Notes for October 21, 2009 continued

Presentation Janet Cardiff

Her work deals with illusion, sound and space.

"The Missing Voice" is audio based - involves audio walks and a narrative voice. This piece evolves around a women and city life. It sounds like a detective story. The artist is directing the fictional world that she has created, which involves the public space and unconsciousness. She is basically dramatizing her life, making life more cinematic. Humans are someway dramatizing moments in life.

Can hear footsteps, gun shots, helicopter and an ambulance. This makes for an exciting piece.

2nd work: Munster Walk from 1998.

This piece grabs the atmosphere of Germaness. It is part of a sculpture exhibition. She addresses both the history and memory of Germany combined with her own interpretation of the space.

3rd piece: Forty Part Motet

40 speakers in 8 groups. Each speaker must play a recording of one voice in the group singing Spem in Alium by English composer Thomas Tallis.

It plays with the idea of role and position of the audience. Furthermore it also incorporates the experience and view point of the singers.

4th piece: Video Walks: In Real Time.

Paradise Institute (2001)

I find this to be an interesting work because it involves sound, film images and the experience of the audience/spectator - the overlapping of all three.

Audience is immersed within the environmental sound. One may experience feelings of eeriness. This work also plays with fictional and realistic boundaries.

Notes for October 21, 2009.

Presentation:

John Cage - composer, philosopher, musician etc.

Two major works - 4 minutes and 33 seconds by David Tudor

1951 - consisted of echoes in the room. There are high and low sounds in a room. High = nervous system Low = blood.

John cage was influenced by Emmanuel Kent and his idea about two things that don't really mean anything, that being, music and laughter. Sound cannot be more than it really is.

John cage wanted to hear silence in 4 minute and 33 seconds piece but he found that to be impossible. This is quite the controversial piece in that audiences expected much more.

Question to ponder: What would the reaction be then and now? What would the audience reaction be since they expected a big performance?

Second piece: Water Walk - This piece was more about environment sounds than silence.

Is he trying to make a statement or is it accidental? John Cage pushes the buttons of audiences in order to get a reaction. Laughter an important part of performance.

Chance and Determinancy

Draws attention to unwanted sounds. Disrupts experience of what is to be performed. Audience is conditioned to focus on what is in front of them.

Additional Notes for September 30th.

SCHIZOPHONIC

There is a difference between the original sound and its reproduced version. Sound does indeed change once recorded with technological instruments, hence, the word electroacoustic.

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"Knizak" - phonograph - hands on device.

"De Marims"

Reads ancient form of decoding laser. It is not intended as sound recording.

"NEU"

William S. Burroughs.

Tape as material. Tape used as an aesthetic.

"Reymols" - Blank tapes are digitized.

"Larie Anderson" - Tape-o-Violin

Anton Bruhn - pausing repeatedly - discrete intervals to produce unique sound.

Notes for September 30th

Christian Marclay presentation:

I truly enjoyed Christian Marclay's work. One aspect involves records. He unconventionally uses records to create music. His methods include: breaking records, shaking records, and scratching records etc. Normally scratching or skipping are avoided, especially in club scenes. However, that ruins the whole purpose of the record. What makes a record different from the rest is the scratching and uneven playing of music.

By using unwanted sounds, his performances are indeed enjoyable and fascinating. He is enforcing their importance by taking it to the next level. Furthermore, he accompanies these intricate sounds with visual footage.

Ideas for Project 1

I've decided to play my work place as an instrument. I work at a one hour photo lab, which consists of a variety of interesting sounds. I will use and manipulate the sounds to create a composition, hopefully, a lot of high pitched tones. It will involve the appropriation of technology.

Instructional piece: What determines an annoying sound? Is it psychological OR does it actually cause physical pain?

Questions that should be asked? Is sound just sound or have people convinced themselves that a certain sound is annoying because of social and cultural influences.

I could ask this question in class: How many people on a normal day would find these sounds annoying.

Notes for myself: What is the difference between noise and sound? What are the different definitions that involve performance?

Notes for September 16th

Alvin Luicier - Alpha waves - This illustrates feedback in a global sense with or without technology. Brain waves sound is amplified when individual is calm. Feedback of sound on consciousness is paradoxical since reaction can trigger another reaction.

This piece is quite fascinating in that it demonstrates the unique ways in which sound can be captured. Such sounds can create an interesting composition.

Project # 1 - Performance and Sound

5 minutes of continuous recording - real time.

There are 2 parts - proposition and realization

First Step - Must be entirely text based - written instructions that allow the audience to realize work.

Second Step - Realized version.

Fluxus - philosophical statements, which creates versions of that in one's mind.

***What defines performance and sound? The term performance can be understood in many ways.

Ideas:

Technology used beyond its functionality, outside of what it was intended for.

Technology used as an instrument. Ex. using radio as a performing communication.

Involves interaction.

Read: "The Edison Effect Article"