On Sunday past, I had the opportunity/honour/privilege to perform work at the Blue Barrel Cafe in Twillingate. It wasn’t a huge crowd which made it easier on my nervous disposition but t the end of it there was a lively conversation on sound, how it can become sound art and where the idea comes from.
This is mostly the reason why I have been directing more and more of my attention to this mode of working, from inception to presentation. The response is immediate and does not require the interface of… an expert in the guise of whatever form of authority the critic takes on.
It was sheer joy to do this, I look forward to future opportunities to do this. The delay between the performance and this posting in simply due to the fact that a live stream was prevented by bandwidth, and then a subsequent need to mobilize. Hence, the “mobile production facility”, have laptop will travel.
Another one for the collection, I am starting to sense a cohesion in the work, something I can evolve into a project of a larger scope. At this particular time, I am thinking about the potential of having 100 or so copies printed on vinyl. The are services available through the hosts where I post my work, it is simply a matter of assembling enough funds to but the first 50 or something like that.
I think it would be fun and exciting to plan all the imaging and material that would be included in the package. I foresee a booklet with bits of information on this this area and the time I spent here working. I would certainly give half of the copies to the committee who would than have a physical object to offer people… from a digital festival no less.
It is a very sweltering day here in Twillingate, I am almost afraid my computer will shudder and have a stroke. But its hanging in despite editing more video and playing sessions.
This piece is much more driven by the synthesizer than normal, it actually started with playing around until I found a sound I liked and then processed to “bend” it. Still has that step sequence feel but I found ways to divert attention from that a bit.
I have quite frankly lost track of which photographs I have posted and which I have not. It will take me a couple of days to sift through the pile of material to lift out ideas suitable for posting.
However, I did take a few shots of a disaffected building on New World Island (imagine living in a place called New World Island!). I was drawn to it because of the flesh like tone of the the exterior paint. It was not unlike seeing a shaved carcass of a pig after slaughter. Forgive the language, but it makes me recall being a child watching my father and a neighbour slaughter ours. It was beautiful and horrifying at the same time.
You can pretty well pay with anything, problem is finding something to buy.This is what our skin ends up looking like after too many days roasting on the beach.
Working on video, making sound when waiting for video to render. I play with a lot of handiwork on the video and the need to render is pretty constant. But, it is time for making sounds.
Today, it started with trying to create a drone like pattern from my synthesizer, it is indeed a synthesizer but it is beat driven, using very clear bits per sequence, always divisible by 8. I get how that creates a multitude of possible rhythm combinatorics, but for creating lengthier subtle motions it is not as agile. But I shall soon have a synthesizer that includes a sequencer but is not dependent on it. This should change things considerably.
Then it was just a question of bringing in other elements.
I have amassed a huge library of samples and sounds collected since my arrival here. Each sound is representative of the place and also the moment I spent in the location I was recording. Trying to be observant, see past the advertising and see the place. And it is just as lovely.
Casting Nets Out At Stars
This is a very positive experience to be here on a residency in Twillingate where I have time and space to create work. For me, I don’t really start with a big idea or plan. I have a very strong kinship to the concept that the process is the product; it is by the very fact that you make it that your express yourself, the finished product is but a reasonable facsimile of that experience. I am exploring sound art because I can invite an audience to be part of the process; there are no promises of good or bad. Just experience.
I am also including a couple of links to work-in-progress videos for this work in Twillingate. They will be projected while I perform. I a thinking of a white sheet cut into strips and each one weighted down a bit and a fan blowing on that surface. The work is not about plot lines or stories, they are simply moving paintings.
Drive (mirror version)
Drive (trip version)
**SPECIAL**
Special BONUS Track!!! AT the whole cost of nothing 🙂
