This blog documents my visit to Japan, more precisely my stay within Tokyo and Yokohama. I am here under the invitation of the “Discolate 2008” event which, in abbreviation, seeks to address the following:
With an emphasis on the site specifics of place, a consideration of place as politically, culturally, socially and historically defined, the symposium seeks to evaluate our interaction with place, how place is encountered and how it is expressed and the new possibilities which new media may offer to this.
The above is addressed primarily through art exhibition with numerous installations within 3 key sites in both Tokyo and Yokohama.
I shall be constructing and presenting a sonic work which utilizes locative media technologies, specifically GPS, as a means to create a virtual sound overlay upon a particular place. This augmentation is to be the palette of another place, be that near or far away. Hence, a hybrid place is created: we still ‘see’ and the ‘feel’ the present place but our sound sense is now altogether different. Thus, the experience of being within the host locale has altered.
Through the juxtaposition of sound upon image (as described above) i am able, for whatever purposes, to highlight difference or similarity between places in a powerful and unique manner. I am able to amplify, distort or contrast situational elements. Furthermore, through contemplation upon what is heard and what is seen, the engaging participant is encouraged to re-evaluate their understanding of the immediate location.
In order to achieve the above (the relocation of sonic structures, paths or motifs from one place into another) a large catalogue of sound must be gathered, edited and thoughtfully redistributed. Therefore, this work is very much a Ethnographic piece: a sound document is created which acts as record of place. I must study this sound material in relation to the total sensation of a location and seek to provide evidence of what place ‘is’, what makes it unique or what universal rulings is it governed by.
Each day through this blog i will provide audiovisual samples of visited locations. Furthermore, i will provide my thought upon these sounds and more generally these places. I will also approach the local public and collate their thoughts.
The final work will be available from the front desk at ZAIM Art Lab, Yokohama as of Saturday 13th September until the following Sunday (21st). It is all delivered through an iPAQ (which you will book out) and ‘unfolds’ around the stadium complex across the street from the gallery. There shall also be information on the work upstairs within the main show itself.
