Monday, 13 June 2011
Monday, 14 March 2011
radio- the site, as common ground
The banal, the quotidian, the obvious, the ordinary, the infra-ordinary, the background noise, the habitual […] How are we going to speak of these common things, how to track them down, how to flush them out, wrest them from the dross in which they are mired, how to give them meaning, a tongue, to let them, finally, speak of what it is, who we are.
Gorges Perec,(1974) Species of Spaces
I work from the premise that
the environment can be considered a reservoir of sound possibilities , an instrumentarium used to give substance and shape to human relations and the everyday management of [urban]space
Schafer, R Murray, (2005) introduction to Sonic Experience.
My own place in space, the marking of my time there through sonic art as a medium and its many possibilities, the radio as a site of dissemination, and the choices I have made as an arranger, writer and recordist all are located within a 'acoustic ecology'- my sonic environment and my interactions with that space.
the environment can be considered a reservoir of sound possibilities , an instrumentarium used to give substance and shape to human relations and the everyday management of [urban]space
Schafer, R Murray, (2005) introduction to Sonic Experience.
My own place in space, the marking of my time there through sonic art as a medium and its many possibilities, the radio as a site of dissemination, and the choices I have made as an arranger, writer and recordist all are located within a 'acoustic ecology'- my sonic environment and my interactions with that space.
My work is site specific- almost oxymoronic- considering radio waves are all-pervasive and ever present- this work was designed with the exploration of relationship between listener, producer, place, sound, radio and in mind.
[Radio ART ] concentrates on sound at its point of signification, not a literal rendering which will collapse into cliché, but a sensitivity to the ways in which sound circulates, dissipates and re-emerges.
Dan Lander (1994)
I use Lander's words to emphasise radio's part in this work- I enjoy the quotes' double meaning- the 'point of signification' must mean both the point of generation and the point of reception, both are in relation in 'finding meaning'- the perceptive distortion of subjectivity is at both ends of the process. Writing about Sink Play throughout the project, and now after the playout listening to the CD might make it appear otherwise- a static work, a recording – but this was designed as a radio work- to be played through/ heard through the radio- hopefully within the washing up situation.
The use of the playout situation as the stage for the work was really exciting to me. Through radio I could address listeners directly; I chose the time of playout strategically- as a hopeful net to catch local FM range listeners engaged in washing up- thus facilitating a feedback loop which might offer a break with domestic (mental) monotony by simply underscoring it. Radio has the ability to enter into the listener's intimate immediate situation and to participate in their activity – it becomes another factor in activity: a listener uses radio to enhance what-ever-it-is-they-happen-to-be-doing- the activity of living....
Over a billion hours a week of radio listening take place in the UK. The vast majority of those hours take place in the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, the car and on the move... Abramsky J (2003)
Whilst recording, in also in regard to the playout situation, I considered the sites' influence on sound...
Reverberations occurring within the kitchen space – the reflections of noise off tile, glass, ceramic and metal- influenced the tone of the work. The initial 'field studies' I took of the kitchen produced abrasive noises with lots of attack. The zooms' sensitive stereo microphones were useful for close-up recording- this focused recording technique lent a industrial quality to the sound, for example the crashing of pans and highly defined clinking of masses of cutlery, which were both helpful to articulate ideas of manual labour and industrial work.
I was able to illustrate a more delicate and focused sound awareness through close up recordings too- such as the dripping tap and the hum of the fridge. I felt this amplification of specific repetitive sounds were a good foil for the more intimate (and in places almost whispered) vocal script.
Timbre and intensity are also modified by the play out situation- if the work is heard in the kitchen, then that spaces' acoustics are doubly influential- reflections of sound from the surrounding surfaces are added to the direct signal.
I tried hard to avoid writing a score to record- apart from the spoken text, sounds were unscripted - I wanted to hear the kitchen 'for itself' rather than using the materials there as traditional instruments.1 Maybe the accessibility of the listener to the sonic processes used in Sink Play may have engendered some kind of awareness and interactivity- radioart is often a exploration of the listener producer relationship unfolding.... This was a element I recognised as part of my desire for interaction- would a listener find themselves jamming with the show as they worked- scrubbing along, ting-ting-tinging clatter over running water bang (bang)...enjoying and improvising the work-at-hand, if only by the novelty of hearing this unusual use of radio.
I recorded in 5 different kitchens- I wanted to hear a difference in the atmospherics of each- allowing for discrepancies in gain, and volume of play, there is a noticeable difference for example, Frankie's rough plastered and wood clad kitchen 3m X 4m and Corrine's large glass window and metal and Formica surfaces 6m x 5m. These contrasts aren't made obvious within the progression of Sink Play, but this was interesting to me as a recordist interested in the acoustics of space.... This effect of the location's influence is known as it's 'colour'. (p28, Sonic Experience).
Although these kitchens offered different colours, there were themes that continued through them all- I was aware of the fridge's bassy droning,-it's hum, and wanted to use this like a meditative 'OM'. Electrical equipment such as the fridge, fluorescent tubes and mechanical ventilation, all found in kitchens, are aligned on the frequency of the European electrical network which is 5o Hz. (p52 sonic Experience). Finding and highlighting similarities and possible relationships has been a conceptual element of my process- the work is a seeking to understand and liberate (re imagine) a 'lonely bored housewife'- the first stage in that is maybe to realise, simply, 'one is not alone'? Being aware of similarities, contingencies, company- and using radio as a common ground, these are the premises from which I as a woman, artist and human find the courage to question out loud my situation, and the world in which I exist.
The radio itself can be seen to provide a kind of drone- background noise- a territorial demarcation of the space in use by the 'listening individual'- I felt using the public medium of radio to focus for half an hour on the chore, and the worker, was a celebration to counter the marginalisation that... I suppose... myself and many other single parent mothers feel as they clear the kitchen yet again....
We are just private individuals here, with no other grounds for speaking or for speaking together, that a certain shared difficulty in enduring what is taking place.
Who appointed us then? No one. And that is what precisely constitutes our right
Michel Foucault (1984)
This beautiful quote finds relevance in all circles of experience, from intimate relationships to international politics- a genuine, humane and engaged articulation (I think of sonic arts: Diamanda Galas' screaming, Artaud's 'To Be Done With The Judgement of God', alongside the pirate broadcasts of Irish womens' group, rebels, Martin Luther King's speeches...) bringing possibilities to light.
So why not just talk face to face? There is a agenda involved in this radio project- for me it is a 'practice of freedom' (Foucault) my desire to subvert and unlock the traditional and problematic control of the airwaves by specialists, and my desire that female roles/my role/ in society/ the home/ in my imagination be developed, understood and deepened)
(I wondered about the classification of my work- is this live art? Is this interactive theatre? There are ritualistic aspects to both the chore and domestic procedures- and the accompaniment of radio programming and listening within that situation is part of that ritualistic activity-.In the first instance of washing up, sounds signify specific actions as clearly as the ringing of bells or beating of drums. The theatrical aspects of the work, using a set script, having a progression, and some narrative etc worried me- are these strategies for restriction? Are they immature and outdated? Is 'having a desired response', an intention, uncool? These are all questions this work invokes- Uni documentation requires so much self reflection one becomes sick of writing the word 'I'- it is what it is- undefinable)
Radio has multitudinous uses- that of the mask is most obvious-radio play sits over the primary sounds of the listening environment, filling what might be considered empty.
I wanted to explore this- even with 12 available FM stations, I could not find what I wanted to hear-nothing playing seemed right -the relationship between my ears, my desires, what is available, my control of that, others' influence, are all at play- a result of the mediated environment lifestyle). Whatever is 'on', the imported sound can be considered as parasitic or favourable to the original sonic environment, complimenting or overwhelming it. Which value is decided subjectively by each listener.
Radio is widely accepted as a background sound2- used as accompaniment to life's activities- not a listening experience that seeks to immerse but rather to compliment a listening situation (apposed to, for example the traditional listening environment of the seated concert hall where a more complete sonic immersion is often the focus of the space and the event).
Sonic Experience asks the question:
Is background sound (radio and television) not a mask covering the “acoustic nothingness” within which the individual and his or her solitude is immersed? (P 71 Sonic Experience)
The domestic environment is often a negotiated place, cohabited and noisy, so this question might be enquiring of the solitude of the internal space. The effect of immersion relates to the dominance of a sonic field when several are at play within the same context. The primary sonic situation is usually considered to be that of the listening environment and the super imposed sound- (ie the radio playing Sink Play ) overlaid.Your own washing up sounds, the children playing tag in the garden, the traffic and passers by outside your window, however and and whatever environmental noise you are located within are part of your listening experience.
This illustrates one of radio's paradoxes- the interaction between the private and the public experience. Radio is a private comforter to the lonely and radio is a public link between groups of individuals in community. Rudolph Armheim imagined, in his text 'Radio' (1936)-
the omnipresence of what people are singing or saying anywhere, the over-leaping of frontiers, the conquest of spatial isolation, the importation of culture on the waves of ether, the same fare for all.
the omnipresence of what people are singing or saying anywhere, the over-leaping of frontiers, the conquest of spatial isolation, the importation of culture on the waves of ether, the same fare for all.
These possibilities are still available. Radio is a tool, and as with all media, the possibilities are reliant upon the desires and activities of producers and users. As a radio enthusiast, I feel very strongly that radio's role in social life is worthy of creative attention. Radio's role in society is of course non-static....
Regarding uses of radio, Tetsuo Kogawa (2002-2003) shares some great ideas in his Micro Radio Manifesto:
As a means to cover larger area, airwaves are wasteful and not ecological. Big radio is no more necessary. Sooner or later, large and global communication technologies will be integrated into the Internet. Radio, television and telephone will become local nodes to it. Thus globalists will discard such exiting medium [as FM radio]. So it is the time when radio and television (and even telephone) must re-find their own emancipating possibility.
Community Radio, as a intimate and domestic accompaniment, is very capable of exploring this space- that of the personal, that of the interpersonal- a practise of emancipation, a multi level multi disciplinary dialogue around issues that are pertinent to living, participating, interaction, and art. Tetsuo Kogawa runs workshops making Lo-Fi mini FM transmitters- to facilitate listeners onto the air. This lo-fi and people-based approach is what I am interested in- radio (transmitters/shows) by people -women at kitchen sinks, for people -women at kitchen sinks.
Some radio stations offer a strict format- dependable, predictable, following/ leading their chosen market, and some, such a arts community stations, cover a diverse a range of subjects, styles, and material in their programming. Sink Play would not have found airspace on the radio if it were not for the arts based community radio in my town- Soundart Radio 102.5 FM- a small station that really encourages listeners to produce work, exploring styles, passions, content, voices and subjects in a radical and supportive way.
Felix Guttari's idea of 'transmission transversal' clearly called for this rewriting of radio relationships -
unlike conventional radio, free radio does not impose programs on a mass audience whose numbers have been forecast, but freely comes across to a “molecular” public, so that it changes the nature of communication between those who listen and those who speak.
This is made possible by the approachability of the studio and transmitter- its location is approximate that of its reception. Free Radio's producers are its listeners- radio like this brings debate and conversation back into the (area of transmittance) public arena.
unlike conventional radio, free radio does not impose programs on a mass audience whose numbers have been forecast, but freely comes across to a “molecular” public, so that it changes the nature of communication between those who listen and those who speak.
This is made possible by the approachability of the studio and transmitter- its location is approximate that of its reception. Free Radio's producers are its listeners- radio like this brings debate and conversation back into the (area of transmittance) public arena.
Producing for radio is part of this dialogue- when I hear the artworks of Lucinda Guy, or Oima or David Strang on Soundart Radio, or recordings of Artaud or Gregory Whitehead, and read the writings of Tetsuo Kogawa or Christof Migone and Allen Weiss- I respond with radio work- entering into a ongoing relationship:
The Clash of differentiation with uniformity persists
In every radio listener until we are delivered
From the Kieregaardian panic of solitude
By uplinking with the emerging potentia state
That could be called the Broadcast Omniverse.
Frizzle/ Manderville,
And, of course, the small corner of my kitchen is a perfect place from which to work.
Bibliography:
Armheim, Rudolph. (1936) Radio. London: Faber & Faber
Foucault,Michel.(1984) Confronting Governments,Human Rights On the occasion of the announcement in Geneva of the creation of an International Committee against Piracy
Frizzle,Rev Dwight and Mandiville, Jay. 'Inaudible Transcript', in Experimental Sound and Radio,(2001) ed. Allen S. Weiss, A TDR Book, London
Frizzle,Rev Dwight and Mandiville, Jay. 'Inaudible Transcript', in Experimental Sound and Radio,(2001) ed. Allen S. Weiss, A TDR Book, London
Guattri, Felix (1978). Popular Free Radio, from La Nouvelle Critique and Rouge, trans David Sweet, in Radiotext(e) (1993) Semiotext(e), USA
Kogawa,Tetsuo(2002-2003) A Micro Radio Manifesto, http://anarchy.translocal.jp/non-japanese/radiorethink.html viewed 12/2/2011)
Lander,Dan (1994). 'Radio Casting: Musing on Radio and Art', in Radio Rethink, ed. Daina Augaitis and Dan Lander, Walter Philips Gallery, Canada
Perec,Georges. Species of Spaces (1974) quoted inThe Everyday (2004) p12, ed. Stephen Johnstone, Whitechapel and The MIT Press,Slovenia
Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds, Ed Jean-Francois Augoyard and Henry Torgue (2005) McGill-Quessn's university Press, Cananda.
Abramsky J (2003) The future of digital radio in Europe viewed 28/03/06,http://www.bbc.co.uk/ pressoffice/speeches/stories/abramsky_nab.shtml
1I enjoyed seeing and hearing the YouTube clip of this Swedish collective playing the composition of Ola Simonsson, in which they play a whole flat- 6 musicians interpreting their score in a novel way which must stay with the viewers as a kind of invitation- the sounds of the home holding such untapped potential....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SylGOskjWw&feature=player " Music For One Apartment And Six Drummers" viewed 13/3/2011
‘Radio listening is still a secondary activity - at any one time listeners spend 1% of their time listening to the radio as a main activity (i.e. doing nothing else)’ internal BBC presentation, MC andA audience consumer research, Daily Life survey, 2002/2003, for BBC , retrieved from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/radio/reports/bcr/)
imagining the listener
I write for myself Its not any other way.
I have been washing up instead of writing this documentation :-)
I made a work for radio broadcast- this work was available to anyone who cared to tune in, but was crafted specifically with women doing chores, and the listening situation of the domestic kitchen sink in mind. These are both situations I share with my imagined listener- who, essentially, is me- this whole project arises from the recognition of my own radio use and my wish to develop one very specific moment further.
I researched artists who worked with similar domestic themes.
The performance artist Bobby Baker gave a lot of inspiration for this work. She is a artist making intelligent, personal, humorous performance scores that often deal directly with the material of domesticity, the role of women, and the role of performance itself, intelligently considering and exposing these themes in a way that is accessible to the 'everyday person'.
Her piece that interested my most, Kitchen Show, was performed live in Baker's own kitchen. Sometimes labelled 'feminist autobiographical performance', Bakers' most famous works are action based performances which expose some element of a woman's lifestyle rawly (a formal meal, entertaining friends in your kitchen, shopping, and how we communally consider these things) - as both beautiful and full of terror, and fraught with contention.
I think these subjects still need our attention.
Remarking on her inspiration for 1984's Kitchen Show, and how she saw her work as part of the ongoing debate on womanhood, femininity, domesticity:
I got very angry and frustrated about the way these daily actions, these daily routines and rituals are not observed and cherished within our society. ~I could see how fundamentally complex they were and how they related to things such as the butterfly effect in chaos theory, or the Blake thing - “the world in a grain of sand”, the idea that the miniature contains the enormous.
Tied into her augments for an attentive humorous and honest approach to the ordinary, are explorations into autonomy and agency: the articulations of an identity overshadowed by patriarchy are recontextualized by the work being so very private yet sited into the public world- questioning and awareness are encouraged by participatory dialogue focusing unashamedly on that which is considered below notice, or worthless, or demeaning. Work such as Baker's instigates a relationship with audiences which can facilitate a very simple questioning of complex social and political assumptions about roles.
Her humorous studies engender identification and empathy and a feeling of comradee, on which transient moments of existence can be revalued, examined, celebrated:
“Yes, the sharing of those moments. I am constantly looking at different ways of taking or highlighting moments like those which I have all the time. I find life a very exciting arena; the small actions, tastes, sights, observations, discoveries that are so thrilling.”
I found this excellent example of the difficulty facing the production of art which wishes to tackle the thorny issues of 'women's work' :
Main Entry:
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Part of Speech:
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noun
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Definition:
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accountability, blame
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Synonyms:
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albatross, amenability, answerability, authority, boundness, burden, care, charge, constraint, contract, culpability, duty, encumbrance, engagement, fault, guilt, holding the bag, importance, incubus, incumbency, liability, obligation, obligatoriness, onus, pledge, power, rap, restraint, subjection, trust
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Antonyms:
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Main Entry:
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Part of Speech:
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noun
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Definition:
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maturity, trustworthiness
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Synonyms:
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ability, capableness, capacity, competency,
conscientiousness, dependability, dependableness , efficiency, faithfulness, firmness, honesty, levelheadedness, loyalty, rationality, reliability, sensibleness, soberness, stability, steadfastness, trustiness, uprightness |
Antonyms:
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distrust, immaturity, irresponsibility
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http://thesaurus.com/browse/responsibility viewed on 01/02/2011
(how fabulous- the whip and the carrot! Being a grown up- is to get on with it- a noun that holds in place – a relationship that is in the world and made to carry it- who takes it on, rejects it- the ultimate sacrifice, the daily chore.... The two definitions are so entwined, as if to illustrate the point we define ourselves through dichotomy, having our cake and eating it, liking it and lumping it, making our bed and lying in it...)
(how fabulous- the whip and the carrot! Being a grown up- is to get on with it- a noun that holds in place – a relationship that is in the world and made to carry it- who takes it on, rejects it- the ultimate sacrifice, the daily chore.... The two definitions are so entwined, as if to illustrate the point we define ourselves through dichotomy, having our cake and eating it, liking it and lumping it, making our bed and lying in it...)
Bakers' Kitchen Show was made for live performance, face to face, but I experienced 'Kitchen Show' through a video made from a TV screening in the 80's, and her script as reproduced in Bobby Baker. Creative medias offer diverse modes of publishing work and exploring ideas of 'liveness'.
Baudrillard writes in The Ecstasy of Communication- of a media induced world of
absolute proximity, the total instananeity of things, the feeling of no defence, no retreat” (1985, Postmodern Culture)
One could see this the challenge of modern (contemporary, present) living- this subjectivity can be explored- not as a fearful (No defence ! No retreat !) exposure, but as a redefinition of presence- we are recontextualized by our attention and attunement to the input of our 'mediated environment', and can involve ourselves in its processes, and rather than being effected we can affect and evolve ourselves through this relationship. Through our media exposure and activities- the viewed, the heard- we are taught and shown how to perceive- the continual supply of media to ingest and respond to develops styles of attentiveness. We are stunned – the music of pop follows us as our humming, we recycle motifs from television and film into our languages, the Rorschach test and stereotypical dream interpretations dog our meetings... Baudrillard was writing about the power of 'live' medias and their place in our modern (postmodern) lives- our relationship to these services are cultivated, coveted, imposed. Is it fair to suggest that everywhere now, we are living in 'mediated experience'? -Radio offers itself as a live technology-
absolute proximity, the total instananeity of things, the feeling of no defence, no retreat” (1985, Postmodern Culture)
One could see this the challenge of modern (contemporary, present) living- this subjectivity can be explored- not as a fearful (No defence ! No retreat !) exposure, but as a redefinition of presence- we are recontextualized by our attention and attunement to the input of our 'mediated environment', and can involve ourselves in its processes, and rather than being effected we can affect and evolve ourselves through this relationship. Through our media exposure and activities- the viewed, the heard- we are taught and shown how to perceive- the continual supply of media to ingest and respond to develops styles of attentiveness. We are stunned – the music of pop follows us as our humming, we recycle motifs from television and film into our languages, the Rorschach test and stereotypical dream interpretations dog our meetings... Baudrillard was writing about the power of 'live' medias and their place in our modern (postmodern) lives- our relationship to these services are cultivated, coveted, imposed. Is it fair to suggest that everywhere now, we are living in 'mediated experience'? -Radio offers itself as a live technology-
If the idea of “transmission” invokes the subject position of senders engaged in a “sending across” or diffusion/distribution of content, then contemporary transmission art practice can be characterised by a persistent interest in displacing one-way or point-to-point communications with polyvalent transception. (Transmission Art in the Present Tense, Anna Fritz).
The hybridity of mediated voices might be placed in relationship:
Transmission is understood not only as a radial description of space, but as a circle of relationship (ibid)
- a post post modern development which offers opportunity to use our immersion in media as a empowering and exploritive. :-)
The hybridity of mediated voices might be placed in relationship:
Transmission is understood not only as a radial description of space, but as a circle of relationship (ibid)
- a post post modern development which offers opportunity to use our immersion in media as a empowering and exploritive. :-)
Seeking writing on listeners, I looked at Brandon LaBelles' 2010 book and accompanying CD Radio Memory, which offers examples of how a radio experience can so imprint a mind that a single auditory experience (in this book, most often a pop /mass produced/ song) can be heard once, and is then related in memory forever to a place, a time, and a situation:
Background noise... these songs become provocative partners to our own trajectories and experiences, colouring and contouring the ebb and flow of our conversation and interactions, daydreams and errands. In this regard the background is not so much a form of wall-paper, however annoying or dull or pleasing, but a dynamic input into personalised and shared narratives.”
(a few of the featured writings even placed the memorable radio experience in the kitchen washing up environment).
Background noise... these songs become provocative partners to our own trajectories and experiences, colouring and contouring the ebb and flow of our conversation and interactions, daydreams and errands. In this regard the background is not so much a form of wall-paper, however annoying or dull or pleasing, but a dynamic input into personalised and shared narratives.”
(a few of the featured writings even placed the memorable radio experience in the kitchen washing up environment).
The placement of my work in the home, in the kitchen, at the kitchen sink, is a direct address to this idea- that the overlay or a sonic event might enrich a experience- both personalised, and in shared narratives.
We are each the point of interface where meaning is generated. Tetsuo Kogawa suggests:
Let's start with your own familiar space. Change in a tiny space could resonate to larger space but without microscopic change no radical change would be possible. (November 24, 2002/May 7, 2003/May 22, 2006) http://anarchy.translocal.jp/radio/micro/
Let's start with your own familiar space. Change in a tiny space could resonate to larger space but without microscopic change no radical change would be possible. (November 24, 2002/May 7, 2003/May 22, 2006) http://anarchy.translocal.jp/radio/micro/
With this in mind, and also with Brecht's encouragement- Any attempt by the radio to give a truly public character to public occasions is a step in the right direction, radioartists can unfold the situation of listening to be a platform for the propagation of improvisation, playfulness and sharing through a very formidable yet gentle sonic connection- our public occasions, our community, and its mechanisation's and possibilities:
Transception, then, would function as a means for the community to engage with itself, to enter into deeper relationships in a complex circuit of transmission that implied not just sending across, but sharing around: a feedback loop of sociality and expression. (Anna Fritz 2009)
(I find it amazing to listen to sonic work which can be 'defined' (40's/ romantic / Spanish/ aggressive/ elevator/ Spiritual/ 80's/ urban/ academic/ punk/ revolutionary), whilst engaged in my own small town boring white woman task... how wonderful- meaning and use are transformable, I am integrating a idea or ideal or another approach to understanding or partaking in a project of shared awareness....the work belongs to me now... I am washing up under the influence...)
Thaelitz writing in regard to the memorial legacy of listening, states.
One only retains an impression of the experience of listening, and any ensuing ideas or feelings of comprehension we associate with our memories of that situation. Information ceases to exist without an object of conveyance, even in the instance of oral traditions where the orator's body becomes the object of conveyance.
He is commenting particularly on owned recordings(weather downloaded files or hard copies) and not listening as part of a diological relationship. This 'fixing' of listening- in memory and in format, is problematic. This back ground / fore ground relationship – ourselves as listeners, the environment, imported sounds, ideas of sonic 'product' and relationships through the mix, is what fascinates me as a artist. Curator and artist Carmen Cereboros Urzai states in Radio Memory:
One only retains an impression of the experience of listening, and any ensuing ideas or feelings of comprehension we associate with our memories of that situation. Information ceases to exist without an object of conveyance, even in the instance of oral traditions where the orator's body becomes the object of conveyance.
He is commenting particularly on owned recordings(weather downloaded files or hard copies) and not listening as part of a diological relationship. This 'fixing' of listening- in memory and in format, is problematic. This back ground / fore ground relationship – ourselves as listeners, the environment, imported sounds, ideas of sonic 'product' and relationships through the mix, is what fascinates me as a artist. Curator and artist Carmen Cereboros Urzai states in Radio Memory:
when we listen for the second, third or hundredth time to a song that accompanied an event, its repetition makes us remember and further to become aware that we attended to a particular event which is our life: it (the noise) constitutes our own emotional landscape, it is ours, it belongs to us, and it is relevant and current.
Rather than elevate a 'particular recording', this might been seen to be applicable to situational listening too- if sound engenders feeling there is a opportunity to refine the 'experience of listening' itself.
Rather than elevate a 'particular recording', this might been seen to be applicable to situational listening too- if sound engenders feeling there is a opportunity to refine the 'experience of listening' itself.
My thinking about the experience of washing up and hearing the act occurring over the airwaves.... an accompanied chore- and radio as a participatory activity has been influenced by the radioartist and theorist Gregory Whitehead. In his Radio Radio interview with Martin Spinelli, found on Ubuweb, at http://www.ubu.com/sound/radio_radio/whitehead.html Whitehead says “The material is the network, not the sound.” Whitehead revels in radios' possibilities rather than marking sonic parameters against other kinds of audioarts, or historical explorations or the cannon. He says radio is a sonic phenomenon- found in sound- but he feels radio's attraction is in the set relationships revealed as network, the living play of people. In good radio we hear not impression or projection, but seduction and invitation-
here we are together in this very uncertain relationship, lets see what we can negotiate here.
here we are together in this very uncertain relationship, lets see what we can negotiate here.
Anna Fritz believes
Resonance becomes palpable in these smaller transceptive circuits of relationship, enabled, for instance, by micro-watt radio interventions, participatory local and translocal networks, or environmental soundscape transmissions.
This resonance is what makes radio work so exciting.
When I imagine a listener, I imagine myself- a amalgamation of everything i have ever encountered- yet still with hungry ears...
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bobby Baker: Redeeming Features of Daily Life :Editors- Michele Barret and Bobby Baker (2007) Routledge, Glasgow
(Beaudrillard, (1985) in Foster, H (ed) Postmodern Culture London: Pluto
Brecht, Bertolt.(1932) “The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication.” In Radiotext(e).(1993)
Neil Strauss, ed. New York: Columbia University Press p15.
Fritz, Anna (2009) Transmission Art in the Present Tense, veiwed on 02/03/2011 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/pajj.2009.31.3.46
LaBelle, Brandon (2010) Radio Memory, (Errant Bodies Press, Audio Issues Vol . 4, Berlin)
Thaelitz, Terre
Whitehead, Gregory in Radio Radio interview with Martin Spinelli (debuted on 104.4 Resonance FM in London, England, in 2003) viewed at http://www.ubu.com/sound/radio_radio/whitehead.html
Sunday, 6 March 2011
hi there! Do you have your rubber gloves on? ok.
this BA is like... limping exhausted towards a handshake...
I played out this evening- put my show on- (hear Sink Play on soundcloud...)
I unfortunately did not get so far with any kind of discussion as supporting work- per usual, I work to deadlines as if my work would spoil if it were not super fresh...
In retrospect this is something I will work on- the 'radio' element on the work was not as throughly exersized as i had wished, and my own shyness of the microphone... got in the way of talking about my processes and aspirations.
I am shattered! The crassness of my work will be evident to anyone who has a finely tuned ear- a musical education does not naturally give rise to the empathy this work came to be generated around? Hurumph.
I am very jealous of the production of beautiful beeps and drones and being able to say : Yes, this is me creatively, I am this mysterious, I am tuned to levels of mysterious (beyond) significance, I have this ability to produce works that are so beautiful folks make love to them, dance to them, meditate to them...
I string words together around themes. Maybe when i have 'expressed' all of these dirty rants that bubble away in me i will have room for more beauty. Or i will be able to press 'play' on what ever rant meets the moment, and walk out the door silently, foregoing expression ever again :-)
not so much why, but who?
who does the washing up? who is asking, who does the washing up? who is washing up? who is asking, who is washing up?
I played out this evening- put my show on- (hear Sink Play on soundcloud...)
I unfortunately did not get so far with any kind of discussion as supporting work- per usual, I work to deadlines as if my work would spoil if it were not super fresh...
In retrospect this is something I will work on- the 'radio' element on the work was not as throughly exersized as i had wished, and my own shyness of the microphone... got in the way of talking about my processes and aspirations.
I am shattered! The crassness of my work will be evident to anyone who has a finely tuned ear- a musical education does not naturally give rise to the empathy this work came to be generated around? Hurumph.
I am very jealous of the production of beautiful beeps and drones and being able to say : Yes, this is me creatively, I am this mysterious, I am tuned to levels of mysterious (beyond) significance, I have this ability to produce works that are so beautiful folks make love to them, dance to them, meditate to them...
I string words together around themes. Maybe when i have 'expressed' all of these dirty rants that bubble away in me i will have room for more beauty. Or i will be able to press 'play' on what ever rant meets the moment, and walk out the door silently, foregoing expression ever again :-)
not so much why, but who?
who does the washing up? who is asking, who does the washing up? who is washing up? who is asking, who is washing up?
Monday, 21 February 2011
raw scripting
ideas in pieces
I WANT TO LET SOUND LET IT FLOW LET THAT BECOME MY activation ACTIVITY THROUGH MY HANDS MY STANCE-hear at the sink read ready for anything THE POSITION OF MY POSTure aligned to this life- hips over feet, loose, knees slightly bent, shake out neck gentle- arms alive, hands awake responsive, seeking... texture. this begins CROWS AND SWANS and WATER FOWL
HER HERE THE DAY ON PALATE THE PREFERENCES OF OUR diet. RAW OR COSSETED, AND now smile and scrape away the A MOMENT TO REFLECT as the sink fills ON THE GLORY TO WHICH WE LIVE,ALIVE break.... The radio is on. something sought to make this right- dial spins like a compass a rhythm keep ing beats a voice to engage a sound to enrich, captivating, blur, reassuring resuming reinstating the kitchen as the site of embarkation...
ADHERE TO THAT... UNCALLED FOR, WITHOUT GLORY, PUTTING THINGS RIGHT, rightful places LIKE THIS, MY VERY WORK a work OF ART - A TIME for CONSIDERATION, considering, its LIKE DANCING, HANDS MOVING TO RHYTHMS FEET TAPPING
LEAN ME LEND YOUR EARS LET ME MENTION, I THINK THIS IS BEAUTIFUL- WE LET IT BE AN ACT OF SOLIDARITY- densely bound in the dance- objectification and subjectivity - THESE ARE OUR DISHES WHICH OUR FAMILY HAS USED- THE FOOD WE ATE COOKED BOUGHT GREW, TOGETHER, SHARED IN THAT- AND THIS IS THE REWARD- THE RITUAL OF day after day after day after day
(HOW ABOUT THEM WOMEN ? THROUGH TIME KEPT SEPARATE FROM MORE PROACTIVE ACTIVITIES THAT MIGHT CHALLENGE... THEIR SENSE OF PROPRIETY/ held up as a virtuous slave (LIKE IF WE KNEW, HAD EARS FOR THINGS OTHER THAN FEMALE CONCERNS) ,had a moment to look up from the chore the household management as the lifelong quest WE WOULD NOT KEEP SILENT- RISE UP RINSE UP AND DEMAND MORE- MORE EQUALITY MORE JUSTICE MORE HARD WORK AND MORE CELEBRATION)not to suggest- there is not a magic here, kitchen- when the fire burns and the water gets poured- home hearth hub woman's place....
WOMAN! STOOD THERE OVER THE SINK LIKE YOU'RE LIFE HAD COME TO AN END- THE INSURMOUNTABLE PILE OF DISHES THAT STRETCHES INTO THE FUTURE- always WAITING- ALWAYS THE FULL STOP TO A MEAL- .... THIS IS A TIME OF CELEBRATION TODAY WE SURVIVED TO ENJOY- THIS MOMENT IF NOTHING ELSE- THIS CHANCE TO ABSORB OURSELVES IN..... absorption...
I WISH IT WAS DARK I COULD DO THIS WITH MY EYES CLOSED CLEAN RINSE THE PRACTISE OF A LIFE TIME I CAN PLAY THIS ON MY OWN- JUST YOU FOR COMPANY GRANDLY MAGNIFICENTLY UNDERSTATED IN THE RESPONSE TO THIS- A STACK OF DIRTY PLATES – HOLDING MY LIFE ON HOLD FOR 20 MINUTES THE DOOR CLOSED THE RADIO ON
(Marxist feminist Benston (1972 cited by Haralambos and Holborn: 2007) viewed the conjugal roles of women within the family, as free labourers used to provide, a capitalist society with a free resource for socialising children, and providing domestic labour.)
this is a labour of love a woman knows bright knives here soap languorous so tied with affection and responsive to the counter sinking into domesticity- I once was in the Russian circus – a plate spinner, a bottle juggler, a knife thrower a tamer of lions and fiery hoop leaper... and now, i am if not content with lesser achievements, happier to seek thrills in more exotic places....
Tea towel wipe away what counts as another yet another- study- the light in this room, my breath is the room the walls fade and the work becomes apparent like the art of making it occur me just the rider here gone gone bubbles float through the air and I note its not something new but it has not happened yet....
the most marvellous women I know are pot scrubbers- not high in any ways apart form their souls stronger than any iron- resilient and steady- full of passion and kindness. They just get on with it.
Is this a dream? Queen? This I know you get born you do the dishes you die. But the dishes bit, that stands for the whole of life- a series of acts- small great acts, great small acts- someones got to do it, and it seems to be you...
I scrub therefore I am
and I listen to the radio as I wipe the sponge my ear soaking up sonic flux and fade rinsing me clean of the accumulation of the feast of the day roast this boiled that baked on- auto pilot programmed to carry out these tasks, a strange moment- liminal between demanding chore and imaginative participation- might as well make the most out of being alive.
(there is no act that is not the activity of life)
detritus, flotsam, my hands like underwater cranes, sea claws, fishing deep for treasure- warm and reassuring that we aren't animals- no, we keep on top of things, sometimes..we try to brush away and re prepare for the next round the next the next and no regrets here hands in the sink the day plays out trials and tribulations small success's against the backdrop of global situations- what can we do here and now, wet to the elbow, pans and pots a testimony to the work that defines you, good Cook, householder, first rate pan scrubber?
The even evening continues.... the music ebbs and flows to the sound of the scourer.... “living? WE let our servants do that for us.”
In a ideal world I 'd have a dishwasher, and there'd be no wars or famine. In a ideal world I'd remember to keep on top... on all that- and keep on top of my mind, it wonders out it wonders out as these hands do their dirty work.... motions towards order, cleanliness
like a plug pulled like the moment has come and we might break down, begin again, brake all these dishes in a moment of dissolution- this is not who I am I move against the idea of serfdom- of being here again while traditionally, toasts are being raised in another room.... being tied to what cannot be described as other than the intolerable grind of the every day- I got so much on managing the home, I ain't got time to look after other things- though this cannot be described as other than an act of love- love the eaters of this food, love the dishes collected at thrift markets and as random gifts, a patchwork of china, porcelain, tin and glass....love the act of care- but know it to be my undoing- even as it could be my saving grace....
what revolution can I join, but after my chores are done? Where is the march toward emancipation? The call to arms?
creeping towards rest, lulled to consider greater considerations than . . . swipe swirl like this is the pinnacle of experience- try it out hear and now- the standing truly- spine and feet realign, the sink as prop rejected for my own two feet, like eyes closed I could do this... the rack fills up, a jenga of utensil and receptacle- the wares of an art as transient as to be almost imperceptible.
The outside, windows look out, light on trees, a view of freedom- unrepentant desires to be done and on, fulfilled away from the sanctum of housework.... nothing blocks that but the responsibility to free this workspace for the prep of the next instalment of domestic possibility
this is my chop wood carry water- rather than a moment to remember its some kind of surrender, and in that, achingly, its very very ok
HER HERE THE DAY ON PALATE THE PREFERENCES OF OUR diet. RAW OR COSSETED, AND now smile and scrape away the A MOMENT TO REFLECT as the sink fills ON THE GLORY TO WHICH WE LIVE,ALIVE break.... The radio is on. something sought to make this right- dial spins like a compass a rhythm keep ing beats a voice to engage a sound to enrich, captivating, blur, reassuring resuming reinstating the kitchen as the site of embarkation...
ADHERE TO THAT... UNCALLED FOR, WITHOUT GLORY, PUTTING THINGS RIGHT, rightful places LIKE THIS, MY VERY WORK a work OF ART - A TIME for CONSIDERATION, considering, its LIKE DANCING, HANDS MOVING TO RHYTHMS FEET TAPPING
LEAN ME LEND YOUR EARS LET ME MENTION, I THINK THIS IS BEAUTIFUL- WE LET IT BE AN ACT OF SOLIDARITY- densely bound in the dance- objectification and subjectivity - THESE ARE OUR DISHES WHICH OUR FAMILY HAS USED- THE FOOD WE ATE COOKED BOUGHT GREW, TOGETHER, SHARED IN THAT- AND THIS IS THE REWARD- THE RITUAL OF day after day after day after day
(HOW ABOUT THEM WOMEN ? THROUGH TIME KEPT SEPARATE FROM MORE PROACTIVE ACTIVITIES THAT MIGHT CHALLENGE... THEIR SENSE OF PROPRIETY/ held up as a virtuous slave (LIKE IF WE KNEW, HAD EARS FOR THINGS OTHER THAN FEMALE CONCERNS) ,had a moment to look up from the chore the household management as the lifelong quest WE WOULD NOT KEEP SILENT- RISE UP RINSE UP AND DEMAND MORE- MORE EQUALITY MORE JUSTICE MORE HARD WORK AND MORE CELEBRATION)not to suggest- there is not a magic here, kitchen- when the fire burns and the water gets poured- home hearth hub woman's place....
WOMAN! STOOD THERE OVER THE SINK LIKE YOU'RE LIFE HAD COME TO AN END- THE INSURMOUNTABLE PILE OF DISHES THAT STRETCHES INTO THE FUTURE- always WAITING- ALWAYS THE FULL STOP TO A MEAL- .... THIS IS A TIME OF CELEBRATION TODAY WE SURVIVED TO ENJOY- THIS MOMENT IF NOTHING ELSE- THIS CHANCE TO ABSORB OURSELVES IN..... absorption...
I WISH IT WAS DARK I COULD DO THIS WITH MY EYES CLOSED CLEAN RINSE THE PRACTISE OF A LIFE TIME I CAN PLAY THIS ON MY OWN- JUST YOU FOR COMPANY GRANDLY MAGNIFICENTLY UNDERSTATED IN THE RESPONSE TO THIS- A STACK OF DIRTY PLATES – HOLDING MY LIFE ON HOLD FOR 20 MINUTES THE DOOR CLOSED THE RADIO ON
(Marxist feminist Benston (1972 cited by Haralambos and Holborn: 2007) viewed the conjugal roles of women within the family, as free labourers used to provide, a capitalist society with a free resource for socialising children, and providing domestic labour.)
this is a labour of love a woman knows bright knives here soap languorous so tied with affection and responsive to the counter sinking into domesticity- I once was in the Russian circus – a plate spinner, a bottle juggler, a knife thrower a tamer of lions and fiery hoop leaper... and now, i am if not content with lesser achievements, happier to seek thrills in more exotic places....
Tea towel wipe away what counts as another yet another- study- the light in this room, my breath is the room the walls fade and the work becomes apparent like the art of making it occur me just the rider here gone gone bubbles float through the air and I note its not something new but it has not happened yet....
the most marvellous women I know are pot scrubbers- not high in any ways apart form their souls stronger than any iron- resilient and steady- full of passion and kindness. They just get on with it.
Is this a dream? Queen? This I know you get born you do the dishes you die. But the dishes bit, that stands for the whole of life- a series of acts- small great acts, great small acts- someones got to do it, and it seems to be you...
I scrub therefore I am
and I listen to the radio as I wipe the sponge my ear soaking up sonic flux and fade rinsing me clean of the accumulation of the feast of the day roast this boiled that baked on- auto pilot programmed to carry out these tasks, a strange moment- liminal between demanding chore and imaginative participation- might as well make the most out of being alive.
(there is no act that is not the activity of life)
detritus, flotsam, my hands like underwater cranes, sea claws, fishing deep for treasure- warm and reassuring that we aren't animals- no, we keep on top of things, sometimes..we try to brush away and re prepare for the next round the next the next and no regrets here hands in the sink the day plays out trials and tribulations small success's against the backdrop of global situations- what can we do here and now, wet to the elbow, pans and pots a testimony to the work that defines you, good Cook, householder, first rate pan scrubber?
The even evening continues.... the music ebbs and flows to the sound of the scourer.... “living? WE let our servants do that for us.”
In a ideal world I 'd have a dishwasher, and there'd be no wars or famine. In a ideal world I'd remember to keep on top... on all that- and keep on top of my mind, it wonders out it wonders out as these hands do their dirty work.... motions towards order, cleanliness
like a plug pulled like the moment has come and we might break down, begin again, brake all these dishes in a moment of dissolution- this is not who I am I move against the idea of serfdom- of being here again while traditionally, toasts are being raised in another room.... being tied to what cannot be described as other than the intolerable grind of the every day- I got so much on managing the home, I ain't got time to look after other things- though this cannot be described as other than an act of love- love the eaters of this food, love the dishes collected at thrift markets and as random gifts, a patchwork of china, porcelain, tin and glass....love the act of care- but know it to be my undoing- even as it could be my saving grace....
what revolution can I join, but after my chores are done? Where is the march toward emancipation? The call to arms?
I am yet the only one that hears me? I am not beyond the risk running like I might just break something might just throw it to the floor and running out the door go find some other (don't say it don't) another challenging quest to better right my angles on- stood here sink sunk grounded in a chore.
Yeh th\anks, you know we love our kids the lines of concern and quickness to defend shows it to be so, its not a home made thing, a construction of so many parts- do the washing up, go fall asleep in the
hands held by
outside
glass reflects a synchronised empty movement- a silent dancer caught catching the eye occasionally- god you wash up sooo well..... that outside- holding all its secrets body chained to the sink mind set free to roam--- foreign lands women squatting at the well, pan will dishes, soft light, tin and steel plate, sand and mud to catch grease and smell the evening the birds returning to their roosts, or cities with...silent lines of gliding sides white on gray on expanses and some kind of control...
put it where it belongs
the mechanics of hands and fingers and arms work- washing up, fixing watches and playing piano
figarandos, works of art that do not remain, move on, transform are other than less than more than...
creeping towards rest, lulled to consider greater considerations than . . . swipe swirl like this is the pinnacle of experience- try it out hear and now- the standing truly- spine and feet realign, the sink as prop rejected for my own two feet, like eyes closed I could do this... the rack fills up, a jenga of utensil and receptacle- the wares of an art as transient as to be almost imperceptible.
The outside, windows look out, light on trees, a view of freedom- unrepentant desires to be done and on, fulfilled away from the sanctum of housework.... nothing blocks that but the responsibility to free this workspace for the prep of the next instalment of domestic possibility
this is my chop wood carry water- rather than a moment to remember its some kind of surrender, and in that, achingly, its very very ok
Reimagining the site- sink as utopia , kitchen as T.A.Z, this as a revolutionary everyday moment
(wall man time zone, barrier to understanding like a piano play you break it dwon down down break it down like a wall a zome an d a man d- lthere is something there afterwards something beautiful ausde able a exchange can take place something beautiful something clean and clear life like we can get eachother now . Like, help me beak it down? That is the question the mission the beautiful TASK. And I would break down break down in the pursuit of it sommething to share share it like it matteres this it does .
And all I ask is the chance asking of everything. Free fall somehow difference keeps it where it should be drunk with out drink)
This work is, of course, on multiple levels. To ask 'what is radio's place in the domestic environment?', is to ask also, 'what is my place in that environment?' My desire here is not to …. unfold a study of easily understood platitudes or a+b=c, but to outright a sonicart piece that for it's maker, at least, does all it can to reinstate and celebrate (a situation, contingent to) chaos.
Hakim Bey (1985) states
There is no becoming, no revolution, no struggle, no path; already you're the monarch of your own skin--your inviolable freedom waits to be completed only by the love of other monarchs: a politics of dream, urgent as the blueness of sky.
There is no becoming, no revolution, no struggle, no path; already you're the monarch of your own skin--your inviolable freedom waits to be completed only by the love of other monarchs: a politics of dream, urgent as the blueness of sky.
When approaching a subject subjectively- (this is my degree, my ears, my hands in the sink, my listening environment, my voice- all in response) I start at this point. I am fortunate (a monarch indeed) to make art- privileged to be some educated, free to muse, to create from my wealth of experience- but I see that 'the love of other monarchs' might be understood as work in company? Sink Play seeks this- by exposing/exploring a shared but unspoken bond- full of politics, and as real and current as the elements employed in its service.
So, I use a radio show to
Bolt up brass commemorative plaques in places (public or private) where you have experienced a revelation or had a particularly fulfilling sexual experience, etc.
A ephemeral event, rather than a plaque, to make the kitchen sink the throne room for 20 minutes- to reclaim that space as a site of potentiality, wonderment, realness, imagination....
Bolt up brass commemorative plaques in places (public or private) where you have experienced a revelation or had a particularly fulfilling sexual experience, etc.
A ephemeral event, rather than a plaque, to make the kitchen sink the throne room for 20 minutes- to reclaim that space as a site of potentiality, wonderment, realness, imagination....
I take Bey's advice and
Organise a strike in your school or workplace on the grounds that it does not satisfy your need for indolence & spiritual beauty.
Yes indeed! Marking the boundaries of the missioned space- and oneself as the activist, and actioner within that space, demanding a recreation of angles of attention- a re imagining, if only in one's ears for those few minutes, the 'your' in Bey's sentence the essential ingredient your life- my life- what we have right here and now...
Organise a strike in your school or workplace on the grounds that it does not satisfy your need for indolence & spiritual beauty.
Yes indeed! Marking the boundaries of the missioned space- and oneself as the activist, and actioner within that space, demanding a recreation of angles of attention- a re imagining, if only in one's ears for those few minutes, the 'your' in Bey's sentence the essential ingredient your life- my life- what we have right here and now...
Bey writes in CHAOS MYTHS, “If it does not change a life (other than the artists') it fails”-he claims if a work does not inspire a emotion of or as strong as terror-- (powerful disgust, sexual arousal, superstitious awe, sudden intuitive breakthrough, dada-esque angst) the work fails. How beautiful, but unpractical! (unpracticable?) He states that the only creed the Poetical Terrorist- one involved in living ontological Anarchy-cannot abide is the Taoists' total quietism, but..maybe Bey has missed the point- not to devalue Bey's very living very beautiful text- but postmodernism seems to express extremes, and then give up, limit, reject simplicity, become nihilistic in its extremity- as if, changing minuti is both pointless and powerless. I think the most powerful and constant moments (yes the ones filled with terror and wonder, when life is like being struck with lightning) are the moments filled with the most simplicity and tenderness. The failure can only be in ever limiting what is achievable? (oh dear! Refusing to accept the only route for a woman/mother/householder to break the holds of conditioned mindsets is by extremity or osmosis- we must then supply alternatives ... raising children and 'making-do' in the world of practicalities and responsibilities is also living on a knife's edge... what we have to work with is as powerful...)
This project uses multi sonic strategies- such as the field study, the interview, spoken word poetry performance, generated soundscape, to achieve as powerful listening experience as possible. Why not just record a washing up session, and play it out, thus subverting the value judgement of washing up being a waste of time and thus not worth broadcastable? ANYTHING IS BROADCASTABLE NOW. Sonic art is constantly re-representing sonic experience in ways that invite remaking angles of attention- we, listeners, have our ears open for the opportunity to break habits, to be involved in this project of realignment, to participate by responding. I don't think a field study alone would be of interest (to me)-unless maybe, if the work were to be located in a gallery with a audience predominately consisting of champagne sipping middle class white men, stroking their chins with their soft white fingers... “Is the washing up art? Hmmmmm...”
A poem can act as a spell & vice versa--but sorcery refuses to be a metaphor for mere literature--it insists that symbols must cause events as well as private epiphanies. It is not a critique but a re-making. It rejects all eschatology & metaphysics of removal, all bleary nostalgia & strident futurismo, in favor of a paroxysm or seizure of presence.
This work is made with a under-represented audience in mind- women at their sinks scrubbing pans- I wish to present a overlay that does not seek to bypass actuality (get your hands back in the sink!) but enrich it by underlining it- calling it out some, celebrating it by exposing its wonderment....
Helene Cixous, writing in 'Lemonade',
“(because everyday the mystery of living occurs with its innumerable questions. But only occurs for those who remain in the region of mysteries. A region so troubling, excessively rich, almost untenable. Because it is difficult for us to bare the riches of life. An to live the inexhaustible vitality of the truly important life is humanly exhausting. And if you weren't there to help me enjoy it, living would be unbearable.)
Limonade tout etait si infini, Des femmes, 1982 translated by Ann Liddle
This kind of writing is not a separate project to life- living should not occur only when the chores are done and you can dance all night at an illegal rave, pick up a book, attend a concert or rally or protest riot or sit down on the meditation cushion.
Why should I be falling over? Do I have to remain sober to do the washing up?
Limonade tout etait si infini, Des femmes, 1982 translated by Ann Liddle
This kind of writing is not a separate project to life- living should not occur only when the chores are done and you can dance all night at an illegal rave, pick up a book, attend a concert or rally or protest riot or sit down on the meditation cushion.
Why should I be falling over? Do I have to remain sober to do the washing up?
The TAZ desires above all to avoid mediation, to experience its existence as immediate. The very essence of the affair is "breast-to-breast" as the sufis say, or face-to-face.
This radio work is assuming its listener (singular) is located in a action at a situation. Already, is this a impossible project? Might it be.... possible, to create a situation where face to face is not necessary ? (What happens when a book is understood/read with Barthe's Jouissance? This is some physicalized delight that is traditionally even more 'accessable' and present through musical and audio works, as in 'writing aloud'...) Is that a T.A.Z right then and there? And on the radio- if work is live, a offering, desiring to be shared, to break with conditional limitings of a medias' possibilities, can there then be a connection which is electric, a moment which supports the reclamation of singularity, a Temporary Autonomous Zone ?
This radio work is assuming its listener (singular) is located in a action at a situation. Already, is this a impossible project? Might it be.... possible, to create a situation where face to face is not necessary ? (What happens when a book is understood/read with Barthe's Jouissance? This is some physicalized delight that is traditionally even more 'accessable' and present through musical and audio works, as in 'writing aloud'...) Is that a T.A.Z right then and there? And on the radio- if work is live, a offering, desiring to be shared, to break with conditional limitings of a medias' possibilities, can there then be a connection which is electric, a moment which supports the reclamation of singularity, a Temporary Autonomous Zone ?
cited texts:
Bey, Hakim ("Anti-copyright, 1985, 1991") T.A.Z : the temporary autonomous zone, ontological anarchy, poetic terrorism. : Autonomedia, 2003. Brooklyn, NY
Bey, Hakim ("Anti-copyright, 1985, 1991") T.A.Z : the temporary autonomous zone, ontological anarchy, poetic terrorism. : Autonomedia, 2003. Brooklyn, NY
Limonade tout était si infini, Des femmes, 1982 translated by Anne Liddle in The Helene Cixous reader edited by Susan Sellers; with a preface by Helene Cixous and foreword by Jacques Derrida. New York ; London ; Routledge, 1994.