‘tendencies of infinite expansion’ looks at the finer qualities of flow dynamics and of materials in the solid, liquid and gaseous states; observing transitional air and noise fields of slowly shifting layers and changing densities. For me, this experiment marked another phase in an ongoing audio/visual investigation of movement patterns in thermodynamic systems. Small particles of dry ice were placed in various temperatures of water to see what characteristics it took on within the rapid phase change.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Concept

‘New Maps of Time’ is a project and workshop about mapping spaces (mental, architectural and natural) using sound as a means to express actions within a space. The project process works with the basic understanding that artistic creativity can be a ritual by which we live out and  share the subjectivity of our own experiences. This inherent subjectivity must be  understood not only as an intellectual notion but through means of participatory activity on  different levels of personal, collaborative (between artists) and contextual actions (interventions in a space). The emphasis here is on subjectivity as articulated through direct experience of social intervention over the mediated representational forms of listening we are used to (“music” and “entertainment” of mass media).

Sound, as perceived by one of our primary senses hearing, is one of the best ways in which to explore the subjectivity of personal and collective experience and to test our own creative abilities. By using sound we develop means to map both space and social relations with our own cognitive process. In order to refine these cognitive maps we introduce constraints such as activities, materials, durations and the physical dimensions of the surrounding build environment. These constraints are the boundaries by which we can reference our own activities for interpretation and discussion to help further refine the activities.

In addition, we employ more objective external references (commonly known as recorded media) to add to the mix. The plethora of digital media recording devices offer a set of tools from which to develop an array audio-visual narratives for sharing on the local level and throughout any network these devices may be connected. Both processes, the cognitive and the mediated aim to increase the level at which we find recursive modes of information exchange integrated with the artistic working method.

Process Plan

The project involves spending a few days in and around the city, mapping various spaces and locations (parks, public squares, roof tops, industrial buildings etc.) through sound by using simple objects (glass jars, plates, wires, found objects etc…). One possibility is to use the same set of objects, but play them in different spaces. I  would like to work with a small team of students or local artists to help play these objects as a sort of free-form ensemble who gets to develop their abilities through the activities of the project. These participants can be local artists from abroad. I will record these actions and keep a record of the times and places where they took place (and make short films from video recordings as well).

The actions will involve generating acoustic sounds and patterns from the objects we have and/or find in the space to activate each location. Working together we will explore the balance between our gestures and movements to create sounds and the intelligibility by which we communicate through sounds (this has been thoroughly explored in various workshops. See the documentation from the Sound as Space, Sound as Language workshop developed with Patrick McGinley and Maksims Shentelevs or the Revenant sound project.

At the end of each action the working group would evaluate their experiences in a short discussion session as well as by listening to or watching the recordings. A selection of the recordings would be made and edited for the potentially use in the final performance lecture. The sound recordings would also be uploaded on the internet to Radio Aporee Maps which gives an overview from areal satellite maps of the different locations.

Performance/Lecture

The final presentation phase would be a “New Maps of Time” performance/lecture on the “sound mapping” process using the various materials collected and edited during the  residency including sounds, video, website, Radio Aporee, and even the objects used. This mix of material offers a representative experience of the workshop as compressed time, a nonlinear narrative with which to engage the public. As much as possible, the presentation space itself would be transformed into an instrument, a hollow body to enter and and be transported to the spaces and shared experiences of the working group from the previous weeks.

This workshop also will give a basic overview on both technical and artistic processes using sound, video and web based media.

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Past workshops:

New Maps of Time workshop, Prague/Kladno Czech Republic (10.2009)

New Maps of Time workshop, Istanbul Turkey (2.2010)

New Maps of Time workshop, Calgary Canada (4.2010)

New Maps of Time workshop, Malmö Sweden (5.2010)

New video up. This is a straight forward sound mix made in my backyard using both live mics and contact mics. No post-processing or composing was done. A higher quality version is available on my Vimeo page. The video was from hand held material recorded on a panasonic digital camera.

The Location Sound Films installation will be exhibited during the Liquid Architecture festival in Australia. The festival is one of the largest events of its kind showcasing sound related art and experimental music in seven cities across the continent.

Details for the exhibition is as follows:

Alan Lamb | Rosalind Hall | Dale Gorfinkel | Peter Blamey | John Grzinich
11.07.09 – 25.07.09
Opening: Saturday 11 July 3 – 5pm
West Space Gallery – Melbourne

Special thanks to Camilla Hannan for helping set this up and Eamon Sprod for continued support.

Formica aquilonia or Red Wood Ant is a species of ant commonly found in the area where I live. The ant colonies are easily recognizable by the large mounds that they build out of debris from the pine forests they inhabit. The mounds also tend to be clustered together. I’m not sure what is the relation between the mounds, but the activity between them can be so frequent that “ant highways” or noticeable paths form on the forest floor. Ants are in the Family Formicidae meaning they give off formic acid when defending a territory through biting or spraying. Formic acid happens to be highly corrosive to some piezo transducer materials. This I know because one of the contact mics I used to record the ants was unprotected and went bad after about 15 seconds after I placed it on a mound.

The recording method here is something of an intervention and is not scientific in any way. If anything it is quite a provocation for the ants as I place the mics on the surface of the mound. They take it as a foreign object (which it is) and attack it. So the sound is a combination of biting, scratching and walking on the contact mics. To add some variation I used two different kinds of piezos and attached some thin brass wire to the discs. I do my very best not to harm the ants or their mounds especially since they are under a mild form of environmental protection due to threats from pollution.

contact microphone intervention with formica aqulonia – red wood ants (3:26) mp3 file

and here is a video I made about these ants:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The quality of course is limited but it should give you an idea of the type of work I’m doing. If you are curious to see more drop me a line and we can arrange a trade for the full quality DVDs. Also, more to come soon.

There are five parts to this video work. The first focuses on a montage of electronic wave forms from an analogue oscilloscope monitor. The second is a literal use of water waves taken from the Elbe and slowly abstracted over time. Thirdly, the water transforms to air and we see the slow moving patterns of clouds. From the large to the small we zoom in using macro photography to capture movement patterns in aquatic environments. Subtle currents, types of debris and varied lighting and feedback techniques are all qualities that define the visual field. The fifth and final part is a reworking of the original hand painted films of Rick Reed a colleague of mine based in Austin, Texas. Attention is devoted to each subject as the intricacies are given enough time to be visually absorbed.

A live mix formed from a diverse archive of recordings of the past year is used for the soundtrack. This consists of acoustic recordings of piano and pure tone ‘chimes’ and computer synthesis which is being used as material for new compositions.

Thermographic Sequences’ has been presented at: t0 Public Netbase Vienna, Cyberpipe Ljublajana, Klub MaMa Zagreb, Access Centar Sarajevo, Academy of Fine Arts Budapest, Center for Contemporary Arts Prague and Videomedja Novi Sad.

Intro

Moss Slide

Burning Pain (with Marcus Williams)

Shallow Drift

Blind Array

Surface Tension

Retracing Faces (with Alio Die)

Y kohtumine

teisipäeval 27.novembril kell 18.00 Y-galeriis Tartus.

Kolmanda Y kohtumise sisustab John Grzinich. Sellel õhtul toob John lagedale oma kõige värskema loomingu ja kaasab kokkutulnud kodanikud filmiaktsiooni.
John kõneleb enda praeguse aja töödest ja esitleb esimest osa oma uuest filmist “mimema”. See 22- minutiline film uurib “vahepeal olemist” looduses. Märksõnaks oleks selle töö puhul polaarsused: öö-päev, hele- tume, ülal- all, sees- väljas, vaatleja- vaadeldav, ärkvel- uinunud. Materjal on filmitud HDV formaadis 2007. aasta suvel Eestimaa erinevais paigus. Film valmis inspireerituna Johni enese heliteosest “mimema” mille ta komponeeris 2007. a talvel. Y galeriis esitletav film ei ole selle lõplik versioon. Kuna see on käimasolev töö (work in progress) siis oleks autor väga tänulik vaatajate kommentaaride ja küsimuste eest.
Pärast filminäitamist korraldab John Grzinich filmiaktsiooni, mille jooksul ülesvõetud materjali võib ta kasutada “mimema” edaspidistes osades. Ta ootab osalema 4-6 inimest, kel ei ole midagi selle vastu, et natuke oma käsi määrida. Filmimine keskendub kätele ja nende liikumisele, reaktsioonile erinevate materjalide suhtes.

BIO
s. 1970 New York state, USA
Elab Eestis alates 2003. aastast.
Heli ja videokunstnik, koordinaator.
Multimeediakunstnikuna töötab John Grzinich valdavalt helide komponeerimise, heli performance ja -installatsioonide vallas alates 1990-ndate algusest. Sellest ajast alates on ta aktiivselt esinenud ja töötanud üle kogu Euroopa ja USAs. Samuti on ta oma heliloominguga välja andnud rea CD-sid taoliste plaadileibelite alt nagu SIRR (PT), Staalplaat (NL), Edition Sonoro (UK), CUT (CH), CMR (NZ), erewhon (BE),
Intransitive Recordings (US), Orogenetics (US), Elevator Bath (US), Pale-Disc (JP), Digital Narcis (JP), and Cloud of Statics(CH).

Praegu on John Grzinich projekti- ja meedialabori koordinaator MoKSis (Mooste KülalisStuudio MTÜ-s)

Tort ja limonaad!
Üritustesari Y kohtumine toimub 2008. a kevadeni iga kuu viimasel teisipäeval Y- galeriis. Üritustesarja eesmärgiks on tutvustada MoKSi residentkunstnike tegemisi. Üritustesarja toetab Tartu Kultuurkapital ja Eesti Kultuuriministeerium.

Rohkem infot:

http://maaheli.ee

http://maaheli.ee/site
http://www.ygalerii.blogspot.com/
http://moks.ee