images: details of installation at its Windsor debut, Common Ground


Explaining Noise to Dead Air (1999)

components ( title | dimensions | material ) :
. Corporation / Horizon Logo | 40" x 40" | neon & aluminum
. Lead Instrument | 4' x 2' x 2' |steel, aluminum, speaker
. Sound Wall (Spector) | size variable | concrete and speakers
. Sound Element | - | linear time= 17:05 (6-channel recording)

A six channel sound collage (three stereo representations) was created exploring extreme noise, electronic minimalism, electrical processes, digital glitches... the rich industrial environment of motors and machines, modern warfare and the city. The concept of the 'wall of sound' has a rich sound history, stemming originally from the 60's studio style of Phil Spector, and eventually mutating into the industrial sound collages of the late 70's and early 80's. In Explaining Noise ... this history is explored using audio as a metaphoric and technical representation of today's urban nervous system, an unsettling world of feedback and background hum.

The six channel sound collage is played simultaneously from three different independant sources forming a coherent whole as it comes out of the wall. The Lead Instrument object functions as an 'aural wildcard' running at its own pace, emitting a sequence of electrical sounds into the overall mix.

On the adjacent wall appears a blue neon Necker symbol, a cold, glowing object affecting the general ambience of the space, a metaphoric representation of corporations on the horizon in an industrialized world (this element was included as a kind of memory, as these type of visible logos are a common night visual found along the Windsor/Detroit horizon line in the artist's home town)

Images: (L) detail of Lead Instrument component; (R) detail of Sound Wall (Spector) component

 

Read: Audio Artivity: An Introduction by Justi Echeles

The Artist wishes to thank the following individuals & organizations who assisted in the completion of this work (voice . labour . support. funding) :
Ontario Arts Council | Ajax | Christopher Bissonnette | Nadia Schwartzentruber | Leesa Bringas | Amy Friend | Gerard Laliberte | Aaron Linton | Chris Mangin | Todd Neon | Jeremy Rigsby | Thinkbox | David Toop