Thoughts/ Reflections...

This week has proven to be yet another stressful and difficult one. I got told by the wood workshop technicians that the structure I am proposing to build will be too heavy to suspend from the ceiling and will not meet with the health & safety regulations. So if I can't suspend it and I can't build it out of the materials I want to, then I guess I have to face the fact that perhaps I shouldn't make it...and that is what I have decided to do.

It has taken a long time to let go of this idea, especially as I have been pushing it for such a long time, and in some ways wanted to prove to everybody that i can do it, but I think it has completely drained me, and has proven to be so problematic that in the end I need to move away from it and sculpt my degree show in a new way...

I am now going to really focus on the core concept of this piece, which is human resonance. I have already been talking with different tutors of the possibilities and choices that I can now take in order to create a new direction for this project. I still want to keep some key elements, like the soil and perhaps still work with some sort of sculptural element but on a much smaller scale, and perhaps work with found or recycled objects. I want to think of a way to sculpt this concept and make it much more simple and ephemeral, and almost invisible. I started to think yesterday of what people expect to see at a degree show, and I guess they are looking for a spectacle, some sort of show, and something that they can witness...

So I decided to look up the definition of 'Spectacle':

Here is a continuation of the definition:

3. Something that can be seen or viewed, especially something of a remarkable or impressive nature.
4. A ceremonial.
5. A visual representation of something.
6. Sight, anything that is seen.

Looking at the definition of 'spectacle' made me realise that I actually want to create something beyond the visionary. In many ways my practice has always tried to move away from the 'image' and tried to create art that is much more about sensory experiences. This is one of the major reasons I have worked with sound as a medium, as it is much more intuitive and allows the public to experience something much more intimate and physical. If there is one aspect of the spectacle that I do connect with, it is this idea of 'ceremony', as all the sites I have visited have existed as sited for ceremonial rituals in themselves. I think it is here that I must focus my piece and work around this concept. I want to work through a much more intuitive sense, something which cannot tell us what you are looking at, something that is felt through the person who exists in the time and space of the piece...

As part of this reflective process, this week I had a tutorial with Nilla and realised that what lies at the core of this project is : 'THE VOICE'. And especially my own relationship to space through using my voice. I think that in some ways I have been too focused on constructing this space and dismissing the very core of the piece which is the human voice projected inside it. I am now going to focus on how I can create a space to project my voice into, creating a 'sonic spectacle' in which the public can feel human resonance, projected through my invisible voice.

I have now been thinking of working with my recordings to create a surround sound sonic experience. I have been thinking of ways in which I can still incorporate the sculptural elements into my piece, especially working with metal and earth, which were two of the main materials that resonated my experiences in the sites I visited. Metal for its resonating properties and earth for its symbolism to the cycle of life & death. I don't want to loose all my research and process, yet I want to now bend it in a new direction, focusing more on the voice, rather than the space. I now envision the piece as a room-sized installation, still immersive, still personal and private, yet with invisible architecture, an open space. It will be he sound itself that illustrates the space for the viewer, allowing you to be transported through the sonic presence of these places. It will be a journey through the human voice.

Sound Culture....

Yesterday I came across this very interesting article that talks about how sound was used in the prehistoric ages. Back then sound was a much bigger part of society and was used as a tool to understand our surroundings as well as human culture and presence. Sound was alos a big part in understanding and learning about our  environment. The whole piece just really made me realise how much we have stopped listening to space and how much the world revolves around visual representations. Yet sound is an extremely wonderful way of experiencing things because it is completely intangible, it is different for everyone, it cannot form as one shape or vision,
it lets the person envision it inside them, invisibly~ Sound is something that you cannot see, only feel...

"Vision in this conception defines the self individually in opposition 

to others; hearing defines the self socially in relation to others."- 

Tim Ingold, Hearing and Human Movement, Perception of the Environment. (2002)
~

"When it comes to affairs of the soul, emotion and feeling, or of the 'inwardness' of life, hearing surpasses seeing as understanding goes beyond knowledge, and as faith transcends reason."- Ibid 
~
"Sound brings the world to life, it can appear to fill spaces, create atmospheres, and have an intense emotive power." 

~
http://soundsofstonehenge.wordpress.com/introduction/

Aural Cultures...

:The Primacy of Atmosphere (p170)

~"We know how much sound, colour, and light can modify the way we experience living spaces. A cathedral appears handsomer when organ music is hear: we sense the music's harmonizing influence as the resonating tones of a chorale penetrate the transepts and the nave. Likewise, in a theatre we notice a change as the lights are turned off and people suddenly cease to talk to each other. To be sure, the sounds or lights do not modify aspects of these spaces; they merely evoke momentary and latent significance that we experience as atmosphere."


"Wherever we are, in a small room or in the middle of the ocean, we are constantly exposed to a particular atmosphere. Although we do not always notice it, the contact with an atmosphere, according to Bohme, is just as much a fundamental feature of human existence as are consciousness or embodiment."


SITE OF SOUND....


:Character of the physical space and structure in the absence of performance input (p34)
~"Everything associated with a physical structure continuously vibrates. The walls, the floors and ceilings of the structure itself; the air volume within the structure (and outside of it); the ground underneath; the temporary and permanent furnishings and features; and the people within it, are in motion."


:Listening to the Body (p39)


~"Examine building as a body, listening to sounds within the structure as it is alive; there is sound, breathing air flows, digestion water flow, blood flow is...? As in a body these sounds of life can be heard almost anywhere, but are the loudest close to the mechanical plant and piping. As in a living body, the sounds are very subtle- but this does not diminish their critical nature or that fo their sources."


~"If there is traffic vibration or other (nearly inaudible) vibration present, not only does architecture imply sound, but the environment implies sound, and the environment is modified by the presence of the building. External sources appear as vibration in the floors and walls, also filtered according to the resonant characteristics of those structures. The vibration amplitudes can be significant enough to radiate from the walls as audible noise, or they can be amplified."


~"Resonance is more than a medium (in a medium) conducting ideas in time: it defines (along with the absorption associated with each reflection)-or rather confines-the limits of the language of the environment. Light always takes the shortest path between two points. Will to action in this manner is at least more efficient, if not more effective."


:Acoustics and space (p234)
~Naturally 'distant' sounds are placed on the six peripheral loudspeakers to create a distant sound field. Sounds of ambiguous spatial identity are played mainly over the central triangular arrangements, appearing as 'objects' or sculptural sound-mobiles. The triangles define two intimate zones where sequences ranging from ten seconds to a few minutes unfold. Low volume prevents strong reverberation blooms."

Witness (2000), Susan Hiller. 

~"The great Philosopher Plato believed that the strongest of all life's influences is music. In his treatise Temaeus, Plato describes the numerical (vibrational-musical) creation of the physical universe and the soul, which animates it. He called his students to activate the ancient sites and sacred temples of the earth with sacred song, employing 'perceptual choirs' in order to echo the harmonies of the Heavenly Choir."- Ani Williams, Music & Healing. 

Singing Through Walls...

"Exchange with me...."

'Singing Through Walls' was a small performance piece I did as part of the event 'In the Absence of...' The performance was inspired by the gallery space, as when looking for a place to do my previous 1-1 performance, I found a corner with a small gap in the wall. The gap was like a slit  and followed through to another slit, allowing two people to dialogue, like a whispering wall. For the piece, I stood in one corder and the audience member stood in the other corner. At the beginning I asked the audience to come and exchange with me.....I would sing to them, and they could aslo sing to me...Through the gap you could not see each other, yet you could feel the breathe of the person and you could hear them. This was another very lovely intimate experience and it allowed me to use the voice in different ways to create a different experience.

"Sylvia Law performed a stunningly simple resonance piece in which she sang through a hollow wall to someone on the other side. Both pressed into the corners facing the wall, the result was a beautiful and powerful one to one experience."- Beth Savage, performer & participant. 

Exploring the city....

'In the Absence of...'

 "What is the real story? Where is the meaning? What is reality? Where is memory? 

What sense can be made of experience? Or is there only the present? 

Why do I make performances? Is it to make sense of experience or to make sense of myself?"

                                                             ~

'In the Absence of...' was an event organised by Richard Layzell and Jonathan Baxter to celebrate the performance culture and emerging artists within the medium across Scotland. The event was held at the Hannah Maclure Centre and invited artists from Dundee, Aberdeen Glasgow & Edinburgh to come together and showcase a series of different works. I was involved in the night and did a piece called 'Singing Through Walls', which proved to be very successful. Other performers included Layzell himself, who did a wonderful and animated talk called 'The River Flows' about his time in China. He showed a powerpoint presentation with outbursts of tai chi and improvised dancing. There was also performances from Performance Platformer's Beth Savage and Ruth Aitken as well as a video screening from the collective. Beth did a piece called 'Felix Felis', which translates to happy cat. The performance was very intense as it witnessed Beth sit down to a dinner of cat food. Ruth did a piece exploring trance and numbers, where we all had to form circles and chant the number of the circle we were in. Then two girls from Aberdeen did an interactive piece outside where the audience had to take sides and join in a game. The evening was wonderful and marked a lovely ending to the entire week.

http://www.d-air.org/content/080312-absence

A week with Richard Layzell....

This week I went on a wonderful adventure, but this time I stayed in Dundee....
I have been looking forward to the workshop since the beginning of semester. It has always been a focal point to the year and as it is extremely eye opening and full of discovery. I was lucky enough to experience the process in second year, because I was going on erasmus for the following year. That time was incredibly influential to my direction as an artist, and now 2 years later, doing it again revealed how much I have changed and grown and in some ways have become much clearer about my identity as an artist. The whole week opened me to a different way of seeing and understanding my presence within the city...
Richard Layzell comes to Dundee every year to do a 3 day immersive performance workshop where we all go into the city and interact with it. It is a workshop that makes you aware of your environment and asks to create dialogues in which you can explore this relationship.This week consisted of two different workshops, one that was organised through the art college and another that was organised with D-AiR. I decided to do both and take a whole week out to explore the more ephemeral and live elements of my personal project. This has been a chance to get away from all the stress and the endless frustration and negotiation of space, and to be able to let go and breathe and see things in a completely different light...For me, this week has been all about exploring the feeling behind my piece, and the human aspects that are still very integral to the over all idea. This has been a time to play with it, test it in new ways and situations and to share it with other people, so it has grown beyond me and into a wider atmosphere and understanding.
For the week I focused on singing as a tool to connect with the environment and also with people. Through out the week I played with my voice, seeing how I could use it to create different works and how by changing the site I projected into created different atmospheres and experiences.
The first day we stayed inside, warmign up and doing activites in groups, and creating small journeys for each other- I loved this. The first day I was in a group with Morgan and Marc and our first performance together included involved us counting in different languages and coming together. Richard helps you see how simple performance works can be and more importantly how quick we can create a spectacle from nothing. The second day we ventured out into the city and started to interact with public spaces. There is something magical about using public space in different ways, even with a simple action like applauding, it stirs people and they begin to notice a change in their normal environment, all of a sudden we become very visible. That day I did a wonderful piece with Katy Meehan, another performance artist from the college, and together we sang to the Tay. It was a truly magical experience, we stood side by side, eyes and listened to each other through the body of the water. If anything it proved that you do not have to travel to find magic in places, in the past I have always travelled to different sites to have these experiences, but there I was, standing facing the Tay, a landmark I see everyday and singing to the open water. I had the same overwhelming feeling of empathy and connection with the space, like it was feeding into me, and I into it. Singing really is like an outer body experience, you completely loose sensation, yet this time I had Katy's voice beside me, and we created the dialogue and experience together. It was extremely beautiful and moving, and when I finally opened my eyes, everything was blue, my eyes had to adjust to the light, it was like awakening from a very long dream. Extremely overwhelming....

The last day I did a small performance piece where I hid inside a cupboard and welcomed one person to enter at a time. This was a 1-1 performance, the audience and performer. The audience member was blindfolded and couldn't see me. As they entered the space, I took their hands and led them into the darkness. One there, in the silence, I opened up and sang to them. It was a very touching experience for me because it was so intimate, no one could hear us or see us, only we could witness this happening, it it completely depended on the two bodies meeting. I felt very emotional and connected to the person and I was told afterwards that it was very moving and beautiful. I was an invisible body, they never saw me, but they heard and felt me.
This week has been hugely inspiring and I have overcome my fears of performing and of being spontaneous and instinctive. I think that that I need to listen much more to my silent voice, the one that is not fearful or listening to any other voices, it is a very pure voice and one that s hard to hear, but it is one that seems to know where to take you, it knows what you can do, and it finds the perfect moment in which to do it. It is with this new energy and way of listening to what is happening around me that I will overcome what arises and will continue work it now with this clarity and direction...