Month: February 2016

After looking for something inspirational that might help me gain a better understanding of the deeper meaning of ‘Removed’, I came across the site everydaylistening.com.

The site posts about sound art installations, who they were made by and a little snippet of the meaning behind the work. Although, I’m unsure if the writing of the meaning of the art is intentional, it’s still inspirational none the less.

For example, the ‘Time and Tide Bell’: “Time and Tide Bell” is a permanent installation, existing of 12 bells around the U.K. in several very different locations, rung by the sea at high tide. The rise of the water at high tide moves the clapper to strike the bell. Played by the movement of the waves, the bell creates a varying, gentle musical pattern.

My personal interpretation of this is that for music to be created, then the waves must will it to do so. Only nature can be involved in the creation of this music. And, as the site quotes: As the effect of global warming increases, the periods of bell strikes will become more and more frequent, and as the bell becomes submerged in the rising water the pitch will vary.

The fact that a change in nature will also change the strikes of the bells is perhaps a message that is trying to be conveyed through this installation.

My interpretation of many of the pictures of removed is that not only have we become obsessed with consuming media through technology. The technology is starting to become an extension of us and our lives. A deeper interpretation perhaps, is that this subject of technology addiction is taboo and the pictures are exploring this taboo. The pictures went viral because for once, it made us think rather than just consuming media through our phones. No one wants to talk about our obsession because everyone is obsessed.

I believe that I should be approaching the Removed sound installation in a similar way to the Time and Tide Bell. While the Time and Tide Bell was actually a musical piece as a whole, it still pushed a message forward through music. I think this is an important point to remember when creating.

 

I’m currently In the process of going through what could be classed as the more experimental work by Brian Eno to see if I can extract any ideas to be used in the ‘Removed’ project.

So far, after listening to ‘Seeded’ and ‘Glitch’ I’ve found glitch to be the most useful in terms of extract ideas for the project. Glitch seems to be the most experimental track, utilising the background noise of birds.

I plan to research this style of ambient/experimental music further to see what inspiration I can find. I also plan to utilise the texts that are available to me to learn about music crossing the boundary of real life sound and how that can be applied to a sound installation.

The removed sound installation is going to be an experimental audio visual piece, using the ‘Removed’ photography, by Eric Pickersgill. The photos showcase our addiction to mobile phones by removing the phones from the hands of the subjects in the photos.

Overview

The basic overview is that we will be creating an experimental piece of audio visual art. We would want to present it through a projector in a slightly isolated area where viewers could possibly put their phones into a box. This would be to make them feel removed from their phone to see the meaning behind the photography.

Aims and Objectives

The objective is to create a piece of experimental audio visual art that lines up with the meaning that is conveyed through the ‘Removed’ work. With the aims including mixing real sounds with musical sounds based upon what is seen in the picture. The aim to create experimentation within composition will come about through using real sounds as a form of music. For example, one of the pictures shows a couple on-board a boat. An idea to incorporate this experimentation would be to side chain compress the sound of the waves to create a musical effect.

Roles

Joseph Baker: Composition.

Hugh Waller: Foley artist.

Charlotte Cochrane: Post production.

Timescale

Week 4: During this week, the basic backbone of the project was created after a brain storm session.

Week 5: This is the week of our proposal presentation, where everything about the project, the research, our roles and objectives will be discussed.

Week 6: By this point we should be into the basics of production, with myself taking inspiration from research and working with Hugh to merge together a mixture of musical and Foley audio segments. We will also be looking at potential areas to host the project once finished in production.

Week 7: During this week we will still be in production.

Week 8: By this point I believe we will be into the process of ordering parts (if necessary) for the showcase of our project. Production will also be taking place

Week 9: Still in production.

Week 10: Post production should be underway during this week, with Charlotte mixing tracks in the sound theatre.

Week 11: Post production.

Week 12:Post Production and preparation of the showcase for the project.

Week 13: Showcase of the project.

Week 14: Project submission.

Research

I plan to do as much research as possible regarding the 5:1 surround sound system we plan to use and to research experimental composition both in and outside of art installation pieces.

Learning outcomes

My personal learning outcomes are that I hope to gain a better understanding of music in the art world. I’m not particularly familiar with experimental music, especially not as installation pieces. In regards to this I also hope to learn what is commonplace for an installation piece.