phase space

audio cultures, parallel worlds

jgrzinich — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:42:50 +0000

As I travel around doing projects and giving workshops I start to notice something when I explain what I do and how it relates to the culture of sound and listening. The inevitable question that always comes up is, how is this information useful? Working as a “sound artist” appears to many people (and actually is) a rather obscure profession, so I give examples of how research and use of sound as a medium appears in other disciplines, some more mainstream than others. But the more I explain this, the more I realize how much these disciplines and professions exist as parallel worlds and how little communication may exist between them. This is a typically post-modern condition when it comes to specialization where certain disciplines may attempt to look more credible than others for business reasons, status or otherwise. But things seem to be changing slowly, at least on the front of sharing information and getting a peek into what it is people actually do in their respective fields.

In using sound as a departure point, we can easily drift into any number of fields, each with its own focus. Even though the medium is the same and concepts and techniques are shared, we end up with an array of different possibilities. With the simple formula of paying attention to sound, recording it, then editing it the result can end up being “art”(sound art, installation, experimental music), “science”(nature sound, acoustic ecology), “engineering”(acoustics, studio recording) or “entertainment”(film sound, sound design, radio) just to name a few. Apart from some random crossovers, it appears to me that each of these fields exists relatively independent from each other. Yet there is one defining link, the use and dependence on technology. There is one problem I’ve encountered during the process of giving sound workshop. Not everyone seems to understand the fundamental significance of sound, listening and our own cognitive process until you give them a microphone and a pair of headphones. How is it that it a technological interface helps so much to spark people’s imagination? I’ve often asked this for myself. If I’m so interested in acoustic perception, what’s the point to record anything at all? Yet I do and I’m quite deeply involved in using technology for recording and reproduction of sound.

Getting back to the various strands of audio cultures, I’ve come across some good “blogs”, particularly in the sound design field, of people who like to share what they record. It is possible that revealing some transparency in the process will help bridge some gaps between different fields. As people can see and hear more what goes on behind the scenes we can take note of some shared interests in the process, regardless of the outcome, particularly when it comes to thinking about awareness of our sound environments. On a side note… I’ve noticed that the various fields here tend to be male dominated. This is a topic for another post, but when giving workshops I see no evidence that interest and attention and creative ability to to work with sound has anything to do with gender.

Sound Design / Film Sound / Field Recording

Nature Sound / Acoustic Ecology

Misc. Projects and Resources

And to close, here’s a Newsweek article about audio ecologist Gordon Hempton’s work to raise awareness about silence and natural sound environments.

new maps of time, istanbul

jgrzinich — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:24:21 +0000

New Maps of Time sound workshop/residency Istanbul Turkey

‘New Maps of Time’ is a project and workshop about mapping architectural and urban spaces using sound as a means to express actions within a space. read more…

Workshop carried out in the frame of my X-OP residency at Apartment Project, artist-run project space, from February 8 – March 8, 2010

click the above Istanbul Sound Map to hear the recordings in Istanbul on Radio Aporee Maps

Some comments… It was both a pleasure and an adventure spending a month in Istanbul exploring the rich and often noisy environment of this great metropolis. The workshop went as well as could be expected especially considering how busy people are, making it a challenge to work continually as a group. Regardless, having a chance to collaborate with a diverse range of artists, musicians, architects and designers was always enjoyable and productive. I am thankful particularly to Muharrem Yıldırım, Onur Güngör, İdil Tunga, Natali Arslan, Nurgül Öztürk, Cansu Tolunay and Fulya Uçanok for taking time to share in our explorations of the city and work collaboratively in the process of sound making and recording. It’s also important to mention the generous efforts of the Apartment Project team for hosting and coordinating this workshop.

Some of the activities included in the workshop this month: building microphones (contact mics, hydrophones, binaurals), various city excursions to Maçka Park and Karaköy, trips to Burgazada and Heybeliada (islands), and a trip to Santralistanbul (Bilgi University campus). We concentrated on a wide range of activities as well, from passive analysis of soundscapes and acoustic architecture to active engagement with certain locations through objects and materials we found there. The gallery below is a small overview of these activities (photos by: Enise Gökbayrak, Onur Güngör, Muharrem Yıldırım and myself).

The Sound Locations channel on Vimeo has 6 videos of collaborative efforts made during the workshop. Here are a few highlights:

Click here to view the embedded video.

‘Islands’ a 14 minute film documenting trips to the Adalar (Prince’s Islands)

Click here to view the embedded video.

teufelsberg listening station

jgrzinich — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:22:06 +0000

It was a busy week in Berlin but one of the nice surprises was a visit to Teufelsberg, a former NSA ‘listening station’ that has been abandoned since the wall came down. This small complex of buildings sits on top of an artificial mountain of rubble left over from the second world war. A group of us went to listen to something else, the space itself. Actually there were multiple spaces that included some old concrete military buildings and a series of geodesic domes, which I imagine, must have housed the surveillance equipment. The highest dome, sits at least 7 stories up, has a fiberglass shell that offers many sonic possibilities with its unique acoustic properties. The video below is composed of a few clips I filmed (in very windy conditions) while the sound is excerpted from a straight recording of a 40 minute improvisation of 5 people. Special thanks to Natalia for suggesting this and for Dusan to drive us out there in the snow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

radio aporee sound/tracks workshop

jgrzinich — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:06:42 +0000

just a short report on the workshop at CTM which went very well considering the various weather conditions in Berlin this week. Udo Noll the creator and developer of Radio Aporee Maps has revived the possibility of integrating a GPS locating function that works with the main website. A small application loaded onto a GPS enabled mobile phone can track your movement when enabled. Your path is then recorded and when played back, is synchronized with the existing sounds on Radio Aporee Maps. The different data layers (sounds, GPS track) are then mixed to create something of a fictional “sound walk”. While the recorded paths may stay the same the mix of sounds will continually change as new sounds are added to the map. To hear some examples, visit the Radio Aporee Maps Mobile page. Click on any of the files with ‘ctm workshop’ in the title and see some paths. Also, a number of new sounds were added during the week, particularly around Alexanderplatz, Rathauspassage and Klosterstrasse by myself and other workshop participants.

sound workshop in Kiel

jgrzinich — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:30:41 +0000

From January 23rd to 29th I gave a workshop for Art Pedagogy students in Kiel. The theme was based around ’sound installation’ yet we went through many of the basics of the behavior and properties of sound as well as perception and social aspects of sound. I want to thank Pipe Lange for organizing this and Hannah, Annika, Nadine, Yasmin, Charlotte and Ramona for their participation. (photos by Lange and Grzinich)

here are a few field recordings made during the week

highway bridge in Kiel near the university

Highway bridge knocks from traffic: bridge sound kiel mp3

Kiel harbor on a winter day

Kiel harbor sounds, ice, waves, ferry, planes, birds: Kiel harbor sounds mp3

late winter 2010 event schedule

jgrzinich — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:56:56 +0000

My tentative event schedule for late winter 2010. Dates and times subject to change.

January 23 – 29
Sound workshop for Art Pedagogy students of Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Keil

January 31 – February 2
radio aporee ::: sound/tracks workshop, CTM Festival (assisting Udo Noll)

February 5, 19:00
Panel Talk: “Put Your Ear on the Wall – Tuned City: Platform for Examinations in the Field Between Architecture and Sound” CTM Festival, with Carsten Stabenow [DE] / Sam Auinger [AT/DE] Derek Holzer [US/DE]

February 6, starts 21.12 ends 23.30
Das Kleine Field Recordings Festival mid winter edition, performance with Paulo Raposo and murmer at K77

February 8 – March 8
X-OP Residency at Apartment Project in Istanbul. Conducting second edition of “New Maps of Time” workshop/project

April 2010
Portland, San Francisco, Calgary (details coming soon)

framework250 compilations

jgrzinich — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:12:14 +0000

My track “sentience of spring” (09:48) is available on the Framework250 double CD compilation

The track is composed from a mix of field recordings and site-specific sound actions made in the Spring of 2009 in Southeast Estonia and Riga Latvia, some of which include my ongoing fascination with found long wire installations. This is a slightly remixed version of a piece composed for the Active Crossover installation by Simon Whetham that was exhibited in Bristol in October 2009.

The framework250 compilations are only available by making a donation to the framework radio show. So please support framework and get in on this splendid collection of music and sounds.

from the framework host, Patrick McGinley:

the framework250 compilations are now ready to ship!

we are celebrating a landmark. in september framework aired its 250th edition. to mark the occasion, a collection of artists who have been important to the program over the years agreed to donate new and exclusive tracks, which we have published on a pair of double-cdr compilations, in handmade packaging.

they come in hand-cut, hand-folded, hand-silkscreened opaque origami sleeves, with inlay cards printed on local 100% recycled estonian-made paper from the rapina village paper factory, about 20km from me here in mooste. the sounds are slow-burnt onto the highest quality taiyo yuden cdrs, and hand-stamped with custom made rubber stamps. they sound andlook great, if i do say so myself. all in all, my novice over-enthusiasm means these are more effort that i would probably ever be willing to make for a release again, so snap them up while you can!

images, full tracklists and notes here:
http://www.frameworkradio.net/framework250

these compilations are available only through the framework website, and you will receive one as a thank-you for your donation of €25 or more (or any subscription that will result in the same amount). alternatively, for a minimum donation of €40 euros, we’ll send you both!

including exclusive works from: jeph jerman, loren chasse, nuno moita & matteo uggeri, felicity ford, tarab, murmer, scott sherk, steve roden, peter cusack, keith berry, toshiya tsunoda, maria balabas, asmus tietchens, keith de mendonca, seth nehil, martin clarke, maksims shentelevs, hitoshi kojo, dallas simpson, eric cordier, jonathan coleclough & ben owen, toy.bizarre, mark schreiber, michael ruesenberg, jim haynes, thomas tilly /TO, john grzinich, jean-luc guionnet, emmanuel mieville, jez riley french, giancarlo toniutti, rie nakajima, chris watson, joel stern & lloyd barrett, richard garet, aaron ximm, michael northam, simon whetham, and phill niblock

spaces of abandon

jgrzinich — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:39:21 +0000

Here is a selected set of photos from a series taken in 2007. Abandoned spaces like this are from old soviet collective farms, however they are rapidly disappearing. Structures like this decayed so rapidly because of the poor methods of construction. It was common for people to steal any valuable materials for their own use while letting the ‘collective’ (state owned property) to fall victim to the lowest standard. I converted the images to black and white thinking of them as a shadow of the place I visited to take these photos. What you see has since been destroyed (but has a new storage barn built in its place by a local farmer).

tendencies of infinite expansion

jgrzinich — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:22:17 +0000

video project and installation
presented at Westwerk Gallery, Hamburg Germany
December 12-17, 2002

‘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.

deep winter

jgrzinich — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:04:12 +0000

2010 New Years greetings to everyone. I’m posting some photos taken during the recent days of crystal clear but cold weather (-15C to -26C, 5F to -15F). Its a time when everything seems to come to a frozen standstill, everything except the last remaining moisture in the air which condenses as crystallized ice on all the surfaces. Much of it crystallizes directly in the air causing an endless flow of glittery sparks as it refracts in the golden beams of sunlight in the mid afternoon.

There will not be much to report for a few weeks but I’ll be posting some material from my archives.