Renaissance times which helped engineer and build huge buildings or domes or such things.
Upon walking around it and backing up a bit, it also looked very much like a conch shell; it seems to have an outer wall that wraps around the inner part (much like a shell).
I could also see some inklings of influence from something like Lord of the Rings. It has a very medieval colossal tower kind of look to it.
The doorway/arch-like openings all over the sculpture reminded me of the houses carved out of mountains from certain past civilizations.
The scaffolding around the piece made me think of some of scaffolding used in (near) Renaissance times which helped engineer and build huge buildings or domes or such things.
Upon walking around it and backing up a bit, it also looked very much like a conch shell; it seems to have an outer wall that wraps around the inner part (much like a shell).
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sound Project: Progress #1
Okay, I'm not really sure what I want to say with this project, nor am I quite sure as to how I should go about doing it. But right now I'm thinking about using an altered book as a platform for sound, potentially activated by the page turning...these are purely undeveloped ideas. Nothing really formed. But I do want to incorporate drawing into the project. More later.
Monday, September 14, 2009
One Song Blog
DJ Spooky "One Laptop Theme" 1:31
I decided to listen to "One Laptop Theme," which was created by DJ Spooky. My first assessment of this song was that the title did a good job describing the piece played. Starting with a compilation of various computer noises, he begins to weave real instruments into the song and then fades them out, leaving us with noises reminiscent of computer sounds.
I thought that the end was a bit abrupt and loud; it differed from the intro which was a more gradual progression into his song. As these are all digital sounds (since they are being played via a computer), I think the song was in a way attempting to mesh together the idea of digital and traditional instruments. I began to wonder where the line is between "One Laptop Theme" and traditional songs.
I decided to listen to "One Laptop Theme," which was created by DJ Spooky. My first assessment of this song was that the title did a good job describing the piece played. Starting with a compilation of various computer noises, he begins to weave real instruments into the song and then fades them out, leaving us with noises reminiscent of computer sounds.
I thought that the end was a bit abrupt and loud; it differed from the intro which was a more gradual progression into his song. As these are all digital sounds (since they are being played via a computer), I think the song was in a way attempting to mesh together the idea of digital and traditional instruments. I began to wonder where the line is between "One Laptop Theme" and traditional songs.
Sound Unbound Music
I'm listening to Paperwork Explosion. The first thing I think of is Tron the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the audio is actually from the movie. I'd like to see if someone who perhaps has never seen Tron would still get the feeling of digital/computer from the sounds. I think the use of these sounds is also interesting in that the title of the song is Paperwork Explosion, but the song seems to be just as much about the digital as it is the paper.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
I'm a sucker for this kind of thing
Not sure if this has any particular relevance to the class (except that it's all audio). Some may have "seen" it already; and it is pretty cheesy, but I enjoyed it.
Virtual Barber Shop
Virtual Barber Shop
Friday, September 11, 2009
Sound Unbound 2 -19 questions
Questions for pondering for In Through the Out Door
What is silence? Give examples of situations that you have been in where you believe that you have encountered absolute silence. What do you think the role of or the idea of silence is in our lives? What does it mean that silence might exist? What kinds of metaphors do you have for the idea of silence?
Silence is still a sound, at least in this day and age. You rarely encounter true silence, because the hum of machines and even energy from technology, like lights, create this sound of silence. I believe I encountered absolute silence that morning when I was 8 or so when all the power in lithonia had gone out, and my parents were still asleep. I felt so cut off from my senses that I thought I was blind. Silence is akin to encountering nature. Perhaps it was one of the world's first sounds.I believe silence exists, it just occurs rarely- at least in the technically advanced parts of the world.
Poll yourself and your classmates about your archiving habits. How much time do you spend on this? Think about the “function” that this ubiquitous activity plays in our lives.
I personally enjoy the satisfaction of archiving. I can spend up to 3 hours archiving depending on how long I put it off, and how badly its effecting my ability to maneuver. My classmates have expressed similar opinions, though they have named times as short as 30 minutes to two hours.I feel like archiving is a way of organizing the mind physically, like cleaning your room. It also shows the amount of time we have begun to alot to the virtual. It shows the weight we are putting on the untouchable and the
Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to “reality”.
Mediation? I feel that pure mediation probably doesn't happen. I think, with the exception of perhaps Buddha-esque meditation, pure mediation doesn't occur these days. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but just a natural consequence of having technology permeate our lives so deeply.Simulations are pretty popular. In fact the more advanced we become, the more simulations there. With the army, they use simulations for training. With driving ed, they use simulations to help new drivers. Any reality tv show is a simulation, as well as most video games, and some roller coaster rides. I prefer the simulations of the video games and the army as I would never want to be in the army, nor have my life on the line. As for the video games, it's much easier to deal with certain situations as a video game than in real life. Not to mention some stuff is just impossible.
Reflect upon how you or others use media to express emotion. Give examples. Compare and contrast more mediated expressions with less. In doing this you will have to create a system or continuum of mediation.
When I was younger I often pulled out a few VHS tapes and watched the saddest scenes on each of the tapes back to back to create this unbearable filling of sadness so that I could write better. The more angsty it was, the better it helped me write and use my imagination. In highschool, if I was too angry to where I physically had to do something, i would play system of a down or any hard rock I had and do a mini mosh in my room to release all my angry energy. My first year of college when I was so sad my grandparents died that I couldn't cry, I made a "sad" playlist on youtube and just made all the tear-jerker songs/music videos play until I could cry. Other than smells, I use music and old tv shows and images to invoke nostalgia.
Describe instances where the code becomes more important than the content? Or the code over shadows the content? You can be fairly liberal in how you define “code”.
Can you remember a time or a situation when it was not easy to get a piece of information? What is the effect both personally and on a large scale the ability to access lots of info quickly? What is the role of search?
Just last year I took a class on Yoruba art and it was the most frustrating class I had taken. One of the driving factors behind that thought was because you couldn't look up much of anything on the Yoruba topic. All that came up were unreliable spam sites. The only way to properly research the topic wwas to check out books from the library. Personally, I get really frustrated if I can't find info on something quickly. I go into stages. Stage 1 is curiosity. Stage 2 is frustration when I don't find something the first search. Stage 3 is denial because "of course there has to be something on this topic- it's the internet!". Stage 4 is anger. why the heck hasn't someone made a website about this topic? Stage 5 is self doubt. Maybe I using the wrong keywords? Maybe I'm taking the lazy route and missing something obvious? Stage 6 is despair. I don't care why I can't find the topic anymore. I'm just tired. Those are the 6 surefire steps of "Omg google failed me."
And that says something that those steps exist. On a large scale, I feel that the quicker and easier it is for us to aquire something, the less value it has to us. Also it shorten our patience. I remember there were quite a few movies I loved as a child, and recently I started to rewatch them. One thing I noticed about these movies from the sixties is that they were ALOT slower. I remember someone told me that American movies try to have movement (either by the camera or the subjects within the shot)every second. We have become accustomed to the quick visual gratification, and now, expect it as a standard.
What is silence? Give examples of situations that you have been in where you believe that you have encountered absolute silence. What do you think the role of or the idea of silence is in our lives? What does it mean that silence might exist? What kinds of metaphors do you have for the idea of silence?
Silence is still a sound, at least in this day and age. You rarely encounter true silence, because the hum of machines and even energy from technology, like lights, create this sound of silence. I believe I encountered absolute silence that morning when I was 8 or so when all the power in lithonia had gone out, and my parents were still asleep. I felt so cut off from my senses that I thought I was blind. Silence is akin to encountering nature. Perhaps it was one of the world's first sounds.I believe silence exists, it just occurs rarely- at least in the technically advanced parts of the world.
Poll yourself and your classmates about your archiving habits. How much time do you spend on this? Think about the “function” that this ubiquitous activity plays in our lives.
I personally enjoy the satisfaction of archiving. I can spend up to 3 hours archiving depending on how long I put it off, and how badly its effecting my ability to maneuver. My classmates have expressed similar opinions, though they have named times as short as 30 minutes to two hours.I feel like archiving is a way of organizing the mind physically, like cleaning your room. It also shows the amount of time we have begun to alot to the virtual. It shows the weight we are putting on the untouchable and the
Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to “reality”.
Mediation? I feel that pure mediation probably doesn't happen. I think, with the exception of perhaps Buddha-esque meditation, pure mediation doesn't occur these days. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but just a natural consequence of having technology permeate our lives so deeply.Simulations are pretty popular. In fact the more advanced we become, the more simulations there. With the army, they use simulations for training. With driving ed, they use simulations to help new drivers. Any reality tv show is a simulation, as well as most video games, and some roller coaster rides. I prefer the simulations of the video games and the army as I would never want to be in the army, nor have my life on the line. As for the video games, it's much easier to deal with certain situations as a video game than in real life. Not to mention some stuff is just impossible.
Reflect upon how you or others use media to express emotion. Give examples. Compare and contrast more mediated expressions with less. In doing this you will have to create a system or continuum of mediation.
When I was younger I often pulled out a few VHS tapes and watched the saddest scenes on each of the tapes back to back to create this unbearable filling of sadness so that I could write better. The more angsty it was, the better it helped me write and use my imagination. In highschool, if I was too angry to where I physically had to do something, i would play system of a down or any hard rock I had and do a mini mosh in my room to release all my angry energy. My first year of college when I was so sad my grandparents died that I couldn't cry, I made a "sad" playlist on youtube and just made all the tear-jerker songs/music videos play until I could cry. Other than smells, I use music and old tv shows and images to invoke nostalgia.
Describe instances where the code becomes more important than the content? Or the code over shadows the content? You can be fairly liberal in how you define “code”.
Can you remember a time or a situation when it was not easy to get a piece of information? What is the effect both personally and on a large scale the ability to access lots of info quickly? What is the role of search?
Just last year I took a class on Yoruba art and it was the most frustrating class I had taken. One of the driving factors behind that thought was because you couldn't look up much of anything on the Yoruba topic. All that came up were unreliable spam sites. The only way to properly research the topic wwas to check out books from the library. Personally, I get really frustrated if I can't find info on something quickly. I go into stages. Stage 1 is curiosity. Stage 2 is frustration when I don't find something the first search. Stage 3 is denial because "of course there has to be something on this topic- it's the internet!". Stage 4 is anger. why the heck hasn't someone made a website about this topic? Stage 5 is self doubt. Maybe I using the wrong keywords? Maybe I'm taking the lazy route and missing something obvious? Stage 6 is despair. I don't care why I can't find the topic anymore. I'm just tired. Those are the 6 surefire steps of "Omg google failed me."
And that says something that those steps exist. On a large scale, I feel that the quicker and easier it is for us to aquire something, the less value it has to us. Also it shorten our patience. I remember there were quite a few movies I loved as a child, and recently I started to rewatch them. One thing I noticed about these movies from the sixties is that they were ALOT slower. I remember someone told me that American movies try to have movement (either by the camera or the subjects within the shot)every second. We have become accustomed to the quick visual gratification, and now, expect it as a standard.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Girl Talk
The artist we spoke about in class is Greg Gillis or Girl Talk. He makes studio albums and is signed to a label with artists who all appropriate their work, Illegal Art. His earlier albums are much more experimental and interesting while the later works are more commercial, but great nonetheless:
http://illegalart.net/girltalk/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtsWDlw0a4k
*Here's an amateur artist i found that makes beats and appropriates sounds from
kid television shows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxt3-_8omrY
Artist Presentation: Nick Bertke
I chose Nick Bertke (also known as Pogo) as my artist for the presentation because I wanted to choose someone who had little influence on the art-world. As an artist who is still raising in status, he is a good look into the future generation of sound manipulation and editing. Hailing from Perth in Western Australia, Bertke began working with sound at a young age. While producing mainstream work earlier on in his career, he began to pursue a more avant-garde approach to song creation.
In his newer work, he approaches song creation through primarily found sounds within an existing work. He takes films such as "Alice in Wonderland," "Mary Poppins," and even "Harry Potter," then decomposes the sounds. With these decomposed noises, he strings together similar clips and edits them to fit into his vision of the song. Though there are a few parts within his songs that are computer generated, these are rare and were used to enhance aspects such as the bass.
Even while restricting his available palette, he creates songs that are as unique as the film that it was taken from. One of the most interesting aspects of his music is that while the songs end up being greatly dissimilar from the film's soundtrack, the songs seem to embody the feeling of the particular movie.
While there tend to be few lyrics (and the lyrics in some songs tend to be disjointed), Bertke instead chooses to use a lot of conversations and generally keeps them in tact. However, while there may be similarities between his tracks, they are based more on style than content.
Being primarily a web-based musician (meaning that most of his work is released for free), Bertke has the luxury of releasing every one of his songs as singles and getting feedback as each is released. Once he has enough material, he plans on recompiling the tracks in to an album entitled "Wanderlust." He chooses to release all of his songs for free, but only offers lower quality versions. The higher quality songs will only be available through the purchase of his album.
While the songs that he creates can stand-alone, he accompanies each one of his tracks with a music video that is compiled from the film that he used to compose his song. Often the video that accompanies a song can lessen its impact, but in the case of Bertke, the videos serve as an enhancement to the tracks. Using quick clean edits as well as re-timing the video to correspond to the modified sounds, he was able to create a seamless work that functioned well as a whole.
Though his career is still in its infancy, he has made a large impact in the music community in a very short period of time. I think that it is always important to look at newer artists because they are the face of change in their field. Also I think that his style of work directly applies to some of the concepts that we are learning in class.
Bertke is roughly the same age as everyone in the class, which really shows that with a unique approach to any field, recognition can be gained, regardless of age or status.
-Jason
In his newer work, he approaches song creation through primarily found sounds within an existing work. He takes films such as "Alice in Wonderland," "Mary Poppins," and even "Harry Potter," then decomposes the sounds. With these decomposed noises, he strings together similar clips and edits them to fit into his vision of the song. Though there are a few parts within his songs that are computer generated, these are rare and were used to enhance aspects such as the bass.
Even while restricting his available palette, he creates songs that are as unique as the film that it was taken from. One of the most interesting aspects of his music is that while the songs end up being greatly dissimilar from the film's soundtrack, the songs seem to embody the feeling of the particular movie.
While there tend to be few lyrics (and the lyrics in some songs tend to be disjointed), Bertke instead chooses to use a lot of conversations and generally keeps them in tact. However, while there may be similarities between his tracks, they are based more on style than content.
Being primarily a web-based musician (meaning that most of his work is released for free), Bertke has the luxury of releasing every one of his songs as singles and getting feedback as each is released. Once he has enough material, he plans on recompiling the tracks in to an album entitled "Wanderlust." He chooses to release all of his songs for free, but only offers lower quality versions. The higher quality songs will only be available through the purchase of his album.
While the songs that he creates can stand-alone, he accompanies each one of his tracks with a music video that is compiled from the film that he used to compose his song. Often the video that accompanies a song can lessen its impact, but in the case of Bertke, the videos serve as an enhancement to the tracks. Using quick clean edits as well as re-timing the video to correspond to the modified sounds, he was able to create a seamless work that functioned well as a whole.
Though his career is still in its infancy, he has made a large impact in the music community in a very short period of time. I think that it is always important to look at newer artists because they are the face of change in their field. Also I think that his style of work directly applies to some of the concepts that we are learning in class.
Bertke is roughly the same age as everyone in the class, which really shows that with a unique approach to any field, recognition can be gained, regardless of age or status.
-Jason
In Through the Out Door Response
1. What is silence? Give examples of situations that you have been in where you believe that you have encountered absolute silence. What do you think the role of or the idea of silence is in our lives? What does it mean that silence might exist? What kinds of metaphors do you have for the idea of silence?
I'm not trying to sound like a smart alec, but silence is the absence of sound. It is a vacuous sensation where the quiet is so profound that it seems to scream--a deafening silence. I don't think I have ever sincerely experienced silence, as even in the quietest or stillest of places I have been in, there were always the slight puffs of my breath, the settling of the house, or the barely discernible whistle of the wind. The closest moments to silence that I can remember have been in my basement in my old house, where I would be hiding--sometimes for no particular reason at all--in the dark amidst an array of sound-swallowing, plush stuffed toys. If I lay perfectly still, and the air conditioning wasn't on, I could hear nothing but a slight ringing in the air. I liked to pretend I could see the ringing as dark green and magenta dots in the navy black. It was an odd experience.
I think that silence plays a very important role in our lives, in that we constantly strive to avoid it. Conversations are littered with meaningless chatter and idle prattle forced by nervous participants. This especially occurs during serious conversations, where a party may fear that silence will be misconstrued as a lack of sympathy, or a subtle answer. Silence is perceived to be a cold, hostile entity, and is perpetually thwarted by the onslaught of sound bytes in the media and jabber on cell phones and amidst acquaintances. Because these flows of sound that kill silence are thought to mean that we are doing something, that we are active and alive, loud and vibrant. Because to us, silence can be a metaphor for hopelessness and nothing, and especially the unknown or ambiguous. And people are always frightened of the unknown.
2. Poll yourself and your classmates about your archiving habits. How much time do you spend on this? Think about the "function" that this ubiquitous activity plys in our lives.
Art and its place in history cannot be separated from the activity of archiving. And as technology progresses, we spend more and more time archiving pieces of our own history through photographs, video, sound, and articles--especially blogging. I myself prefer a simpler form or archiving more or less every day--journal writing. In an actual, physical journal. But I also use video and photographs, and will spend many long hours organizing these blurbs of memory into a manageable order. The function of archiving allows us to continually look back and measure progress--but more importantly, it measures time. Archiving provides palpable proof of time's fluidity.
3. Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic--perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to "reality."
When I think "unmediated," I automatically think about nature and the untouched pleasures of earth (like, sleeping on hard dirt, using prickly holly leaves as toilet paper, getting bitten by various lethal insects, etc). A totally unmediated experience, that is, something completely REAL, might be eating a berry off of a tree, or smelling the fresh scent of a flower. I'm not too sure if I'm presenting an accurate interpretation of mediated...simulations I encounter every day are, for example, the chamomile-scented handsoap in my bathroom, and the sound of the wind on my Enigma album. I wouldn't say I necessarily prefer that simulation, but I do enjoy fake nature sounds combined with bass-heavy New Age melodies.
4. Reflect upon how you or others use media to express emotion. Give examples. Compare and contrast more mediated expressions with less. In doing this you will have to create a system or continuum of mediation.
I suppose there isn't a subtle answer for this one. Media, especially through art, is one of the most used outlet for emotion--sometimes, it could be as simple as blowing off stress at a karaoke bar and busting out a slightly-inebriated-but-still-rocking-version of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," or maybe even as cheesy, but still satisfying, as a half hour playing the cello, piano, or guitar when one has a case of the blues. I, personally, am most likely to be creatively inspired when I am feeling wistful. Yes, a romantic I may be, and whenever I feel particularly rosy, I get to work on the computer and think up story ideas and character designs for children's books. The more mediated of these emotional outlets--computer art, design, and karaoke--are usually stress busters, where I have to think and act more. Less mediated forms of creative, emotional expression would be, I suppose, to sing to oneself. I'm not exactly sure if I'm on the right track, but, I think that less mediated forms of emotional expression would have a more calming effect?
5. Sound Unbound uses the example of the geographic grid/longitude/latitude of a highly artificial system that defines time for us and that we accept as "natural." What are other highly artificial, yet comfortable, undiscerned systems that we are part of? When are you more or less aware of those systems?
The measurement of time itself. We expect that at around 6 am, the sun will rise, and by noon will be high in the sky, and set at around 8--however, this measurement of time is completely artificial, and just stands for when we assume the days changes will occur. The same goes for the measure of a week, a month, a year. Every form of scientific measurement is artificial. Science is merely a tested system that humans have deemed to be effective, and therefore we comfortably live by it.
I'm not trying to sound like a smart alec, but silence is the absence of sound. It is a vacuous sensation where the quiet is so profound that it seems to scream--a deafening silence. I don't think I have ever sincerely experienced silence, as even in the quietest or stillest of places I have been in, there were always the slight puffs of my breath, the settling of the house, or the barely discernible whistle of the wind. The closest moments to silence that I can remember have been in my basement in my old house, where I would be hiding--sometimes for no particular reason at all--in the dark amidst an array of sound-swallowing, plush stuffed toys. If I lay perfectly still, and the air conditioning wasn't on, I could hear nothing but a slight ringing in the air. I liked to pretend I could see the ringing as dark green and magenta dots in the navy black. It was an odd experience.
I think that silence plays a very important role in our lives, in that we constantly strive to avoid it. Conversations are littered with meaningless chatter and idle prattle forced by nervous participants. This especially occurs during serious conversations, where a party may fear that silence will be misconstrued as a lack of sympathy, or a subtle answer. Silence is perceived to be a cold, hostile entity, and is perpetually thwarted by the onslaught of sound bytes in the media and jabber on cell phones and amidst acquaintances. Because these flows of sound that kill silence are thought to mean that we are doing something, that we are active and alive, loud and vibrant. Because to us, silence can be a metaphor for hopelessness and nothing, and especially the unknown or ambiguous. And people are always frightened of the unknown.
2. Poll yourself and your classmates about your archiving habits. How much time do you spend on this? Think about the "function" that this ubiquitous activity plys in our lives.
Art and its place in history cannot be separated from the activity of archiving. And as technology progresses, we spend more and more time archiving pieces of our own history through photographs, video, sound, and articles--especially blogging. I myself prefer a simpler form or archiving more or less every day--journal writing. In an actual, physical journal. But I also use video and photographs, and will spend many long hours organizing these blurbs of memory into a manageable order. The function of archiving allows us to continually look back and measure progress--but more importantly, it measures time. Archiving provides palpable proof of time's fluidity.
3. Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic--perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to "reality."
When I think "unmediated," I automatically think about nature and the untouched pleasures of earth (like, sleeping on hard dirt, using prickly holly leaves as toilet paper, getting bitten by various lethal insects, etc). A totally unmediated experience, that is, something completely REAL, might be eating a berry off of a tree, or smelling the fresh scent of a flower. I'm not too sure if I'm presenting an accurate interpretation of mediated...simulations I encounter every day are, for example, the chamomile-scented handsoap in my bathroom, and the sound of the wind on my Enigma album. I wouldn't say I necessarily prefer that simulation, but I do enjoy fake nature sounds combined with bass-heavy New Age melodies.
4. Reflect upon how you or others use media to express emotion. Give examples. Compare and contrast more mediated expressions with less. In doing this you will have to create a system or continuum of mediation.
I suppose there isn't a subtle answer for this one. Media, especially through art, is one of the most used outlet for emotion--sometimes, it could be as simple as blowing off stress at a karaoke bar and busting out a slightly-inebriated-but-still-rocking-version of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," or maybe even as cheesy, but still satisfying, as a half hour playing the cello, piano, or guitar when one has a case of the blues. I, personally, am most likely to be creatively inspired when I am feeling wistful. Yes, a romantic I may be, and whenever I feel particularly rosy, I get to work on the computer and think up story ideas and character designs for children's books. The more mediated of these emotional outlets--computer art, design, and karaoke--are usually stress busters, where I have to think and act more. Less mediated forms of creative, emotional expression would be, I suppose, to sing to oneself. I'm not exactly sure if I'm on the right track, but, I think that less mediated forms of emotional expression would have a more calming effect?
5. Sound Unbound uses the example of the geographic grid/longitude/latitude of a highly artificial system that defines time for us and that we accept as "natural." What are other highly artificial, yet comfortable, undiscerned systems that we are part of? When are you more or less aware of those systems?
The measurement of time itself. We expect that at around 6 am, the sun will rise, and by noon will be high in the sky, and set at around 8--however, this measurement of time is completely artificial, and just stands for when we assume the days changes will occur. The same goes for the measure of a week, a month, a year. Every form of scientific measurement is artificial. Science is merely a tested system that humans have deemed to be effective, and therefore we comfortably live by it.
5 Questions
What is silence? Give examples of situations that you have been in where you believe that you have encountered absolute silence. What do you think the role of or the idea of silence is in our lives? What does it mean that silence might exist? What kinds of metaphors do you have for the idea of silence?
I think that silence is hard to define as it is based entirely off of our perceptions of noise (or a lack-there-of). Simply defined, silence is the absence of all audible noise/sound. I have never encountered absolute silence because it is physically impossible to reduce all noise, unless you were within a vacuum. I think that I have come close during power outages, but I can still typically hear my own breathing, the beating of my heart, the sound of wind. I think that we perceive and define silence as situations that either have low levels of noise, or they have noise that the person find soothing and non-invasive. I personally don't think that silence exists for anyone or anything. As sound-waves can be picked up in physical objects, this slight vibration can be considered a component of noise. As for a metaphor, off the top of my head I would say: Silence equals death. I think that the only way to have true silence would be through ceasing life. Also it can be read as saying that silence is boring and close to death, therefore noise equates to life.
Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to “reality”.
Not to sound pessimistic but I think that it would be extremely difficult for anyone to have a completely unmediated experience. I think the exceptions to this would be young-children, the mentally deranged, or those under the influence of some drugs. Even with these exceptions, I think that since our perceptions are based upon a plethora of rules and orders, it would be completely impossible to have an entirely unmediated experience. As for a preference to simulation to reality, I feel that they are essentially the same. Just because I am simulating an experience does not mean that the experience itself is simulated. While I may have a particular reaction from a "real-life" experience and a different reaction towards its simulation, they are both experiences in their own right; experiences that are of more importance are in no way determined by the constructs of real or simulated. Because of this, I really don't find much of a difference in how I relate to an experience whether its real or simulated.
Reflect upon how you or others use media to express emotion. Give examples. Compare and contrast more mediated expressions with less. In doing this you will have to create a system or continuum of mediation.
I personally think that one of the most fundamental ways in which media is used to express emotion is through music. The choice in style is usually a reflection of a person's mood, so by listening to what other people are playing, you can have a good sense of their emotions. I also think that drawing is another essential piece in how media is used to express emotion. With drawing (or most other visual arts), most people tend to express themselves using the emotions that they are currently feeling. Again, I think that there is no such thing as an unmediated expression because each person's mental state is governed by sets of rules. However I think that drawing would be closer to unmediated because it is a personal form of expression making that does not typical interact with its surroundings. Music on the other hand would probably tend to be more mediated, as when playing music, the surrounding environment is affected.
Describe instances where the code becomes more important than the content? Or the code over shadows the content? You can be fairly liberal in how you define “code”.
I think this argument is should mimic the Bauhaus movement in which their is a marriage between the code and the content. I think that if code is taken out of its functional housing, it essentially becomes content. At the same time however, content is dependent on the codes to display it. So to say that one is more important than the other is a naive approach. Each are dependent on each other, so arguing over which one is more pertinent is almost futile.
Can you remember a time or a situation when it was not easy to get a piece of information? What is the effect both personally and on a large scale the ability to access lots of info quickly? What is the role of search?
I can absolutely remember a time where it was not easy to access a piece of information. Until I got my iPhone, I was unable to access certain information easily when I was not at home. Before the internet, everything had to be looked up physically, which was time consuming and often did not specifically match your query. I actually still have an entire set of Encyclopedia Britanicas from before we had access to the internet and it was the easiest way to look up pieces of information. Personally I think that my ability to access information quicker has led me to be a more knowledgeable individual. With the ability to look up almost any question on the internet at any time, I feel that I have been learning through its usage. As for how it effecting people on a larger scale, I think that the same can be said about the entire population. With correct information available online, we are never forced to just take someone's word. For the role of search, I feel that it has always been around, but now it is much more efficient (excluding the human brain). We automatically search through our brains to sort out particular memories and we do so at an incredible speed. I think that "search" has a much larger role than just that of just a web-based function.
I think that silence is hard to define as it is based entirely off of our perceptions of noise (or a lack-there-of). Simply defined, silence is the absence of all audible noise/sound. I have never encountered absolute silence because it is physically impossible to reduce all noise, unless you were within a vacuum. I think that I have come close during power outages, but I can still typically hear my own breathing, the beating of my heart, the sound of wind. I think that we perceive and define silence as situations that either have low levels of noise, or they have noise that the person find soothing and non-invasive. I personally don't think that silence exists for anyone or anything. As sound-waves can be picked up in physical objects, this slight vibration can be considered a component of noise. As for a metaphor, off the top of my head I would say: Silence equals death. I think that the only way to have true silence would be through ceasing life. Also it can be read as saying that silence is boring and close to death, therefore noise equates to life.
Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to “reality”.
Not to sound pessimistic but I think that it would be extremely difficult for anyone to have a completely unmediated experience. I think the exceptions to this would be young-children, the mentally deranged, or those under the influence of some drugs. Even with these exceptions, I think that since our perceptions are based upon a plethora of rules and orders, it would be completely impossible to have an entirely unmediated experience. As for a preference to simulation to reality, I feel that they are essentially the same. Just because I am simulating an experience does not mean that the experience itself is simulated. While I may have a particular reaction from a "real-life" experience and a different reaction towards its simulation, they are both experiences in their own right; experiences that are of more importance are in no way determined by the constructs of real or simulated. Because of this, I really don't find much of a difference in how I relate to an experience whether its real or simulated.
Reflect upon how you or others use media to express emotion. Give examples. Compare and contrast more mediated expressions with less. In doing this you will have to create a system or continuum of mediation.
I personally think that one of the most fundamental ways in which media is used to express emotion is through music. The choice in style is usually a reflection of a person's mood, so by listening to what other people are playing, you can have a good sense of their emotions. I also think that drawing is another essential piece in how media is used to express emotion. With drawing (or most other visual arts), most people tend to express themselves using the emotions that they are currently feeling. Again, I think that there is no such thing as an unmediated expression because each person's mental state is governed by sets of rules. However I think that drawing would be closer to unmediated because it is a personal form of expression making that does not typical interact with its surroundings. Music on the other hand would probably tend to be more mediated, as when playing music, the surrounding environment is affected.
Describe instances where the code becomes more important than the content? Or the code over shadows the content? You can be fairly liberal in how you define “code”.
I think this argument is should mimic the Bauhaus movement in which their is a marriage between the code and the content. I think that if code is taken out of its functional housing, it essentially becomes content. At the same time however, content is dependent on the codes to display it. So to say that one is more important than the other is a naive approach. Each are dependent on each other, so arguing over which one is more pertinent is almost futile.
Can you remember a time or a situation when it was not easy to get a piece of information? What is the effect both personally and on a large scale the ability to access lots of info quickly? What is the role of search?
I can absolutely remember a time where it was not easy to access a piece of information. Until I got my iPhone, I was unable to access certain information easily when I was not at home. Before the internet, everything had to be looked up physically, which was time consuming and often did not specifically match your query. I actually still have an entire set of Encyclopedia Britanicas from before we had access to the internet and it was the easiest way to look up pieces of information. Personally I think that my ability to access information quicker has led me to be a more knowledgeable individual. With the ability to look up almost any question on the internet at any time, I feel that I have been learning through its usage. As for how it effecting people on a larger scale, I think that the same can be said about the entire population. With correct information available online, we are never forced to just take someone's word. For the role of search, I feel that it has always been around, but now it is much more efficient (excluding the human brain). We automatically search through our brains to sort out particular memories and we do so at an incredible speed. I think that "search" has a much larger role than just that of just a web-based function.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Artist Presentation
I'm doing Gordon Monahan for my artist presentation.
Gordon Monahan
website
Gordon Monahan is a Canadian artist who has also lived and worked in Germany. He was born in 1956, and gained a background in music as a pianist, composer, and member of various local Canadian rock bands.
Since the late 1970's he has created experimental sound installations and performances which use various combinations of natural forces, choreography, and improvisation to create sound. Much of his work focuses on the difference between 'live' and pre-recorded/synthesized sound. A large part of his work deals with creating seemingly digitized sounds through analog means with the creation of elaborate mechanical constructions.
The actual quality of the sounds produced by his installations are often eerie or haunting, contrasting with his very industrial methods of producing them.
Speaker Swinging (1982/1987)
Mercer Union, Toronto, 1982
Theremin Pendulum (2008)
(What is a Theremin?)
5th Parallel Gallery, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, 2008
New and Used Furniture Music (2003)
Open Ears Festival, Kitchener, Ont., 2003.
Syncopated Percipitation (2009)
Kitchener City Hall Fountain, Open Ears Festival, Kitchener, Ontario, 2009
Gordon Monahan
website
Gordon Monahan is a Canadian artist who has also lived and worked in Germany. He was born in 1956, and gained a background in music as a pianist, composer, and member of various local Canadian rock bands.
Since the late 1970's he has created experimental sound installations and performances which use various combinations of natural forces, choreography, and improvisation to create sound. Much of his work focuses on the difference between 'live' and pre-recorded/synthesized sound. A large part of his work deals with creating seemingly digitized sounds through analog means with the creation of elaborate mechanical constructions.
The actual quality of the sounds produced by his installations are often eerie or haunting, contrasting with his very industrial methods of producing them.
Spontaneously Harmonious in Certain Kinds of Weather (1996)
Sonambiente Festival, Singuhr Hoergalerie, Berlin., 1996.
"This aeolian piece functions in an indoor space using wind draughts caused by pressure and temperature differences between outdoor and indoor atmospheres. [...] Because the production of sound in this case is wholly dependent on natural systems, the public may or may not be present when the most interesting sound is produced. Some visitors may not hear any sound at all. This raises aesthetic questions of performance/non-performance, withholding of such performance, and 'being there' or 'missing' the music or the message."
A Magnet That Speaks Also Attracts (1986)
Eye Revue Gallery, Union Station, Toronto, 1986
"A mechanical performing sculpture that is part medieval weapon system and part modern audio system was installed in a window display case (5 meters x 2 meters x 2 meters) at Toronto's Union Station. This work examines the loudspeaker as a magnetic projectile capable of imitating most sounds in the human audio spectrum. [...] The sounds heard over the speaker are pseudo-space musics from the 1959 vinyl season, played on a repeating turntable attached to the machine. The piece was installed for four weeks and was open to the public 24 hours a day."
Speaker Swinging (1982/1987)
Mercer Union, Toronto, 1982
"Speaker Swinging grew out of a desire to animate the typical electronic music concert and in effect, to realise the loudspeaker as a valid electronic music instrument in itself."
Theremin Pendulum (2008)
(What is a Theremin?)
5th Parallel Gallery, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, 2008
"A theremin antenna made of flexible wire is mechanized so that it swings spastically as a chaotic pendulum. This causes the theremin to change pitch according to the swinging motion of the pendulum. The sound produced is multiplied by a delay system so that we hear the sound of 8 theremins at the same time."
New and Used Furniture Music (2003)
Open Ears Festival, Kitchener, Ont., 2003.
"A multi-media sound performance using a midi-interactive theremin to control midi-mechanised thunder sheets, long piano strings, and amplified water drops."
Syncopated Percipitation (2009)
Kitchener City Hall Fountain, Open Ears Festival, Kitchener, Ontario, 2009
"Water is pumped intermittently onto a roof structure so that water drops fall off the roof’s edge, as if it is raining. The water drops fall in a rhythmic pattern that is determined by the contour of the ‘drip edge’ of the roof. The musical elements of accelerando and decellerando can be achieved by pumping water periodically onto the roof. The water drops fall onto a collection of suspended metal and plastic objects that form a rhythmic percussion ensemble. Each percussive object has a contact pick-up attached to it, and the percussive signals are amplified through loudspeakers, built into a compartment under the roof."
Sound Unbound Questions
1. What is silence? Give examples of situations that you have been in where you believe that you have encountered absolute silence. What do you think the role of or the idea of silence is in our lives? What does it mean that silence might exist? What kinds of metaphors do you have for the idea of silence?
First of all, I'd like to get two things out of the way: one, silence is not the absence of sound, and two, there is no such thing as absolute silence (unless possibly one is deaf). In situations where one is in near perfect silence, there is still the presence of internal noises; you hear reports of people in completely sound-proof rooms that, even with their own voice being sucked into the void, can begin to hear the increasingly loud thumping of their blood through their body.
Silence may be the absence of other sound, but silence itself is a sound. I have been in a situation where the silence was literally deafening. In middle school I visited the house of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings near the Everglades in central Florida. I got out of the car, and there was this incredible force, almost like a heavy pressure, that just engulfed me; it was incredible. I could hear something, but it just wasn't anything.
I think silence is very misunderstood. Obviously the thought behind silence is that it is the absence of sound, and by that definition, it is not itself a sound.
As I've already said, I don't believe there is such a thing as pure silence. However, if such a thing does exist, I would imagine that it is nothingness --absolute and total nothingness. Even subatomic particles and unknown unseen objects would be completely absent. Perhaps time itself would even be absent from such a thing.
There are lots of metaphors that can be related to silence, of course, the metaphors will change depending on one's definition of silence. But common metaphors could be death, tranquility, innocence, guilt, pure, barren, uncivilized, untainted, remote, foreign, strange, haunting, dark. Some not-so-common metaphors could be related to loudness, omnipresence, unbearable, pressurized, heaviness, engulfment, light.
2. Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to “reality”.
There are very few totally unmediated experiences that the average person will experience in a life time, especially with growing technology. I think unmediated experiences were much more common before present-day simulations. Obviously, things such as reality shows, especially ones such as Fear Factor are common, perhaps everyday, simulations. This could be one example where someone would prefer a simulation over reality; they themselves would not be able to perform such tasks, so they simply live vicariously through others who can. Also a common simulation preferred over the real are violent video games. Not many people would do what is shown in such games, not would they put themselves or others in such danger, but in situations where there are no consequences (the simulations from the game), there is no problem performing such actions.
3. Sound Unbound uses the example of the geographic grid/longitude/latitude of a highly artificial system that defines time for us and that we accept as “natural”. What are other highly artificial yet, comfortable, undiscerned systems that we are part of? When are you more or less aware of those systems?
Who was it exactly that decided north was up and south was down? Why when we see a globe or map is the North Pole always on top and the South Pole on the bottom? In space there is no up or down, yet we view pictures of the Earth from space the same way we view globes and maps. Personally, I am always aware of this, but others go their entire lives without ever questioning this.
4. Describe instances where the code becomes more important than the content? Or the code over shadows the content? You can be fairly liberal in how you define “code”.
In many scientific instances, the code is much more important than the content. Code such as that that controls machines like fusion reactors must work perfectly otherwise there could be extremely severe consequences. While the content of this is important, it is the code that controls the importance of the content, making the code itself far more important than the content.
5. Can you remember a time or a situation when it was not easy to get a piece of information? What is the effect both personally and on a large scale the ability to access lots of info quickly? What is the role of search?
I'm sure there have been many times in my life where I have had trouble getting information, but with the advent of the Internet, those moments are quickly diminishing both from a personal and large scale standpoint. I believe that with the ability to instantly access any information at any time all across the world, people are relying less and less on their own personal memory and relying more and more on their ability to find the answer on the Internet. For example, if someone does not know the 50 capitals of the U.S., he or she does not need to remember back to the fourth grade but simply needs to get online and search for it; within seconds, the answers are found.
The role of the search is the same as remembering something. If you "search" for a memory in your head, you are doing the same thing as if you were "searching" on a computer --going through an enormous data base of information and experiences collected over time. The difference between memory and the Internet is that memory may fade over time, but the Internet will not; the answer will always be there.
First of all, I'd like to get two things out of the way: one, silence is not the absence of sound, and two, there is no such thing as absolute silence (unless possibly one is deaf). In situations where one is in near perfect silence, there is still the presence of internal noises; you hear reports of people in completely sound-proof rooms that, even with their own voice being sucked into the void, can begin to hear the increasingly loud thumping of their blood through their body.
Silence may be the absence of other sound, but silence itself is a sound. I have been in a situation where the silence was literally deafening. In middle school I visited the house of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings near the Everglades in central Florida. I got out of the car, and there was this incredible force, almost like a heavy pressure, that just engulfed me; it was incredible. I could hear something, but it just wasn't anything.
I think silence is very misunderstood. Obviously the thought behind silence is that it is the absence of sound, and by that definition, it is not itself a sound.
As I've already said, I don't believe there is such a thing as pure silence. However, if such a thing does exist, I would imagine that it is nothingness --absolute and total nothingness. Even subatomic particles and unknown unseen objects would be completely absent. Perhaps time itself would even be absent from such a thing.
There are lots of metaphors that can be related to silence, of course, the metaphors will change depending on one's definition of silence. But common metaphors could be death, tranquility, innocence, guilt, pure, barren, uncivilized, untainted, remote, foreign, strange, haunting, dark. Some not-so-common metaphors could be related to loudness, omnipresence, unbearable, pressurized, heaviness, engulfment, light.
2. Think about the notion of mediation. What might be a totally unmediated experience? Think about simulations that you encounter everyday as well as those that are sporadic perhaps entertainment. Reflect upon situations (if any) where you prefer the simulation to “reality”.
There are very few totally unmediated experiences that the average person will experience in a life time, especially with growing technology. I think unmediated experiences were much more common before present-day simulations. Obviously, things such as reality shows, especially ones such as Fear Factor are common, perhaps everyday, simulations. This could be one example where someone would prefer a simulation over reality; they themselves would not be able to perform such tasks, so they simply live vicariously through others who can. Also a common simulation preferred over the real are violent video games. Not many people would do what is shown in such games, not would they put themselves or others in such danger, but in situations where there are no consequences (the simulations from the game), there is no problem performing such actions.
3. Sound Unbound uses the example of the geographic grid/longitude/latitude of a highly artificial system that defines time for us and that we accept as “natural”. What are other highly artificial yet, comfortable, undiscerned systems that we are part of? When are you more or less aware of those systems?
Who was it exactly that decided north was up and south was down? Why when we see a globe or map is the North Pole always on top and the South Pole on the bottom? In space there is no up or down, yet we view pictures of the Earth from space the same way we view globes and maps. Personally, I am always aware of this, but others go their entire lives without ever questioning this.
4. Describe instances where the code becomes more important than the content? Or the code over shadows the content? You can be fairly liberal in how you define “code”.
In many scientific instances, the code is much more important than the content. Code such as that that controls machines like fusion reactors must work perfectly otherwise there could be extremely severe consequences. While the content of this is important, it is the code that controls the importance of the content, making the code itself far more important than the content.
5. Can you remember a time or a situation when it was not easy to get a piece of information? What is the effect both personally and on a large scale the ability to access lots of info quickly? What is the role of search?
I'm sure there have been many times in my life where I have had trouble getting information, but with the advent of the Internet, those moments are quickly diminishing both from a personal and large scale standpoint. I believe that with the ability to instantly access any information at any time all across the world, people are relying less and less on their own personal memory and relying more and more on their ability to find the answer on the Internet. For example, if someone does not know the 50 capitals of the U.S., he or she does not need to remember back to the fourth grade but simply needs to get online and search for it; within seconds, the answers are found.
The role of the search is the same as remembering something. If you "search" for a memory in your head, you are doing the same thing as if you were "searching" on a computer --going through an enormous data base of information and experiences collected over time. The difference between memory and the Internet is that memory may fade over time, but the Internet will not; the answer will always be there.
In Through The Out Door
Silence
Silence is probably defined as the absence of sound, but I think sound is somewhat inescapable. Technically, total silence exists in a vacuum, but I'm not sure we would experience it as such. When we're in a situation where we it should be silent, we start hearing the rushing of the air. That kind of silence becomes deafening. Although I haven't had an experience like this, I can imagine that being in a vacuum would make us hone in on our natural body sounds, pulse, heartbeat, etc. Silence is rarely achieved, at least for me. There's always my loud fan whirring, girls stomping upstairs, cars parking, kids outside, mild buzz of electronics. There's always something. Maybe countryfolk can find silence, but I can't. Although I'm not sure I want to. Silence could indicate absence of life and loneliness, which no one really wants.
Mediation
I'm not sure that there's a totally unmediated experience either. Other than, perhaps, deep thought or meditation. Although we feel connected to our senses, they're still mediating us from the real world. Our minds or brains can't experience it otherwise. All of our senses are interpretive, and I don't think any two people experience the same stimulus in quite the same way. Mediation isn't always a bad thing. Some video games, for example, are preferable to reality for me. I can't play real guitar, but I can play Rock Band, and although I know it's not real, it's still a gratifying experience for me.
Artificial Systems
We all take part in the economy, which is pretty artificial when you really think about it. It really becomes apparent when it's not working correctly. Any instability in it and we start to feel the effects. The whole human struggle related to economy is another such thing. In a different world, these things wouldn't be necessary for survival, but we've went and created our own issues and challenges in the name of comfort and convenience.
Silence is probably defined as the absence of sound, but I think sound is somewhat inescapable. Technically, total silence exists in a vacuum, but I'm not sure we would experience it as such. When we're in a situation where we it should be silent, we start hearing the rushing of the air. That kind of silence becomes deafening. Although I haven't had an experience like this, I can imagine that being in a vacuum would make us hone in on our natural body sounds, pulse, heartbeat, etc. Silence is rarely achieved, at least for me. There's always my loud fan whirring, girls stomping upstairs, cars parking, kids outside, mild buzz of electronics. There's always something. Maybe countryfolk can find silence, but I can't. Although I'm not sure I want to. Silence could indicate absence of life and loneliness, which no one really wants.
Mediation
I'm not sure that there's a totally unmediated experience either. Other than, perhaps, deep thought or meditation. Although we feel connected to our senses, they're still mediating us from the real world. Our minds or brains can't experience it otherwise. All of our senses are interpretive, and I don't think any two people experience the same stimulus in quite the same way. Mediation isn't always a bad thing. Some video games, for example, are preferable to reality for me. I can't play real guitar, but I can play Rock Band, and although I know it's not real, it's still a gratifying experience for me.
Artificial Systems
We all take part in the economy, which is pretty artificial when you really think about it. It really becomes apparent when it's not working correctly. Any instability in it and we start to feel the effects. The whole human struggle related to economy is another such thing. In a different world, these things wouldn't be necessary for survival, but we've went and created our own issues and challenges in the name of comfort and convenience.
Code
Code over content happens quite a bit. I would say code can refer more widely to the medium. Marshall McLuhan coined the term "The Media is the Message," meaning that the chosen medium is always shaping the experience it's supposed to convey. Sometimes, the message gets weakened by an adherence to the medium. Michael Bay movies, for instance, have very little to tell us, and more to show us (explosions, robots, etc.). We come out of it having gained nothing.
Information
In the information age, it should be easy to gather whatever knowledge we require. In the early days of my computer use, I didn't really know the proper ways to find information. I had a hard time looking at search results pages and making sense of what I was seeing, and what information appeared to be more valid. Nowadays, I'm hooked on sources like Wikipedia. Some people claim that the collaborative nature of the information is a detractor, but I find it to be it's strength. Wikipedia represents a collective knowledge database that is easy to navigate. It truly does make information readily available.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Norman McLaren: Pen Point Percussion
I watched the video and remember seeing something by this artist in my animation class last year. I wasn't very interested in the first segment since they were only imitating what our computers and radios do easily now. (with the visualizing sound bit) However it piqued my interest when they reversed the process and his marks initiated the sounds. At first I was skeptical about it because they could easily have animated the sounds to go along with the images and fool the viewers. In fact I haven't entirely ruled that out, but they seemed to have placed down rules for what sounds they made which made it seem more genuine. I'm curious how the machine detected the marks like that. In theory it was simply being reversed from its initial process, but I wonder if it was so simple? Also in some way it inspires me. I really like the idea of leaving an impression ont he computer/machine rather than the other way around.
Rozart Mix
Out of the entire sound unbound cd, the Rozart Mix stood out to me the most. The combination of baby squeals and dog barks piqued my interest. It was such a vexing mix, as the sounds of a baby usually demand one's attention. And to heighten the sense, the dark was barking in an excited way. It put you on edge. Also the sounds alternated between the baby, the barking, and this squeaking which was either the manipulated sound of the baby or some sort of squeaky toy. i find that an interesting link between the baby and the dog as both are likely to interact with a squeaky toy.
Also the sparse piano notes and violin added an interesting effect. It kind of phased one part of the track into the other. The talking wasn't very abrupt, which I found interesting in comparison to the baby and the dog. Unlike the latter, the voices speaking were heard in a jumble and combination with other sounds. Because the baby and dog were heard in a generally solo element, their sounds were more abrupt and startling.
The entire track gave me the feel of being outside of a suburban home at night, watching silhouettes of a mother with her baby. The father is perhaps sitting and watching tv while the dog plays for attention. The sounds of the evening blur together in a comfortable pattern familiar to the inhabitants of the house. It is an odd sound, but a comfortable one.
Also the sparse piano notes and violin added an interesting effect. It kind of phased one part of the track into the other. The talking wasn't very abrupt, which I found interesting in comparison to the baby and the dog. Unlike the latter, the voices speaking were heard in a jumble and combination with other sounds. Because the baby and dog were heard in a generally solo element, their sounds were more abrupt and startling.
The entire track gave me the feel of being outside of a suburban home at night, watching silhouettes of a mother with her baby. The father is perhaps sitting and watching tv while the dog plays for attention. The sounds of the evening blur together in a comfortable pattern familiar to the inhabitants of the house. It is an odd sound, but a comfortable one.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
the soundclip interview
http://www.transom.org/sounds/200103.radiosoundart.mp3
So I listened to this radio soundart. It was an interesting experience. Alot of things were going on; so much in fact that I eventually let the clip dictate what was important to listen to and what wasn't. I could only hear things in passing, and never continue one train of thought. Once you established the words of one speaker you would be distracted before the speaker was taken away entirely. By the time they returned you forgot what they were going on about in the first place.
My overall impression was that the clip wanted you to know that sound art was its own genre. It is often misclassified and misunderstood. I found it interesting that in order to reenact the feeling of a tree the artist would look for a 'tall' sound. That was a new way of thinking I would have overlooked. Hopefully I can take a bit of this insight to further improve whatever I may work on in this class. I will approach sound art as an entirely new side of digital media I haven't fully explored.
So I listened to this radio soundart. It was an interesting experience. Alot of things were going on; so much in fact that I eventually let the clip dictate what was important to listen to and what wasn't. I could only hear things in passing, and never continue one train of thought. Once you established the words of one speaker you would be distracted before the speaker was taken away entirely. By the time they returned you forgot what they were going on about in the first place.
My overall impression was that the clip wanted you to know that sound art was its own genre. It is often misclassified and misunderstood. I found it interesting that in order to reenact the feeling of a tree the artist would look for a 'tall' sound. That was a new way of thinking I would have overlooked. Hopefully I can take a bit of this insight to further improve whatever I may work on in this class. I will approach sound art as an entirely new side of digital media I haven't fully explored.
Sound Unbound 2 -19
I read the first chapter of sound unbound and found that I could somewhat follow it. What I gathered was that sound has permeated our lives and society to the point that it is no longer an active event. What we perceive as silence isn't actually silence. The subtle hum of machines, the hum of electricity and the possible existence of light pollution transforms our world entirely. We have separated ourselves from nature and put ourselves on a different platform. Our sounds are no longer intentional, though they can be.
We live in a digital age where sounds are easily recorded and mixed with one another. It's more and more common to ask someone what sort of program they used to create music than to ask "what do you play?" The net has become such a big and essential forum for those involved in music such as DJs or sound artists that it's automatically assumed they work with the computer.
I found it amusing the article mentioned the writer of the memex article. There were hints of futuristic thoughts in this article where complaints from the early 19th century were mentioned. Also the triumph of the first sea-clock was an interesting perspective on technology and how it was approached.
I agree that silence is no longer silence, and that sound has reached an entirely new level. I don't think this sort of progress is a bad one. I think the original start of recording music was so that everyone would be able to enjoy it. Sure there became an overload of information, but it's unfair to limit music. Someone in America would never know about japanese rock or african lullabies if we didn't have the technology to record and easily pass on information through the net. It's an even trade-off/ sacrifice in my opinion.
We live in a digital age where sounds are easily recorded and mixed with one another. It's more and more common to ask someone what sort of program they used to create music than to ask "what do you play?" The net has become such a big and essential forum for those involved in music such as DJs or sound artists that it's automatically assumed they work with the computer.
I found it amusing the article mentioned the writer of the memex article. There were hints of futuristic thoughts in this article where complaints from the early 19th century were mentioned. Also the triumph of the first sea-clock was an interesting perspective on technology and how it was approached.
I agree that silence is no longer silence, and that sound has reached an entirely new level. I don't think this sort of progress is a bad one. I think the original start of recording music was so that everyone would be able to enjoy it. Sure there became an overload of information, but it's unfair to limit music. Someone in America would never know about japanese rock or african lullabies if we didn't have the technology to record and easily pass on information through the net. It's an even trade-off/ sacrifice in my opinion.
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