John Cage Video on Ubu Web

Here's a little section of this interview with Cage that I particularly liked, he says:

"The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful, is why do I think it's not beautiful... and very shortly you discover that there's no reason. If we can conquer that dislike, or begin to like what we did dislike, then the world is more open.  That path of increasing ones enjoyment of life is the path I think we all best take. To use art not as self expression but as self-alteration, to become more open."

I really like this idea of breaking down experience into something that takes us away from our regular understanding.  To learn to listen and to appreciate everything you hear, even if it is difficult, seems like a worthwhile practice to me.  It seems aligned with the tenets of acoustic ecology, and learning to appreciate the depth of sound in the environments around us.  Listening and really understanding/appreciating the sound of a screw lodged between two piano strings will make it easier to see the beauty in the things we regularly pass over.  In general I have resisted John Cage's work because it is difficult to appreciate aesthetically, but I see that there is a great truth in getting to the root of experience and improving reception.  

This is what I think phenomenology is all about, understanding the complexity and beauty of sense experience.   

Connect to the Video

Global String

This artwork presents an interesting new relation between the body, space, movement, music etc. enabled by network technology.  In looking at new forms of embodied experience, I feel this piece offers a helpful view on telematic interaction. The piece wa

s at Ars Electronica in 2001. I feel like there is a new sort of embodied experience that has gained a global character, and this piece reflects that. 

See the Project Web Page.

Essay Bones

After an incredibly helpful class on rhetoric, I've tried to map out my essay topic somewhat. 

McLuhan Essay keywords: Sound Art, Multi-sensory perception, Phenomenology, Global experience.

Context: My essay takes place within the context of discussions relating to a switch from a visual culture to a more immersive technological/sensual culture. A re-mapping of sensorial relationships (Marshal McLuhan, Walter Ong etc.)

Claim: Because we are entering this new techno-sensual culture we need to attend to sense experience again, and learn to describe the phenomenological process in relation to our technological encounters. As Prof. Isabelle Choinière suggested in her lecture on dance, we need to examine new technological experiences in themselves, rather than as comparisons to “the real”.

Essential Question: Through a subjective phenomenological investigation, can we come to a shared (global) perceptual experience of technology, or are these experiences essentially fragmented and dissociative?

Evidence:

-Examples: Sound art as an expression of expanding sense experience resulting from technological shift.

-Testimony: Artists motivations, audience response to sound art works.  

Gallery as Technology

After having a look at Olafur Eliasson's 2008 Exhibition at MoMA dealing with the visual process, I can't help but think of the gallery space and the exhibition itself as a type of technology.  What I find interesting is that similar to the technology of the book and printed language, Eliasson is using art in a space that is removed from ordinary experience as a technological tool for helping us to think phenomenologically. 

I'm hoping to deal with sense perception and to describe fundamental experiences in the world, and Eliasson's work sort of reconstructs this.  His art helps us to think on a base level about our visual perceptions... he illustrates the phenomenon using art and technology while other phenomenologists use texts and language.  He constructs a fantastical version of what also happens during our regular interactions with colour, space, light, reflection etc. to help us understand "the things themselves," the basic elements that build our unified sense of understanding.  Its very interesting how art can act as a disruption of our regular perception and shake us into understanding the many aspects of experience that we take for granted....such as his "Take Your Time 2008."

From MoMA site "A large circular mirror affixed to the ceiling at an angle rotates slowly on its axis, destabilizing your perception of space."

Audio Technology and Literally Being-in-the-world

Her Long Black Hair, 2004, audio walk with photographs, 46 minutes, Central Park, New York. 

-You can't really get the effect of this piece just listening on the internet, but there are audio clips on her web site (click link above) where you can sort of get the effect.  I think it's extremely interesting to combine audio with location awareness, similar to the Murmur project.  I'm noticing a similarity here too with phenomenological methods, Cardiff's stream of consciousness descriptions echo in a way the kinds of descriptions you find in phenomenological texts. 

Initial Thoughts

From Don Ihde's book, "Listening and Voice: Phenomenologies of Sound," I've pulled out a few interesting ideas that I'd like to explore....

I'm interested in the unified understanding of sense perception that phenomenology presents, and I think I may look into art that reflects the crossing over of sensual fields. As Ihde suggests:

• "I do not merely hear with my ears, I hear with my whole body." 

• "My ears are at best the focal organs of hearing.  This may be detected quite dramatically in listening to loud rock music.  The bass notes reverberate in my stomach, and even my feet "hear" the sound of the auditory orgy."

• "Listening begins by being bodily global in its effects."