Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Woodberry Baltimore Maryland October 27 2009 2:35 A.M. till 2:55 A.M. (click here)


I've been at home a lot these past few days. Many of the recordings were taken in or around the confines of the house, yard and porch. Not to imply "confinement" in a physical, emotional or aesthetic sense, but the idea of travel has become tiresome (as opposed to in the past, when I experienced a deep wanderlust for the Mid-West).

Locale. What is the relationship between locale and aural environment? And if one stays in one place long enough, can one capture the true sound-field-spirit of a place?

Many of the recordings have been set in the frame of domesticity. Look back at recordings of the washing machine, the cenral air system, conversations around the house. Static location implies nothing of a static human spirit. Even I get a better sense my 1200+ square feet of space just by listening through it. We put too much emphasis, invest too much energy, in "being" in a place, without experiencing being through the multiple, cooperating senses.

Being is an active verb, not a state of passivity.

This recording, though, may imply passivity, but it actually locates a certain "unconscious" effort to experience the place I call home.

After getting bed last night, I listened to the rain hitting the awning, the window, washing down the side of the house, through the drains, down into the backyard. I left the bed, half-asleep, and took the mics into the bathroom. We have a sky-light in the ceiling that reflects and holds the sound of the rain and the traffic from 83 in a subtle buoyancy of pulse. After placing the mics under the sky-light, I went back to bed, guessing at how long approx. 15 minutes would pass.

I awakened later, almost unconscious, in a state of anxiety (had I forgotten to turn something off?) I remembered the mics were recording. When I went into the bathroom, an hour later, I laughed. I had let the recordings take on a responsibility all their own, without my intervention. I had slept through the experience.

I think this project needs a new frame: non-intervention. I will spend the next few days away from the mics, leave them in places where I can't see them, and come back later to find something interesting.

Or not.

But non-intervention, non-interference, has been a composing concept of mine for ages. I hope to articulate these ideas in further posts.

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