Artist Studies & Responses:
Bruce Nauman
Sound Installation - 'Days'
-(Exploring the theme of 'Time' in Sound Art)
Bruce Nauman: Sound Installation - 'Raw Materials'
-(Exploring 'spoken text')
http://www2.tate.org.uk/brucenauman/ _ Isolated sound files, on the Tate website.
Tate: interview...Nauman has created a fascinating and provocative sound work which engages visitors as they progress through the space. Below is a section of interview with Nauman, where he explains the process of creating this work:
Robert Storr Could you describe how your Turbine Hall project got started? When and how did the idea come to you? Bruce Nauman I don’t remember exactly. I was asked by Tate whether I would be interested in making a proposal, but there was a time limit because if I didn’t want to do it, then they would need to approach someone else. So I went and looked at the space – and it’s extremely difficult. I came home and thought about it and decided I could do something with sound; that seemed the best thing for me. After a while I realised that instead of inventing new sounds, I wanted to use spoken text I had recorded over the past 30 or 40 years and make a kind of a collage. The people at Tate said that would be fine, so I got the materials together and went back when the space was finally empty. I was able to test some of the ideas and at that point really refine the way that I thought the project could work. . |
...My ThoughtsI really like Nauman's representation in the simplicity and complexity of communication. He states ‘Some texts are going to be reinforced, some will lose a lot compared with my original intentions, but I think that is okay. I’m just going to let that happen, however it happens. They’re out of context, so they become a whole new kind of experience… I am using these otherwise finished texts as raw material for a whole other idea… I am not as emotionally involved with the individual pieces as I would be if I were trying to re-install each one. I’m using this stuff in a kind of abstract way, or pretending it is abstract and allowing almost random associations to appear.’ I find this fascinating in how his work randomised in a hall filled with simplistic words can create an impact on the depiction of communication.
His piece involves disembodied voices which are fragmented, unrelated and randomised which creates a sense of instability, where a single thing has many layers of meaning that often contradict one another, which is the focus of his work. This may be due to his influences from the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein which has fascinated hime with the deconstruction of language. For example some fragments of sound such as (‘Good Boy Bad Boy’ or ‘World Peace’) follows a pattern in which different words or phrases are conjugated like verbs, repeated in different voices to extract a variety of meanings. In ‘World Peace’ which contains the voices of a man and woman reciting a series of simple phrases. He Centres the focus around the verbs ‘talk’ and ‘listen’, such as ‘I’ll talk/ They’ll listen’ and ‘You’ll listen to us/ We’ll talk to you.’ I found this humorous and ironic due to the title, the voices are reconstructing and ordering sentences in a pattern and each time it makes sense but together shows the complexity of communication. |
Artist Study: China Blue
Sound Installation - 'The Calls'
Image : “Dust Messages” by Seth Horowitz taken at the World Trade Center on 9/11
Click on This image to listen to 'The Calls'
Click on This image to listen to 'The Calls'
From The Artists Web Page: This is a sound piece is an ode to the 9/11 event and the World Trade Center. Created in collaboration with Dr. Seth Horowitz Exhibited at Pace University, NY in Digiscape: Unexplored Terrain “China Blue…turns the notion of technological advancement into a paradox. “The Calls,” (2006) is a sound piece that centers around the World Trace Center attacks that took place on Septtember 11, 2001. Voices of the control tower dispatchers with the pilots are missed with dial tones echo range of musical scale that sounds pleasant but eerie. The dial tones were derived from available statistics about the World Trade Center: how tall it was how many people died etc. Voices from the airplanes and control tower can be heard faintly in the background, preserving the fatal last minutes in a shroud of mystery.” [6] |
My Thoughts:
China Blue’s use of dial tones as the main base of her work is ambiguous. The dial Tones could easily be mistaken for a slightly deformed ambulance sound, the tones were obtained through statistics based on the world trade centre they are rhythmic and almost upbeat which juxtaposes the distorted distressing calls of 9/11. I like that the voices are distorted and that I am unable to make out the words, yet, I am still able to listen an distinguish they are distress calls through muffled downed out sound. |
China Blue Response: 7/7 PTSD experiemnet
Content of Work
I have recorded my screen, to show the fragmented collection of sound files, each of which were edited and refined to contain snippets of train noises, echoing effects, volume bars, tempo and timing, I have collected many train noises, attempting to edit them in a way that is unnerving and overwhelming, For example the sound file selected from the Kings Cross station announcement was cut to: "The Last Carriage", "Leave the train" and "Upon Arrival The Last Set Of Doors Will Not Open". I cropped these sounds from a long audio clip and used variation in echoing and volume to emphasise the reality of the 7/7 train journey. I have also Included the St.Paul's service, which included the 52 names of the deceased. This file plays throughout the piece which puts the mass death into perspective. It also juxtaposes the off tune piano which is also consistent throughout, this adds to the PTSD influence to my response, accompanied by the train beeping and doors closing which has been repeated in a beat to compliment the piano. This approach has made the audio uneasy and nightmarish, I have also included 'suspense' sound affects (which are distorted sections of a train stopping) at pin points in the clip to build the tension and uncomfortable atmosphere I have attempted to create.
I have recorded my screen, to show the fragmented collection of sound files, each of which were edited and refined to contain snippets of train noises, echoing effects, volume bars, tempo and timing, I have collected many train noises, attempting to edit them in a way that is unnerving and overwhelming, For example the sound file selected from the Kings Cross station announcement was cut to: "The Last Carriage", "Leave the train" and "Upon Arrival The Last Set Of Doors Will Not Open". I cropped these sounds from a long audio clip and used variation in echoing and volume to emphasise the reality of the 7/7 train journey. I have also Included the St.Paul's service, which included the 52 names of the deceased. This file plays throughout the piece which puts the mass death into perspective. It also juxtaposes the off tune piano which is also consistent throughout, this adds to the PTSD influence to my response, accompanied by the train beeping and doors closing which has been repeated in a beat to compliment the piano. This approach has made the audio uneasy and nightmarish, I have also included 'suspense' sound affects (which are distorted sections of a train stopping) at pin points in the clip to build the tension and uncomfortable atmosphere I have attempted to create.
Content of Visual My Work
This is my original (ptsd) audio file linked to 7/7, I had decided to develop my work further by adding movement and lighting to accampany the sound. Through trial and error and exploration of different movements, I was able to construct an appropriate relation between sound and visual elements. The lighting has been used to signify an abnormality to ordinary life. It separates reality to the disorder of (ptsd). The movements start mechanical, again juxtaposing reality. The piece develops into aggressive movement metaphorical of the frustration and anger experienced with (ptsd) and nightmarish subconscious dreams. By synchronising and moving to the 'train' beat and tempo, it builds an uncomfortable and sinister atmosphere. Concluding by the awake (return to reality) and distress of the victim. (Through the use of the edited 'echoing suspense train' SFX).
Analysis:The small audio file took a total of 4-5 hours, in this time I experimented with positioning, timing and volume, I had explored various backing tracks (Piano audio) to accompany my edited train sounds, I decided to use the piano clip as it was slow and worked well with the other various content, other audio files overpowered the audio or were to hard to expand and develop.
|
Development: Whats Next?Now that I have found and edited audio clips that relate to the event. I can experiment and explore variation in techniques. I would like proceed by studying the sound artist: 'China Blue' and responding to her work 'The Calls' which is a piece in ode to the 9/11 event. (This work will be shown in detail, with my response, analysis, content and my next steps to develop my investigation of sound art on the next blog page.
Experimentation: Techniques and IntentIntent:
My intent is to accomplish the same eerie, distant sound that 'China Blue' uses to recreate the atmosphere of the event. I will be doing this with the 7/7/ audio files I have collected. Experimentation: I will be focussing on techniques involving: echo range, tempo and volume alterations of original files. |
Artist Study: Florian Hecker
Sound Installation: Chimerization
I went to Heckers exhibition
Artist Study: Lex Wilson
There is limited information on this typography artist. He has many videos and images posted on sites such at Youtube and Pinterest, This initially struck my interest in words, I decided to make a small clay model to get a feel for the process of creating a 3D typography illusion.
My Response:
I found this experiment very helpful in my investigation of dyslexia, I am unsure if i would like to pursue this idea as it is very difficult to manipulate certain letters to read from two different angles, without making them illegible. See sketchbook for experimentation with letter amalgamations.
Artist Study: Daniel Britton
Daniel Britton, 25, is a student at the London School of Communications, who has created works within the fields of graphic design, photography, illustration, editorial design, branding, and advertisement. ‘Dyslexia’ 2013 is an art work created by Britton that would allow understanding and a sense of empathy between non dyslexics and dyslexics. Britton's work is very simple once you have studied the development process of his final poster. His intent is to show his work in reverse, in the images below we see how Britton has documented his development:
The first stage of his work ‘Alphabet’ consists of breaking down the structure of letters, creating a dyslexic alphabet. Britton subtracts the most important visual information from each letter. The letters remain eligible because of their spatial relationship in comparison to other letters. The black letters are the standard lettering that represent the adjacent red.
For example we know this is an ’N’ because there are no other negative slants in the alphabet. Our initial interpretation of this would be to assume the red is an ‘O’ but in order to understand the sequence we have to remember that every letter has undergone a subtraction of parts, so we should now see this as a ‘Q’ Now that we understand the subtraction of parts, Britton then shows us ‘Division’ which is the separation of black and red. The red is now the discarded part and the black that remains become the new alphabet. |
The final poster ‘Message’ is the main artwork that Britton exhibits, the previous two become the key that decode the new alphabet. Britton wants us to struggle to comprehend the symbols in front of us. It is purposely a lengthy process to make sense of the subtraction of parts and to reconnect the missing information. What this new typeface does is purposefully slow down the time that it would normally take a fluent reader to be able to access the text. Britton explains the purpose of his work: ’I wanted to make non-Dyslexic people understand what it is like to read with the condition and to recreate the frustration and embarrassment of reading everyday text and then in turn to create a better understanding of the condition,’[] His work eliminates the stereotypical content of other dyslexia awareness work, focussing instead, on time and decoding instead of jumping letters, eyestrain and colour. For the majority of dyslexic people the letters and numbers do not jump around on the page, the colours remain the same and they do not see flipped lettering such as a ‘b’ as a ‘d’. Britton's work focusses on the most commonly shared trait which is the inability to break down communication between the eye and the brain. For most people you can see the information, you can see perfectly, each and every letter form but there is something in your mind that is stopping or slowing the process of information and for most this is Dyslexia.
Beginning My Sculpture
After mind mapping and drawing initial idea sketches, I came up with the idea to make 3D letters made of thick card. I decided to make the word 'Dyslexia', to link to my personal investigation. After experimenting with my initial idea of making a large scale Lex Wilson inspired piece involving the word dyslexia one side and a misspelling 'dislexiya' on the other side. After sketching and using clay to experiment with the idea I found that it wasn't going to plan due to the complications of making an 's' and 'x' read both sides. So I changed my idea after researching Daniel Britton. I decided that two boards adjacent to one another might work - one spelling dyslexia and one spelling dyslexia using Daniel Britton's Alphabet.
Stage One:
Gum tape and using a hot glue gun to
assemble card
Stage Two:
Spray Painting the letters Black
Stage Three:
Spray Painting Red
'Dan Britton Highlights'
Stage Four:
Repeating stage one in the shape of
Daniel Britton's Alphabet
Stage Five:
Painting Black, Then spray painting
Faces Red
Stage Six:
Assembling Two Boards,
Painting with white emulsion
Then green
The colour green was chosen because
I use it as an overlay for reading.
Stage Seven:
Nailing Each Letter Into The boards.
Daniel Britton's alphabet it the reflection f the image below, I constructed each letter flipped to add to the confusion when trying to decode the word.
Stage Eight:
Stage eight was to erect the sculpture to head height, My idea was to have two binaural channels projecting my soon to be made soundscape from speakers, either side of your head as you walk through. After studying both Florian Hecker and Bruce Nauman, I found that this idea wasn't as effective as their immersive soundscapes. At this stage I wasn't happy with the work I had produced, I disliked the idea because the piece wasn't as polished as I had hoped due to my limitations in materials and money. I also found the word dyslexia was way too obvious, it ruined my intentions of a confusing piece.
I decided to reconstruct the sculpture in a different way. I wanted to control the space the audience would be in, My initial idea was to build a cube from wood but I found that buying four large canvases and screwing them together at the joints would be quicker and would allow for the sculpture to be light and easier to apply materials to.
I decided to reconstruct the sculpture in a different way. I wanted to control the space the audience would be in, My initial idea was to build a cube from wood but I found that buying four large canvases and screwing them together at the joints would be quicker and would allow for the sculpture to be light and easier to apply materials to.
Reconstructing My Sculpture:
Stage One: combining the canvases and arranging my composition.
I decided to mix the letters up on each side to add to aesthetic appeal. I also wanted to experiment with a new idea involving the Dan Britton inspired letters i decided to combine what i had learnt from both Britton and Lex Wilson, so i used The Britton symbols to read different letters from various points in the room to add to confusion and distort the viewing experience.
Stage One:
Paper Mache- to strengthen
and to firmly attach the letters.
Stage Two: Painting
Stage Three: Veins
This was done to tie the sculpture together, to add more texture and make the sculpture relatable to a brain, linking to my theme of dyslexia.
Stage Five: Roots
This was done to further distort the shapes of the letters and to add to the nature aspect of the piece.
Stage Six: Final Paint Job
Gallery Including all Six Stages,
better quality view:
Creating Sound Scape
Inspired By Nauman and Hecker
There are many personal references within the audio, the majority of content is from what i can remember from my dyslexia screening. The remaining sound is thoughts and confusing language that continuously I think about...
I was inspired by both Hecker and Nauman when constructing the sound file. There is further editing to commence i will be overlaying a recording of directions that the listener will initially focus on, directions such as stop being lazy and open your book, can you repeat what i have just read etc.
My dyslexia and own personal experiences drove the force of this artwork. I wanted to construct an artwork that expresses my own personal experience, the sculpture and sound combined allow for the participant to feel how i feel when trying to concentrate and comprehend language. it provides insight in the desire to understand but being prevented.
I was inspired by both Hecker and Nauman when constructing the sound file. There is further editing to commence i will be overlaying a recording of directions that the listener will initially focus on, directions such as stop being lazy and open your book, can you repeat what i have just read etc.
My dyslexia and own personal experiences drove the force of this artwork. I wanted to construct an artwork that expresses my own personal experience, the sculpture and sound combined allow for the participant to feel how i feel when trying to concentrate and comprehend language. it provides insight in the desire to understand but being prevented.
Stage One:
Brainstorming, See Sketchbook...
Below is a pasted word document of a script I created and decided to record. The script includes my thoughts and my own personal confusion with language.
This includes references to experiences such as lessons and things that have happened to me.
Here it is:
Sound Art Experiemnet, wait …. experiment, …there we are.
soa……. ifa…… eyea ……spella…… thingsa ……wronga…… it’lla be… sedda ….. wronga
I wondera fi i sepll tinghs in with with the frist and lsat lteter in the rgiht plcae it will say them corrcetly obviously nto not
i ….dislexic…. walkas…. into….. a bra
you may not want to be here, you may not want to hear,
when you putt, you put, the ball in the whole…. hole.
ran run running, walk walked walking, write——- wrote—— written —-writer—— is that—— right you rioter?
bruce……. bruise……… brews……………………. bruce……………bruise………………..brews….. b r u c e…bruce…………..b r u i s e …bruise………… b r e w s …brews…
Bruce brews when he has a bruise.
no way i thought bruce bruised when he drank a brew.
———-Yeah many people think it happened because his brew bruised bruce.
————But they’re wrong bruce deffinitly brews when he has a bruise.
——- Anyway enough of brews, for gods sake i mean bruce
”The two boys want to play too." you can play too, if the two boys want to.
If there are two of us then, they can come too,depending on where we go to.
where? well we’re going to wear them to where ever we want! thats were the worn best.
….. are you an ….heir…. that breathes in …..air?
there was book you could buy, called bye bye, by…. your mum
now when i think, i remember being quite high, saying hi….. not drugs of course but height
now the most annoying thing is when …….you’re…… made a fool of, for writing …..’your’ …..instead …. —you’re……… in as ……….you are…
remmeber that stupidity? —Spruce Bringstein
—and who could forget jikal Mackson …..
bow, and when you bow down.
now why are theese spelt the same?…
mean differnt things… yet my computer always reads it as bow… in as you tie a bow… but not when you bow down… b o w …..for both yet …. she chooses bow each time… biased bitch, she said it not me.
whether you had faith or no faith, whether you had faif or no faif, fayf or fayf its said faith but i can never tell…
so i say faif… in as: f —a— i— f…. no th mouth moevemnt, and thats called diction… but when you say diction…d i c t i o n, you don’t make a: …..Tee….. noise with you mouth, you say dickshon…thats in as d i c k , s h o n… now that just spells rude to me
no problem i’ve got this, …..things that rhyme yeah?….. okay how many?…… as many as you can— oh okay no worries,……… okay go!
hat, ummmm, mat, ummmm, cat, ummmm, rat, ummm, pat, urmmmmm, shat? ummmm, ummm, urhhhhhhhh urmmmm -lat… thats not a word .. …cat? oh no! i’ve said that …. BAT! ….. urmmmm… ummmm…. ummmm, cat? …..Run out of time. … how embaressing.
what else is there?… well there’s, there, their, they’re, and well there is all of em
—hi —-hey —-hello….. astalueygo………. spanish was never my strong point………..— o-o greyham
well whats always confused me is my own accent… wether i should say bath, or……….. baff ….
grass… or …….grasss….…. ……. francis bacon… or fransis bacon… that always confuses me i know i say ………..bath… and not …………….baff………….. and of course grass ——not grasss——thats up north, but seriously, which one is right? francis bacon… or fransis bacon… listen can you hear it? francis bacon…. or fransis bacon…. how is it said here? i can hear the differnce but how is it said here?
well when you type and listen listen type it sounds the same… but i hear the difference which one bloody is it….. the frustration is real..
cat dog pony? horse! no wait urrrhhh house hat horse pony no, um cat hat, —urm did i say—- hat?
im going down to frustration town
name as many animals as you can, begining with…… …. tee.
tyranasaurus rex, does that count?
but hey seriously, …..another frustrating thing, is that i have been studying dyslexia, hence the sound art about my struggles and the whole sculpture malarky….. Psycholinguistics within Visual and Auditory based works of art……. can we just apriciate p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c s….. i always spell is p y c h o l i n g u i s t i c k s and auto correct doesnt know what the hell im trying to type even tho its quite a similar spelling……i think anyway ………………in order to write this essay i have had to write the words Psycholinguistics, phonological processing and comprehension ….. now the irony here is that, i had to copy and paste those words from the essay,… because i turnt auto correct of my laptop in order to write weird words like wronga… hmmm funny i guess. …
also just another quick comment,….. could someone please… please ….PLEASE!………. explain to me why the english language pronounces …………c o u g h………… as cough………………………… and…………. d o u g h …………………as……………… dough….
its blimmin mind boggling…….. is it not?
Sound Art Experiemnet, wait …. experiment, …there we are.
soa……. ifa…… eyea ……spella…… thingsa ……wronga…… it’lla be… sedda ….. wronga
I wondera fi i sepll tinghs in with with the frist and lsat lteter in the rgiht plcae it will say them corrcetly obviously nto not
i ….dislexic…. walkas…. into….. a bra
you may not want to be here, you may not want to hear,
when you putt, you put, the ball in the whole…. hole.
ran run running, walk walked walking, write——- wrote—— written —-writer—— is that—— right you rioter?
bruce……. bruise……… brews……………………. bruce……………bruise………………..brews….. b r u c e…bruce…………..b r u i s e …bruise………… b r e w s …brews…
Bruce brews when he has a bruise.
no way i thought bruce bruised when he drank a brew.
———-Yeah many people think it happened because his brew bruised bruce.
————But they’re wrong bruce deffinitly brews when he has a bruise.
——- Anyway enough of brews, for gods sake i mean bruce
”The two boys want to play too." you can play too, if the two boys want to.
If there are two of us then, they can come too,depending on where we go to.
where? well we’re going to wear them to where ever we want! thats were the worn best.
….. are you an ….heir…. that breathes in …..air?
there was book you could buy, called bye bye, by…. your mum
now when i think, i remember being quite high, saying hi….. not drugs of course but height
now the most annoying thing is when …….you’re…… made a fool of, for writing …..’your’ …..instead …. —you’re……… in as ……….you are…
remmeber that stupidity? —Spruce Bringstein
—and who could forget jikal Mackson …..
bow, and when you bow down.
now why are theese spelt the same?…
mean differnt things… yet my computer always reads it as bow… in as you tie a bow… but not when you bow down… b o w …..for both yet …. she chooses bow each time… biased bitch, she said it not me.
whether you had faith or no faith, whether you had faif or no faif, fayf or fayf its said faith but i can never tell…
so i say faif… in as: f —a— i— f…. no th mouth moevemnt, and thats called diction… but when you say diction…d i c t i o n, you don’t make a: …..Tee….. noise with you mouth, you say dickshon…thats in as d i c k , s h o n… now that just spells rude to me
no problem i’ve got this, …..things that rhyme yeah?….. okay how many?…… as many as you can— oh okay no worries,……… okay go!
hat, ummmm, mat, ummmm, cat, ummmm, rat, ummm, pat, urmmmmm, shat? ummmm, ummm, urhhhhhhhh urmmmm -lat… thats not a word .. …cat? oh no! i’ve said that …. BAT! ….. urmmmm… ummmm…. ummmm, cat? …..Run out of time. … how embaressing.
what else is there?… well there’s, there, their, they’re, and well there is all of em
—hi —-hey —-hello….. astalueygo………. spanish was never my strong point………..— o-o greyham
well whats always confused me is my own accent… wether i should say bath, or……….. baff ….
grass… or …….grasss….…. ……. francis bacon… or fransis bacon… that always confuses me i know i say ………..bath… and not …………….baff………….. and of course grass ——not grasss——thats up north, but seriously, which one is right? francis bacon… or fransis bacon… listen can you hear it? francis bacon…. or fransis bacon…. how is it said here? i can hear the differnce but how is it said here?
well when you type and listen listen type it sounds the same… but i hear the difference which one bloody is it….. the frustration is real..
cat dog pony? horse! no wait urrrhhh house hat horse pony no, um cat hat, —urm did i say—- hat?
im going down to frustration town
name as many animals as you can, begining with…… …. tee.
tyranasaurus rex, does that count?
but hey seriously, …..another frustrating thing, is that i have been studying dyslexia, hence the sound art about my struggles and the whole sculpture malarky….. Psycholinguistics within Visual and Auditory based works of art……. can we just apriciate p s y c h o l i n g u i s t i c s….. i always spell is p y c h o l i n g u i s t i c k s and auto correct doesnt know what the hell im trying to type even tho its quite a similar spelling……i think anyway ………………in order to write this essay i have had to write the words Psycholinguistics, phonological processing and comprehension ….. now the irony here is that, i had to copy and paste those words from the essay,… because i turnt auto correct of my laptop in order to write weird words like wronga… hmmm funny i guess. …
also just another quick comment,….. could someone please… please ….PLEASE!………. explain to me why the english language pronounces …………c o u g h………… as cough………………………… and…………. d o u g h …………………as……………… dough….
its blimmin mind boggling…….. is it not?
Stage Two: Recording
I installed and recorded each seri voice on my computer. I use apple's Diction Tool on a daily basis as I am not a strong reader and find it hard to write without having a reader. It also helps me with grammar etc.
I decided to record various voices and overlay them in a garage band project, I experimented with lots of different arrangements. Due to the file type I was unable to document my stages of work. I have included beats, ringing and other sound inspired by Hecker as he adds interference to his soundscapes to prevent our comprehension of dialogue.
During my development I was provided with feedback that some of the listeners couldn't pick up on any of the sentences being said. I found that I created too much distortion within some parts of the soundscape by overlaying to many files in one channel.
I found that the most important thing to note when I was editing this was to keep my intentions in mind: I want to keep the attention of the listener but take away information when they are at the point of understanding. to constantly tease them throughout and to keep them engaged,
I decided to record various voices and overlay them in a garage band project, I experimented with lots of different arrangements. Due to the file type I was unable to document my stages of work. I have included beats, ringing and other sound inspired by Hecker as he adds interference to his soundscapes to prevent our comprehension of dialogue.
During my development I was provided with feedback that some of the listeners couldn't pick up on any of the sentences being said. I found that I created too much distortion within some parts of the soundscape by overlaying to many files in one channel.
I found that the most important thing to note when I was editing this was to keep my intentions in mind: I want to keep the attention of the listener but take away information when they are at the point of understanding. to constantly tease them throughout and to keep them engaged,