The Aural Shortcomings of Kiehle

Yesterday I visited the exhibit at Kiehle and spent about half an hour observing, listening, and taking notes on the three works featuring sound. When I entered I first noticed the large organ flanked by spinning skull disks, however I chose to investigate the dark speaker-corner first. When I entered the small side exhibit I didn't notice any immediate sound coming from the four speakers (apx. 3" speaker cones w/1" tweeters). Thinking the device might somehow be activated by motion I made a brisk walk around the strange boxed television in the center of the floorspace and watched the lightening-over-water video. Suddenly I realized there were small chirps coming from each of the speakers. They were so quiet I had been dismissing them as audio glitches and crackles coming from the audio track. When I moved closer (with my ear about an inch from the back left speaker) I heard faint birdsong behind the louder chirps. Moving close proved to be a poor decision however because the birds were quickly replaced with much louder audio of something that sounded like cars accelerating within a large warehouse (added reverb I think). As I jerked my head away from the speaker I heard the sound distort strangely as if granulated or chopped and edited in order to repeat a portion of the acceleration sound. More cars were gradually added to the audio and overlapping accelerations were heard for about two or three minutes. The sound seemed to come primarily from the left and right front speakers with a slight pan between the two of them. After the cars died away it went back to the bird chirps. The full audio loop seems to run about five or six minutes total.
After listening to the loop a second time I was able to form an opinion of the piece (though it would have been helpful to find out what exactly the artist was trying to achieve). I consider this piece to be a failure (at least in its auditory aspects) for several reasons. Though the artist has four speakers surrounding their audience, there was hardly any spacilzation in the piece. Why not make the cars accelerate around the listener? Why not have birds chirping on your left, and then your right, and then in front of you? Additionally, the material itself (cars and bird chirps) was rater dull in my opinion. If this piece is commenting on a contrast between nature and technology, with natural and unnatural sounds, there are plenty more samples they could have used to add variety and keep the listener interested. As for the television in the center of the floor... I guess it's just over my head.
The second exhibit I observed was a projected image of what appeared to be the corner of wall or column slowly changing hues across the spectrum. The projector sat on a raised white block along with a single speaker box about 7" by 5". The speaker was playing what sounded like a young girl making indistinguishable, slightly melodic sounds. Her voice sample was about 2 minutes long and looped on the audio track repeatedly.
As far as the audio goes, I think it could have been looped better. There is an audible click as the loop repeats and it doesn't sound as if it's intentional. This piece seemed more focused on the visual aspect of presentation then the previous exhibit. Without knowing the artist's motivation I don't think I can judge the art as a success or failure. I really have no idea what they were trying to achieve with this and walked away with a general sense of confusion.
The final artwork I examined was the organ with the spinning speakers. Two sets of three 8" speakers mounted to a spinning disk driven by a motor belt. My intimidate interest was drawn to the spinning mechanisms as I wondered how they made the speakers rotate without creating a twisted mess of wires in the back. I discovered that the audio signal was sent through two contacts pressed against the rotating axle. Kudos on the build design. Moving to the front of the organ I saw a loop pedal attached to the organ output and an unplugged 1/4" jack running out from it. A microphone on a stand was also attached to the setup. On top of the left side of the organ a projector displayed a video of what appeared to be the artist recording several chords on the organ into his loop pedal, then picking up his guitar and playing it while singing into the microphone. Audio could barely be heard as it came from a small inaccessible speaker attached to the window of the exhibit hall. I could hear the organ chords but the guitar and vocals were practically inaudible.
This work was also a disappointment to me as it seemed to have great potential. He has an organ, he has a guitar, he has a microphone, he has a loop pedal and six spinning speakers and a complete recording of a performance with his remarkable setup. Why aren't I allowed to hear anything? I'd like to know what six spinning speakers sound like! Instead I get one tiny speaker I can't hear. What gives man? Is this a piece about a performance? Are we supposed to be satisfied with the knowledge that we could have heard something unique and interesting if we had been in the right place at the right time? Artistically and technically the work is quite impressive. From the skulled speakers, to the looming organ with written lyrics and song, to the guitar pick set casually beside the keyboard, the whole setup screams music and sound and showmanship. Where's the show? It's sure not coming through that projector very well.

singing tree

so i found this on youtube after clicking a bunch of links from the Irwin video. its kinda a new "twist" on the wind chime. it thought it was pretty cool and pretty cool looking.

mixed media art.

when i went to the art exhibit in kiehle (sp?) the very first thing that i noticed was the very large organ facing the front window, which appeared to be spin art of some kind but after a later look saw that picture was a skull. not sure if it was because i was visiting the exhibit at 9:30 am and things weren't completely set up but the organ was not making any sounds that i could hear. from there i was immediately drawn by the sound of the baby's voice to behind the pilar to where the sound was coming from and saw thespeaker next to a projector which was projecting mainly a single color onto the pilar. this sound piece didn't make much sense to me and so i was drawn away from that piece fairly quickly to the small boxed in room in the corner, to find a small screen in the middle of the floor with almost a wooden deck around it. i was surprised that i had not heard any sound coming from this corner since the small room was sourounded with four speakers one in each corner. so since i couldnt hear any sound i figured that it had some kind of trigger so i viewed the screen from every angle to see if i would trip a motion sensor of some sort. after not achieving any sound from my circle around the screen i thought maybe i it was in the wood or something so i though "well it looks like a deck maybe you have to step on it". but having a little bit of art knowledge i know you are not supposed to touch art since many times it is fragile. so i proceded to tap the wood with my toe and that didn't seem to do anything so i waited a little and then i heard what i would describe as a thunderous sound (although i may just use that word because of my long analysis of the video being played as being some storm clouds and lightning) after listening to the sound for a bit i my semantic listening makes me think it is the sound of a motorcycle. so i figured the artist was trying to imitate a natural sound with the sound of something man-made.

I had to go to Kiehle twice. The first time I went I could not grasp what I heard and saw. The second time though was different. I still can't say I understand what the artists wanted the viewer to perceive from their works, but I did put some of my own thoughts the second time. When I walked into the art gallery space I noticed right away a child’s voice. At first when I was standing at the entrance I thought the child was trying to sing. As I walked closer to the speakers the sound changed in that I heard the child change pitches in baby babble. Colors were being showing on a wall in front of the speakers, and I’m not sure what to put with them. I thought maybe the change of color had to do with the pitches, but as far as I could tell that was not the case.
The second thing I saw in the gallery was the organ. A small video was being played to one of the sides. There were two wheels spinning on either side of the organ. I was not able to hear anything from the organ till I walked right up to it. When I did that I heard a very quiet organ sound. It was not consistently playing, It seemed to me like an organist practicing with the stops and starts. At first I thought the video was making the sounds, but when a guitar was playing in the video with no sound representing that, I threw that idea out.
The other display I saw had no sound to it. It looked like a white bag that had air put in it and then closed. The background was a sky blue with the white bag kind of floating up and down on the screen. It reminded me of jelly fish, and I mistook it for that till the entire bag was put in view.
The last exhibit I walked right past and did not take notice to it, till a low rumble filled the gallery. It was in a corner of the gallery enclosed in a kind of a boxed area. In the middle was a small screen which lay on the floor. The small TV screen had wood put around it. I’m not sure why, but my thought is it was for the visual effect. The area had surround sound to it, with a video of lighting playing on the TV screen. The first sound I heard when I entered was a high chirp. It sounded like a bird to me. While standing in there for a bit a load sound was played . I could not get an idea of it , because it was gone as fast as it had started. Then the loudest sound came. Along with that the chirping was amplified as well. The sound reminded me of traffic and cars passing by on a wet road. It lasted for a short amount of time and then ended back to the quiet chirping sound.

I found this while looking at the Robert Irwin video. Check the video out.

Baby Talk

I stopped by Kiehle the other day to check out the sound installation art in the main gallery. There were three different artists on display, all of which were very different and each had on display visual art as well as sonic art. The fist sound I noticed was the voice of what sounded like a baby making unrecognizable speech sounds. The baby's voice was played out of a "super cube" speaker which sat on a table next to a projector. The speaker was small and white and looked like a baby monitor, which could have been intended by the artist. The projector was projecting a colored square which slowly changed gradient to different colors in a looped cycle. The baby's voice was on a loop, several minutes long, and could be heard clearly throughout the space. Although I am usually not the biggest fan of baby audio, it was very interesting how the constant sound of a rambling baby changes the way you perceive the other visual works in the space. When viewing paintings by other artists, the baby's voice is coupled to the visual artwork in the overall, perceptual experience. The colors chosen for the projection as well as the timbre and other acoustic qualities of the recording created an innocent, pure, and simple aesthetic. I believe it was effective as sound installation art. When you enter the gallery as well as how long you stay changes your experience of the baby audio. Because it is on a loop you could enter and begin hearing it at any time during the recording. Also if you stay for an hour, you will hear the baby the whole time, which could be a an intense psychological experience considering it gets a little creepy after a while, especially because there is a giant black organ with slowly rotating skull speakers in the corner. The audio is on a loop but it is difficult to tell. I do not think it was intended to seem like a looped recording of any specific phrase or section of baby talk. There isn't really a melody to the baby's voice but it has a pleasant musical quality. There is a slight rhythm to the way the baby rambles, probably because it has to take breaths. Also the recording is of a voice but it lacks any distinguishable semantic content. I believe it was intended mostly to create the feeling and atmosphere of a small person playing with the creation of sound for the first time, or something like that. There was much more happening there which I could talk more about but I would like to read what others will say about the additional sound art, as well as "the baby one".

Robert Irwin

This week's assignment for Sound Installation is to watch the video below and comment on their content. What kind of work does Robert Irwin do? What are his goals for the audience/viewer? How does he achieve those goals? What sorts of things did he take into account when creating his works?

Interesting

Sound of the stars.

From the BBC.

Check it out.