The project (as conceived):
"The music in speech
slam poem / electroacoustic piece
live performable"
— from my notebook
The project (as now proposed):
A live musical performance for one voice processed by a computer, where the composition explores a collaborative relationship between words, and music generated from them. Most electroacoustic compositions treat the voice as a source of sound, obliterating linguistic significance from it through heavy processing. In this project, language and electroacoustic music are treated more equally.
The display:
I set up the display on Monday February the 9th, with a description of the project and a piece of poetry which may or may not be part of the final piece. Along with these works of writing is a pair of scissors and an invitation for passers by to chop, slice, process, and abuse my words, rearranging them to make new ideas emerge. One of the simplest ways to process a sound is to record it, and then play its parts back in a different order; using nothing other than this kind of cut and paste it's possible to make very interesting compositions, which is exactly what the first assignment for all EAST students is. The display offers FARR users an opportunity to join in the fun, albeit with paper instead of sound recording.
The display after I set it up
The display after a week
Here are some of the poems FARR users have written using my words:
You can read more about my project in the reading room. All are welcome to interact with the display! Please come and play, even if all you do is shuffle things around randomly.
Next week I will post some of my poetry in response to the display.
