Helen Saunders

Thanks to the use of one of her images on the book Edgelands, I have had the pleasure of discovering the work of Helen Saunders. Apart from a subjective pull towards her wonderful pieces, the subject matter, the research and the method of execution are very similar to mine. Her work is very much collage-based and reflects a subjective appraisal of place. I have been developing the Non-Places idea, and this no-man's-land essence runs through her work too which will ensure I keep abreast of her portfolio. There are hints at surrealism here in the slight manipulations of content and perspective which I very much admire, and to my untrained eyes, the photography is reminiscent of Keith Arnatt.

Place

Another beauty to augment my library arrived in the post today.

Two-Lane Blacktop

Of course, it's about as English as Coca Cola, but as a representation of minimal dialogue, landscape and sonic overload this is one super film. Masculine posturing is where America and Albion separate.
Close your eyes, and think of England.

Spectral Space and Tonal Pitch Space

“Exploring the Boundaries of Spectral Space and Tonal Pitch Space” Peiman Khosrav.
pdf document with good info.

Sound In Space 2. Thanks to Aki.

Categories of space.

SPACE AMBIOPHONY. Sound from all or any directions. Not precise sound sources. Works better with lower frequencies.
SPACE SOURCE. Sound from a specific point/location. Works better with higher frequencies.
SPACE GEOMETRY. The creation of a sonic shape in space.
SPACE ILLUSION. The illusion of a sound appearing to be from another place. Eg, metallic/dull, near/far, large hall/small room. Processed sound.
ARCHETYPAL ASSOCIATIVE IMAGES. Sounds meeting our expectations. EG, The sea will always be outside.

Sound In Space. Thanks to Aki.

Sound design practices to remember when editing.

CROSSFADE. Move sound from one place to another.
UNMASKING. One sound is revealed by bringing down the volume of all the other sounds.
ACCENTUATION. The opposite of above; bringing up the volume of an individual sound.
GLITTERING. Increasing the volume of granular sounds. the spacial equivalent of tremolo.
PENDULUM. Draws a line between two points.
OSCILLATION. An accelerated variant of Pendulum.
WAVE. Like successive Unmasking/Accentuation, but rather than one point rather a continuous wave of increased and decreased sound.
RUPTURE. Establish a space, then dramatically alter it with a new sound rupturing from within.
(DIS)APPEARANCE. Sudden surprise from the rapid addition or subtraction of sound.
EXPLOSION. The fast passage from a narrow space to a wider one.
ACCUMULATION. Sound/s emerging and forming a new sonic place.
INVASION. A rapid, violent sonic trajectory towards the listener/s.

Paul Nash 2

Having made some more studies of Nash and his work, it is his attitude towards landscape representation that resonates most strongly with me.
Thanks to looking at and reading about his work a lot over the break, I will be out later this week recording and listening particularly for surreal, incongruous or curious sounds that I can use in the final piece.
I have also taken note of Nash's use of abstraction which, like surrealism, he employs in a subtle, slightly muted way. Again, another quality that I will use sonically.

Transition

Transition: The London Art Scene In The Fifties was an exhibition at The Barbican in 2002.
This is a particularly interesting period for the research on this blog as it is the antecedent to a huge amount of the work I am influenced by.
What I liked a lot about this exhibition was the increasing amount of mixed media that worked its way into the art.
No sound, of course, but mixed and varied nevertheless.
I remember being struck by the sculptures of William Turnbull and the collages of Edward Wright.

L S Lowry

Easily overlooked, thanks to the popularity and fame of his 'matchstick' men figures, are the wonderful landscapes by Lowry. Simplification and abstraction carried out to great effect.