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Anonymous (2)
Am I the only one that thinks that the phrase "the text omnipresently straddles reality and fantasy" has no meaning? Can text ever straddle fantasy, never mind in an omipresent manner? Or is this "the point where words lose their clarity of meaning"?
ReplyDeletePART 1
DeleteHi Grainne,
Thanks for your comment. I'm really happy that you've taken the time to make comment, as it will open up a discourse on aspects of the piece that are not immediately obvious (at least, not obvious from the blog). I'd enjoy continuing this conversation here...
Admittedly, I'm not sure I have a definitive answer to your query, but I do have a perspective. For me, that is just as valuable. It begins an exchange where competing perspectives thrust and parry without the requirement for a resolution. It is the tension between competing perspectives that I find interesting. Indeed, it is something that Darragh and I don't always see quite eye to eye on - coming, as we do, from markedly different positions.
So, does the the phrase "the text omnipresently straddles reality and fantasy" have any meaning? Within the closed world of APHASIA I think it does, but it is entirely contextualised within the piece. There's a few elements that inform this perspective:
• the notion of something/anything being omnipresent. How can any text be in any sense everywhere/everywhen? In APHASIA, text as being everywhere at all times is the driver of the sound installation.
⁃ In the matter of everywhere, the immersive, surround nature of the quadraphonic installation in the main space gives the impression of being completely surrounded by text clusters: that is, sound that is recognised as text, even though the actual text itself is not always recognisable (given that it is layered, confused, muddled etc). In the blog entry 'Audio inside APHASIA' there is a sound excerpt where this is illustrated (between 1'50" and 3'18"). On the blog, this is (by virtue of the medium of delivery) a two channel mix; but in situ, it is a four channel mix creating an immersive environment where the text is indeed everywhere.
PART 2
Delete⁃ As for everywhen, the surround sound installation in the main space of APHASIA is around 40'08" long, looping at intervals of 40'17". Over this period, text is not always present (though it often is); however, the materials that are not directly textual are informed by it, or (de)constructed from it. As an example, if one is to take the word 'ran', there are a number of component elements to that sound figure: 'r', 'aa', 'nn', 'ra', 'an'. These are featured throughout as sound elements that carry some sort of imprecise meaning, but more often used as some sort of textual deconstruction exploited for their sound qualities (timbre, pitch, rhythm for example). Additionally, as the raw material is recorded, there are the additional sounds of breath (nose and mouth), lips being moistened etc…these sounds also find their way directly into the sound installation. Similarly, musical/sonic transcription of the melodic structures of text are present - the pitching, inflection and transforming tone colour of speech (especially the vowel sounds) are transcribed into non-vocal sound sources: percussion and sines in particular (the sines are critically important in this regard, as the resultant beating of adjacent/contiguous sines in low registers is used analogously to organic sounds of the body, heartbeat and breathing patterns for example. But more about that later when I consider 'clarity of meaning'). Thus, compositionally, I consider the informing nature of text to be everywhen throughout the main space installation: either in actuality, in deconstruction, or informing a range of other sound sources.
⁃ The sound installation that occupies the antechamber is our version of céad míle fáilte. In the version that we have made, text is once again unrecognisable, but the essence of vocalisation is present. So even before entering the main space, the text (either recognised or not) is present and of critical importance. There is a short excerpt of that installation at the blog entry 'The Door Installation'. In other words, text is present in many different forms - before during and after travelling through APHASIA.
• Reality and fantasy. This pertains directly to the content of the text. Broadly, the content may be considered as one of two types: some that is 'real' (or at least a version of real/someone's reality) and something that is 'not real' (a purely subconscious construct). The former takes the form of letters, the latter is a recitation of remembered (nor perhaps even half or three-quarter remembered) dreams.
PART 3
Delete• Straddling. Well, I think the text straddles the area between these two types of materials, especially in the way it is used in the piece. I think it is hard for text to straddle just one thing (i.e. 'can text straddle fantasy', which is why I had gone for 'straddles reality and fantasy'). In approaching this, the placement of the two types of text either contiguously or in stratification creates the clash, the conflation that the sound installation drives towards - the confusion of meaning. For example, if a grab from type one text (say 'how are you getting on?') is placed adjacent to type two text (say 'carry me on his back'), some sort of connection is sought as a means of constructing a cogent meaning. If the material is placed on layered, there will only be certain words broadly recognisable (say 'getting' and 'back', given the harder consonant sounds and longer vowel sounds in those words that tend to attract the ear), rendering a different type of listening experience and meaning. The resultant meaning in both of those cases is different from the original meaning of the two phrases, and indeed from each other. Any meaning that is created in the mind of the listener is a misinterpretation of the source material, but it is a meaning derived from reconciling the two types of textual material…in that sense I use the term straddle to suggest that middle ground between these two types…this of course is multiplied at various points in the installation when four or five type one and type two materials are experienced simultaneously.
• At this point, words do lose their clarity of meaning - it becomes all context, and the context is completely malleable and inconsistent with the original intent of the source material. A constructed meaning arises from the intersection of unrelated text material - in a sense, meaning is simply a byproduct of the placement of the text grabs. This is further reflected in the use of low register sines where difference frequencies create audible beats - two streams of different information creating a third entity different from, but related to, the original material.
When these are read and experienced together there is some sort of relationship to the medical condition of aphasia, where there is a loss of the power of expression by speech, writing, or signs, or of comprehension of spoken or written language. It is that sense of contested meaning and comprehension that is being pursued in the use of text clusters, amalgams and representation in the sound installation. There is also a relationship to the Greek word of aphatos (from which the English term is derived) meaning speechlessness and incomprehension caused by perplexity, amongst other things.
PART 4
DeleteSo, for me, the text does operate in both real and non-real worlds dependant upon their text type (i.e. origin of letters or dreams) and, depending upon their placement, gives rise to meaning that has elements of reality and fantasy, and is ubiquitous throughout the sound installation. It creates a meaning that sits somewhat in the middle of the two (or least informed by the two) that is a complete misinterpretation of both source materials…thus losing any clarity of meaning present in the original documents.
As I mentioned, this is not a definitive position, but it is my perspective and it is one of the drivers of the sound installation. I don't pretend to think that this may operate anywhere else other than the closed world of APHASIA…
Even though we are a team on this project, Darragh and I don't necessarily approach this from the same position, which is good. Being able to maintain our different positions regarding this (and other aspects of the piece) gives it a richness and depth greater than if we simply agreed on everything. So having said all that above, Darragh might want to add something that completely refutes it all. And that is OK, because it just my perspective, which is as valid as anyone's…
So again thanks Grainne for posing the question - the challenge even - that has led to me making more concrete some of the positions behind the structures, techniques and drivers of the sound installation. I've really enjoyed putting these thoughts in writing, and look forward to your reply…
Cheers,
Dave
PS Apologies for the serial nature of this reply...there is a character limit per post!