Different types presentation and of interface were considered, and much time and effort was spent investigating and developing programming. In the end, though, Time pushed the decision to present the work as documentation - the only realistic option. Programming proved time-consuming and problematic. Even though breakthroughs were made, eg the work is currently approved to work on Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome, on both operating systems Windows XP(and higher) and iOS6 (iPad), the work was still not free of problems by the submission date. Technical issues such as distortion and level also devoured time with attempts at solutions. Possibilities will continue to be investigated in the future but, unfortunately, for Chercher le Texte only an outline of the project can be presented.

Concept

a purposeless play... ...an affirmation of life – not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living..
John Cage, 1957

Performance, any performance, takes place in space and time. The invisible codes within microchips work in seconds splitsplitsplit into fragments unimaginable in previous ages. But culturally the speeding up of life has generated the ‘slow’ counter-culture – Slow Food as opposed to Fast Food, for instance – and the benefits of taking time for close reading of material still appeals to many. So this interface, using lightning responses of code, asks for something slower, as well as allowing speedy reactions if desired.

Take time to listen it, allow depth to think it, create move meant / search for un/meaning / a fragmented trail left behind deeper exploration of layers.

Otto’s Notebook, p.37 is centred on Paris but roams further - through space and time. Extracts from writings of the French Renaissance essayist Montaigne (referencing the long-established habit of using quotations at the start of scientific texts to illustrate notions), through contemporary ideas around the extended mind, to the abstract sound made possible by digital technology. All and more take their place in jottings made on sonic journeying through The City. The Listener is in control of the route, with possibilities opening and deepening during each stepalong and across every thoughtpath of the way. The narrative, if there is a narrative, does not rely on order, is something that can accommodate the unknown interventions the Listener makes. In this piece, abstract thoughts about beginnings, endings and changings naturally lend themselves to fragmentary ways of being.

Auralities of Flux

Audio has a great potential to offer an alternative to the linear – but alternatives could be found anywhere linearity currently predominates. It’s more about the great potential to offer an alternative, full stop. Audio works are currently seen as newer, more novel, because education systems train people to read sentences in books or on screen. But the interactive oral tradition is actually centuries older than mass book production and general literacy. Understandings of how sound works has increased dramatically, opening up other new areas too, as has recording technology. Voice, ear (and all the other senses), and imagination co-create, linking, opening possibilities rather than tying down certainties. As Bachelard says in Air and Dreams (1988):

‘Real mobility, the very essence of motion, which is what imagined motion is, is not aroused by the description of reality, even when it describes the unfolding of reality... What I would actually like to examine... is how the imaginary is immanent in the real, how a continuous path leads from the real to the imaginary.’

Traditional lines of reading are present in the work, there to be assimilated or disturbed. But on offer too is a process of text/sound translation, incorporating performance, audio constantly being remediated. From a Listener’s point of view there’s no knowing what will be revealed, which way the sound will turn as they choose between paths. A concealing and a revealing are happening simultaneously. There’s a constant tension between stopstart of original and fixed, and cacophony of unique and new. There are links fixed in the matrix, but are they the same links apparent to the Listener? Is this collage or montage? An adding or a taking away? The sound(in)text will be fragmented, whatever it was originally. And meaning is a constant flow in newly-minted moments.

Process

Otto’s Notebook, p.37 is presented on an 8x8 square grid matrix, designed primarily for a touch screen but also navigable by mouse, to be listened to with headphones so the quality of the sound is not hindered by local ambient sound or the limited range of computer speakers. Each square on the grid is linked to a sound file using original recordings of Paris or text (original writings and extracts from scientific essays). Each button can be played independently, offering the choice of start/stop or start/pause on each (the files will return to their beginnings once stopped or once they reach their natural conclusion). They vary in length and complexity. The goal was that each file could be played in combination with others – as many as are wished set playing at one time by the Listener at any time.

The grid squares are coloured using three shades of green, chosen from colours visible in the River Seine. There are structural links within the colours: the three lines at the base of the matrix contain primary, secondary and tertiary source material, ie Montaigne extracts, responses by Robert and Team Siegen, and responses by Leona, and are each a different shade of green. The remaining five lines of the matrix break the linear, the underlying colour structure referencing binaries, mini-matrices, groupings, and random placements. So some parts may be ‘read’ from left to right, traditionally, whilst others are designed not to be read in this manner, but all are carefully placed to reference each other.

Audience’s practical experience

The work is accessed by only one person at a time. The sounds coming through the headphones are varied, some ‘raw’, some manipulated and some highly engineered. Some are voices, some are the sounds of The City, and some are combinations. The Listener is first offered the chance to enter the matrix ‘blind’, ie with no instructions or prior knowledge, to discover their own routes. An information button which would provide hints if preferred was planned.

Background, discussions and theories

the city as extended part of individual mind

This project is a development of ideas begun in Madrid, when Leona and Robert worked together on a less-complex site-specific project. A new theoretical underpinning was found – the extended mind (as outlined by researchers like Andy Clarke and David Chalmers). In Siegen University, Robert further investigated relevant theories in relation to his PhD research, and interested colleagues and his seminar group in the project.

In Cardiff, Leona re-visited theories developed by thinkers such as Lev Manovich and his ideas around the links between cinema montage and hypertext fiction, and Salomé Voegelin’s writings on the philosophy of sound art. She visited Paris for an intensive five days to gather recorded material in June 2013. A wide range of situations and audio impressions were collected, some at iconic sites, others in more undiscovered places. Leona also noted other impressions, raw material for her text input for the work.

The trigger matrix idea from Madrid was retained for this project in order to develop these ideas and to work with notions around linearity. A conventional linear story-telling with two or three characters was considered at one point, but then dismissed as being too restrictive as ideas developed further into questionings. The various layers that create a city and a mind interconnect, informing each other, so it was decided to attempt a layered portrayal referencing associations, memories and imaginings. The correct placing of the linear texts had to be found, and how a more random colour pattern should be formed. The ideal was to present material in which patterns could be found by the Listener, but those patterns had to be searched for in a state of flux – a place needing constant re-orientation and re-considering, but negotiated at the Listener’s own pace.

Discussions took place as to the physical capabilities needed of the matrix and its supporting programming. The sound files also required input, both in their placing on the grid and in the editing and manipulation needed. Some of the files remain as they were recorded, with minimal intervention, whilst others have been heavily manipulated. Decisions were made based on their position on the grid and also taking into account files placed in each surrounding square. The grid was considered as a complete organic unit at all times, comprising many smaller units, all of which interlinked and affected each other, mirroring the structure of The City and the human mind.

Conclusion

The process of development proved as complex a journey as envisaged for the Listener through the files. Methods, questions, answers, means of presentation, all were discussed. Audio ‘hypertext’ provides different challenges from screen-based, and although it proved impossible to navigate all the channels and potentials during the time available, the process certainly proved the potentials were worth investigating.

Sound Samples

Cafe
Haah
Hands
Hares
Library
Maxim
Montaigne Chorus
Montaigne Intermittant
Multiplicity
Rain
Rhythms
Tomb

Author: Leona Jones