Constellation – Sonic Art 7th Seminar – Electronic Music

In this lecture James told us about some of the very first electronic instruments which sound artists from the 1920’s experimented with. For example, the Telharmonium (also known as a Dynamophone) was inventedd in 1897 by Thaddeus Cahill. It was an early electronic organ which sent electrical signals over wires and could be heard by means of speakers or ‘horn’ speakers as they were known. The telharmonium used tonewheels which generated musical sounds as electrical signals. It is considered the first synthetic instrument.

Other instruments mentioned were the Theremin (1919), Trautonium, Hammon Organ (which, like the Telharmonium, uses tonewheels) and the Ondes Martenot, which has a similar sound to the Theremin.

Lee De Forest was an inventor from the early 20th century who discovered the vacuum tube which led to radio and the first electrical device which could a take sounding signal and make it louder/stronger. A quote of his reads: “I discovered an invisible empire of the air, intangible, yet solid as graphite.”

We then watched a clip of a piece called ‘Fete Des Belles Eaux‘ 1937 (post sonic- boom) by Oliver Messiaen. This piece combined visuals with sounds by accompanying fireworks and water jets with music. The music was played by 21 different composers and was scored for 6th Ondes Martenots. What I found interesting about this piece was how it represented that sound can accompany movement, thereby making it not just a sound and visual piece, but perhaps a performance piece too.

We then listened to a piece by John Cage called ‘Imaginary Landscape Number 1‘ 1939. This was part of a short series of Cages’ which illustrate different landscapes with the use of sound. Landscape number 1 was a tense, frightening and ominous sounding piece which was made up of variable speed turntables, frequency recordings, cymbals and muted piano sounds. I imagined an endless, very dry and very still land with nothing living within it, but perhaps someone was hiding behind the bare trees, following you.

This collection of 5 compositions challenged people to really listen and to imagine something without the use of visuals, but simply with what we associate with different sounds. It also represented an improvement of amplifying and recording techniques in the studio.

We also listened to Pierre Schaeffer’s – ‘Etude Aux Chemin De Fur‘ which we learned was a pre-cursor to the cut and paste technique which is so associated with electronic music, particularly Hip-Hop and Rap.

And Edgar Varese’s – ‘Deserts‘ 1950-1954, therefore taking four years to make. Varese was considered the father of electronic music and composed for orchestra but more significantly for tape.

Another early electronic instrument from the 20th century would be the ‘Mini Moog’ which was an affordable synthesizer, therefore it was quite popular, particularly in the 1970’s.

We also looked back at Brian Eno who coined the phrase ‘Ambient Music’ thereby proclaiming him the technical inventor of the genre as nobody up until then had given it a title. Eno had an interest in electronic music, and therefore worked with a crossover of ambient and electronic music throughout the 1970’s. A clear example of ambient music would be Claude Debussy‘s ‘Clair de Lun‘ 1905, a very calm, relaxing piano piece which, although very beautiful and tuneful, it can easily fade into the background, as it becomes more of a feeling than a tangible, in-your-face sort of composition.

We also watched a clip of Eno talking about something that most people, definitely not I, have not realised and/or questioned before. He explained that once he was at an airport on a beautiful sunny day which made the building and the airplanes look magnificent, but the music that was playing all over the airport was dreadful. He observed that it was overly happy and almost like it was compensating for the risks of flying, of the possibility of something going wrong which many people feel anxious about. Overall, he thought the music sounded false and did not fit with the environment at all and wanted to change that, he wanted to create music that worked in public places. This is where his interest in ambient and electronic music could mesh together to create something that didn’t steal focus, but instead would create a pleasant atmosphere.

James also showed us a clip of a musician from the 70’s called John Fahey whose music I personally fell in love with. It was a finger picky, folky song called ‘Poor Boys Long Way From Home’ . It was yet another example of the versatility of ambient music, that many songs we listen to could actually be influenced by ambient music, the idea of something repetitive, unassuming, soothing and calm. I would consider listening to such music when I want to fall asleep. In fact I think i’ll listen to John Fahey now.

Field – Group Collaboration

My collaborative group consists of me (a Fine Artist), Loretta a Designer Maker, Simon an Illustrator and Bella a Ceramicist. None of us had met before and we all come from very different disciplines and backgrounds, therefore it has been interesting working with them.

We all chose the theme Migration within the City project and we began jotting down various ideas we were discussing. We thought about what migration meant and how we could apply it to the city. We eventually decided on possibly our most simple idea for a starting point which was birds in the city, such as pigeons and seagulls, as it is in a bird’s nature to migrate from one place to another.

We each studied the anatomy of birds to get the idea of how they moved, we also researched the iconic style of Steampunk as we each related this kind of metallic imagery with our ideas. We then went away and made our own drawings and took photographs. Unfortunately with my camera, it was difficult taking decent photos of animals that move so quickly but here is one that I got away with.

At the very beginning of our project we included a lot of industrial imagery into our work. E.g. Loretta constructed a wing using wire, cartridge paper and mount board which, once it was painted and finished, looked like it was made from steel. At the base of the wing was a cog to imply it could move mechanically. As the maker, she definitely applied her skills to this part of our project.

Bella and I also constructed wings, which didn’t quite match the aesthetics of Loretta’s wing. Personally, my strong point is not in constructing so I found this task quite difficult, however I tried to keep in with the industrial/steampunk style we were aiming for.

I made this drawing below, just playing around with ideas for combining nature with industrial imagery.

There were some complications when it came to choosing a theme, for example, Bella and I both work in a very conceptual way, whereas Simon works aesthetically and Loretta works practically. Personally I thought it best to agree on a simplistic subject as it meant we could all contribute our skills without much difficulty, as our subject would be so free we could all find something to work on. Unfortunately, throughout the entire project Bella has not been entirely happy with our theme as it is slightly too obvious and does not have much of a conceptual foundation. However, the three of us were happy to collaborate using this idea, and would be left with no other choice but to carry on with our project whenever Bella was absent.

 

 

Constellation – Sonic Art 4th Seminar ‘Musique Concrete & Silence’

We were slightly behind schedule for this session as James was absent from the previous two sessions, but we went on to look at various artists and concepts which I found really engaging.

Pierre Schaeffer and John cage were mentioned a lot in this seminar, so it is apparent that they are possibly the most influential sound artists one could refer to. Schaeffer influenced lot’s of post

Seth Kim Cohen

An artist, musician and critic who prefers to keep these practices as indistinguishable as possible. He references Pierre Schaeffer and John Cage a lot in his work, mainly for their unique processes and concepts. Cohen had an unorthodox build up to composing and was untrained, this could be the reason for his Cage and Schaeffer referencing.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Stockhausen left very little to chance in his compositions, however he was very much a musical composer and used more traditional approaches than Schaeffer. However, Stockhausen was inspired by Schaeffer’s use of environment in art. In 1993 he composed the ‘Helicopter String Quartet’ which became one of Karlheinz’s most well known pieces. This piece was made up of a string quartet, 4 helicopters driven by pilots also carrying audio and video technicians. The idea for the piece was conceived by Stockhausen’s association of the sound of a string quartet playing tremolos with the sound of the rotor blades of a helicopter. He also composed the movement of the helicopters.

During this lecture we also went onto discuss the idea of silence or at least what people have come to think of what silence is. James told us about Anechoic chambers which tightly block out all sound. These chambers are so quiet that one can hear their own blood flow and nervous system, proving the point that silence doesn’t really exist.

Constellation – Sonic Art 6th Seminar: Essay Writing

In this seminar we received three essay questions to choose from on which we must write 2500 words, they are as follows:

1.) Using specific examples discuss the impact of Luigi Russolo’s 1913/1916 ‘The Art of Noises’

2.) Compare and contrast Pierre Schaeffer’s ‘Musique Concrete’ and John Cage’s ‘4’33’ and subsequent impacts.

3.) Case study on one of the following artists with at least one example of their work: Janet Cardiff, Chris Watson (Radio 4, Attenborough) Christine Sun Kim and Scanner (Robin Rimbaud).

I found Scanner’s views and processes interesting and also very relatable as he explains his love for the subtleties of language and his intrigue with the way we communicate with each other. I have a lot of love and respect for language and English literature, and I believe writing requires a lot of understanding of how we as human’s interact and why. Robin Rimbaud (Scanner) explains in an interview that he uses a radio transmitter to receive random radio and mobile signals, records them and then uses them in his compositions. A lot of my work includes the theme of psychology and communication as I find a lot of inspiration from, for example, a quote or a particular type of behavior. Therefore, I have been thinking about choosing question 3 and writing a case study on Scanner. However, I think this question might be slightly too open and I would run out of things to write about.

I read into Russolo’s ‘Art of Noises’ and found out it was one of the most influential sources of the 20th century as it introduced electronic music to the urban landscape. I think if I did more research into this artist and this text I would have a lot to write about. I am also very keen to learn the roots of electronic music and how genres like Hip-Hop and Rap came to be.

Essay Construction

Introduction > Main body/context > Conclusion

• An introduction must introduce the question I have chosen, how I am going to get my message across, and my method, (I must emphasize my method). My method can be including interviews, documentaries, quotes, books etc.
• My context should be critical, it should face social and cultural questions, and should stress the impact the artist/artist’s work has had on the world. I must also ‘have my own argument’. For example, ‘I follow this person’s theory…’ and then explain why, therefore backing myself up.

After looking at these points, James showed us videos of the artists from the third question in action and in interview.

Chris Watson whose main point was that conceptual thinking and ability outweighs technical ability.

Christine Sun Kim an artist who was born deaf and somewhat plays with sound and makes it visual and interactive. She explains that whilst growing up she was always told not to make noise, so it seems like she is expressing her freedom with sound through her work. For example, she sets up various speakers and places paint on top of them so that when the speakers are playing sounds the vibrations cause the paint to splatter, thereby combining sound with vision. Her work is non permanent and can easily be described as performance art. Sun Kim also talks about the physicality of sound and the ability to listen with one’s eyes and ears.

Constellation – Sonic Art 1st Seminar

Taking over from Alexandros’s lecture is James Kent, a practising Sound/Sonic artist who studied people and ethnics. In our first session we were informed that we were to have eight sessions with James and our lectures would consist mainly of ambient and electronic music.

We were also informed that a lot of our inspiration would come from ‘sound walks’ in which we would make trips around Cardiff, or atleast places surrounding our Uni campus and record sounds we found interesting. We were instructed not to talk to each other or pair up as this would hinder our listening skills. We have so far been encouraged to listen carefully to our surrounding, use our sense of hearing to the full and pay attention to sounds which would usually go unnoticed.

3 Key Themes within Sonic Art

1. Listening
2. Hearing
3. Notions of Sound

Kandinsky

James went on to talk about Kandinsky’s contribution to sound art and that he somewhat created musical compositions within painting. Kandinsky’s paintings mainly consist of  expressive marks and colours which each symbolise their own sound. He was also a very spritual artist and included religious stories in his paintings, his work is very illustrative of the last book of the New Testament. Through one of his paintings he explored the story of the ‘Sound of Revelation’ which shows an abstract display of apocalyptic images such as angels playing trumpets and a tumbling tower. The marks and colours within this painting bring the sounds associated from the story to life. However, it was not Kandinsky’s aim to simply illustrate Bible passages, rather he would use these stories to create work around .

Pierre Schaeffer

One of the leading sonic artists whose concepts and theories were so complicated he himself even had trouble understanding them. His main purpose was to remove machinery and man made objects from music.

James also mention these artists; Erik Satie, Luigi Russolo, Christian Wolff, Earle Brown, John Cage and Morton Feldman.

Luigi Russolo was an Italian artist known for writing ‘The Art of Noises’ – 1913, a Futurist Manifesto which discusses how humans have gotten used to the sounds of the urban landscape and the speed of life. Therefore, this new outlook on sound called for a new approach to making music, music which required technological advances which could substitute the lack of variety the orchestra had to offer. Russolo’s ‘The Art of Noises’ explains how Futurist composers should use their creativity to widen and enhance the field of sound by being imaginative.

Erik Satie a figure of the Parisian Avante Garde from the early 20th century (post WW1). His work was somewhat a prelude to ambient music (music which is able to blend into the background, usually repetitive and soothing e.g. elevator music). Satie aimed to drown out the sound of the city with his work. Satie was also the first to coin the term ‘Furniture Music’ which basically summed up his approach to making music which sunk into the background.

The Beat Generation

The Beat Generation was a cultural movement which was prolific during the 1950’s (post WWII). It was a culture which experimented with drugs, sexuality, style, and practiced the rejection of orthodox standards. There was a clear transition from The Beat Generation into the Hippy movement of the 1960’s.

John Cage – Art Politics

Another influential Sonic Artist whose entire philosophy included completely removing one’s ego from one’s work, and always asking the question ‘Is this music?’. With his work he presented how music can embody sounds extracted from other sources and this has become a technique used by most recording artists today. An example of this technique in his work would be the renowned composition ‘4’33‘ (1952) which is perhaps his best known piece. This composition was performed without the use of deliberate sound or music, the musicians do nothing except remain present for four minutes and thirty three seconds. It allowed the audience to hear the sounds of each other and their surroundings, therefore it was not 4’33 of silence, therefore that is where the question ‘what is music’ comes in.

Dick Higgins – Fluxus

Higgins was part of the Fluxus movement (a movement which began in the 1960’s and is ongoing today, a blend of various types of media with a Da-Da ish edge) and was also a composer, print maker and poet. He studied composing with John Cage in New York. He began ‘The Thousand Symphonies’ in 1968, and Symphony number 32 ‘The Well Shot One’ 1997 consisted of 3 separate movements on sheet music with bullet holes determining the musical score, a reaction to an unfair police shooting. I find this piece interesting firstly for the concept; that the artist literally included shooting in the process of creating the piece, making it brash, raw and unpredictable. Secondly, for the various medias this piece can fall under; it can be claimed as performance art, visual art and sound art/musical composition.

To my surprise James also mentioned Andy Warhol, who is overall my favorite artist. James spoke about how Warhol knew the importance of music in relation to art and the art world. By collaborating with the Velvet Underground he effectively combined the world of music and art. Whilst managing the Velvet Underground they became ever present at his studio The Factory and this created even more hype and excitement about his work.

La Monte Thornton Young

Born 1935 was an American Avante Garde artist and composer who was included in the post Hippy, post WWII generation. He created a series titled the ‘Dream Space’ series. The style of Young’s music was relaxing and calm, fitting perfectly into the Ambient genre. It’s purpose was to heal and bring peace, it is music which gives one room to think.

Brian Eno

Known as the Godfather of ambient music (Eno was the first to coin the phrase, or at least name that particular type of music ‘Ambient’.) Eno is credited as one of the most influential composer and artist of the 21st century. He studied art and had an interest in painting. He played the synthesizer in the band Roxy Music in the early 1970’s prior to gaining musical experience whilst studying. He produced and collaborated with the Talking Heads numerous times in the early 1980’s among many other recording artists, always keeping fine art concepts in mind. The brit-pop band Blur would later be influenced by Eno’s work in the 1990’s.

Field – Painting Session 4

Returning to our cut-out paintings, we began working over the base coat, only using a thin layer of paint so that it wouldn’t completely cover the base coat, letting the colours mingle. I have a lot of freedom with this painting as it is such a plain design. I had decided to make each house blue, but with different hints of colours added to each blue, like bits of red, yellow, orange and black. This way the houses would be subtly different. I asked James for advice on how I could make my painting more exciting and he mentioned adding collage and perhaps painting bricks in various sections of the houses, and I agreed that it was a good idea and I shall work on that during the week. Here is how my board looked by the end of this session.

I very much like the surface wood underneath the paint which adds a rough, grainy texture, and how the base colours are protruding through the blues.

Field – Painting session 3: Customizing our own Painting Boards

James mentioned to us that in our third session we would need a board of MDF as we would be cutting out our own specific shape for a painting, explaining that not all paintings have to come in the form of a square or a rectangle. I was skeptical of the idea at first as my personal view of the purpose of a painting is to transport people to different worlds, or at least to a different place than the place they are currently in. It seems to me that people – at least people in western culture – think in straight lines and squares, (this is in fact a point I am studying in my current work). We watch films through squares (or rectangles) and we look out square windows, and perhaps this is because we see it as the ideal shape through which to view things, and perhaps this is why we have always painted on rectangles on straight lines, to transport us somewhere else in our minds. I thought (and am still debating) that by cutting an outline into a painting made it not a painting anymore, but a physical presence in a room, something that is there with you rather than taking you somewhere else. Despite these thoughts I thoroughly enjoyed creating something which was out of my comfort zone (particularly as I am not very familiar with wood cutting machinery) and I found the exercise interesting.

We were to decide on a shape we wanted, draw it out and then make our way into the workshop where we would cut it out using the band saw. I chose my shape from a fairly simple drawing of houses lined up neatly.

During the week before our next session we were to prime our cut outs and then give them the base coat using the same technique as our first painting, (by using green, yellow, blue and red). Here is how mine looked.

Subject Area: Painting 1.

I chose the subject Painting as my specialty with my tutor James. We were instructed to bring in a drawing, a photograph and an object to our first session (preferably all these things relating to our field project) which we could arrange an create a composition for out first drawing/painting. This painting was to be on an A1 piece of paper and it was to be filled right to the edges.

I brought with me a drawing and some little clay building blocks which I had made earlier on in the project, and a photograph I had taken studying the architecture in Cardiff. I placed the clay models in the foreground and made a backdrop using the drawing and photograph. Here was the first stage (ish) of my painting.

We were told to use green for mid tones, yellow for lighter tones and blue and red for dark tones. This was to make the base coat which we would be working over. These base colours seem to set off the colours used on top of it and make them pop. Below are the different stages my painting went through.

These show the various changes and different layers I was adding to my painting.

 

We were to work on these paintings during the week before our second painting session when we would be finishing our paintings (or at least try to). I am a rather slow worker and could not quite distinguish the difference between the drawing and the photograph. I studied the marks made in my drawing compared to the smoothness of the photograph next to it, I also noticed how the building in the photograph had a slightly bluish tinge to it, I think that was due to the late time I took it and the printer ink, but I decided to try and paint it that colour. Here is my finished painting from our second painting session.

Field Drawing and Painting – Starting Points 2

Here is a drawing I made of the view outside my kitchen window, again, it represents layers within the city and the sense of endlessness.

I also converted this drawing into a small painting, however I was not entirely happy with my choice of colours and have not yet returned to this composition for more substantial, finished work.

I can’t help but see a lot of flaws within this painting, although I believe it was my first try at painting in this style. I don’t think it is very coordinated and therefore I think it looks flat rather than three dimensional. However I persevered.

I made this drawing based on the composition and colour scheme of one of my previous photographs. I chose this image for it’s composition: I like the way there are boxes/crates in the foreground which look fixed and almost menacing, but there are also crates in the background shrinking in the distance, as if there is a constant collection of these crates neatly piled everywhere.

I converted my earlier drawing into a painting (acrylic on MDF board) and I think it was very successful, I found I had to make a lot of decisions with this painting in order to be happy with it. For instance, it was not my original plan to make one of the foreground crates orange, but I think the rust-like orange glow underneath the faraway crates insisted that something else in the painting was made orange as well. I made the change and I think they compliment each other, therefore I am happy with the results.

I also added some faraway mountain-like buildings in the background which look to be fading away. There was only one pointy building in the original plan but I thought there should be a cluster of them so that they look eerily like mountains, but one can’t be sure about what they actually are.

……………………….

Whilst out taking photographs I found myself taking photos of smaller things (as opposed to buildings and factories) which I found interesting. It is the geometric shapes within cities and towns which I have been focusing on, but the childish idea of representing them as little toys is just as important to me. I noticed these little sheds in my neighbors garden, and I loved them for their simplicity and innocence (this may be because they were painted pale pink and green).

This idea of simplifying cityscapes and busy towns into little toys and simple blocky shapes was inspired by Cardiff based photographer Paul Beauchamp, as his photographs create the sort of feeling I want to express through my own work.

Paul Beauchamp – ‘Pink House’

Field Drawing and Painting – Starting Points

Photography and drawing were my main starting points for the City project, below are some of the first drawings I made.

These drawings were made from a great height in order to view as much of the city as possible. I have always been interested in viewing towns and villages from up high as it creates an illusion of everything looking smaller and therefore all the buildings, cars and people look like toys. This has become a crucial idea within my project which I have been playing with.