Visual art and soundscapes
Koma Elektronik, Field Kit – Electro Acoustic Workstation, 2017
Raul Sanchez is an Australian musician. Although best known as the lead guitarist in Magic Dirt, Raul also plays in several other (less known) bands. Additionally, Raul's taste in music is expansive and eclectic, as can be heard in his soundtracks (written for short films), solo projects, and Avant Garde soundscapes (which he refers to as "sound sculptures").
This resonates strongly (see Master of Photography capstone project “Frisson”) which aimed to visualise mental and bodily sensations experienced when listening to music (or musically induced frisson) in a series of abstracted portraits of Melbourne musicians created using alternative analogue photography and printmaking. The involvement and participation of musicians informed the project from the perspective of the live music creative sectors and contributed to my artwork, 'speaking back' to my study of neuroscience, phenomenology and live music culture that underpinned the creative-based research.
Raul and I are discussing numerous collaborative projects, whereby I create 2D works based on soundscapes he has composed, and he creates soundscapes to accompany my visual art (2D).
Musicians and academic theories inform visual art series. My photographic and creative practices used to create series are recorded, sampled and used to compose a soundscape by a working musician. Thus the visual works, informed by live music creative sectors and academic study, come 'full circle' to inspire the music and musician. Full circle.
This week, we are meeting to build on my concept of recording my photographic (analogue) and printmaking processes as samples to create a soundscape or sound sculpture to accompany a visual installation of works.
The equipment Raul will use includes The Koma Field Kit and Koma Field Kit FX, both made in Germany for creating sound art and electro-acoustic music. He has provided links to the equipment, which I have yet to research. Raul referenced Curtis Roads and David Toop (academics who specialise in the field of Avant-Guard music), who I have also begun to investigate.
Keywords
Avant-Garde, Music, Soundscapes, Sound sculpture, 2D art, Curtis Roads, David Toop, Koma Field Kit
Bibliography
Collins, Nick. 2016. "Composing Electronic Music: A New Aesthetic. By Curtis Roads". Music And Letters 97 (4): 675-677. doi:10.1093/ml/gcw092.
Roads, Curtis. Composing Electronic Music: A New Aesthetic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2015. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195373233.001.0001.
Toop, David. 2012. "Sounding The Object: A Timebase Archive". Journal Of Conservation And Museum Studies 10 (1). doi:10.5334/jcms.1011203.
Arvidsson, Alf. 2017. "David Toop. 2016. Into The Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation And The Dream Of Freedom: Before 1970." New York and London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-5013-1451-3 (Hbk), 978-1-6289-2769-6 (Pbk). 330 Pp.". Perfect Beat 18 (2): 170-172. doi:10.1558/prbt.33480.
Koma Elektronik GmbH. 2016. "FIELD KIT - Electroacoustic Workstation". Kickstarter. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/komaelektronik/field-kit-electroacoustic-workstation.
Koma Elektronik. 2017. Field Kit – Electro Acoustic Workstation. Image. https://koma-elektronik.com/?product=field-kit.
Soundscapes
Record photographic processes used to create a series (such as agitation of darkroom trays, film developing canisters, timer, winding of film loading film), to sample and create a soundscape that accompanies the visual art. The process brings the work that visually iterates (in 2D imagery) mental and physical sensations induced by listening to music (musically induced frissons and musical emotion) full circle, whereby the processes used to create the art are then used to transform back into music. The intention is that the soundscape then presents an audial iteration of musically induced frissons and musical emotion. Although this soundscape is intended to be part of the final installation, I am keen to produce a limited edition vinyl release. I am currently discussing with a friend who is an established touring and recording musician on the ‘rock scene’ and a talented sound engineer, solo artist and composer who reaches into the ambient noise and the avant garde.
Keywords
Soundscapes, Musical emotion, Frissons