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.
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 🙂
The title is a direct reference to the photographer who shaped my way of seeing the most. Lewis Baltz. Although the photographs are of fairly simple things, he creates truly wondrous wanderings as the viewer is never too sure of the right path to follow. It is the second time I use a variation of this title, I just think it is a lovely turn of phrase. And it is particularly suited to this piece.
The piece sounds like space is quite dense, like the density in the air caused by humid and hot conditions. This is one case I feel the play of happenstance, spirit and body moving to create an atmosphere. I continue to try and simmer things slowly and let them take a life of their own. This is much easier said than done when there are not a few bodies watching me take the journey.
On my trip to Corner Brook, I picked up the second webcam that took so long to arrive as well as a couple of USB extensions (they were much easier to find that thought). I have tried it to see if it worked to use two cameras during a live on-line session, and it does work, but I need to practice a bit because to make the scene switches I have to switch programs. It will be a way to let things settle without constant alteration though. This will eventually be a future FaceBook Live session.
