eightpointzerofour

So here is the film process for this work that Ive been doing for nearly 9 months now!

I was interested in how quarter inch tape is the same 

width as double8 film.  I have been making soundtapes for nearly two years now that have only had magnetic processes worked on them, even its own sound, so mostly blank tape.  For this work I have made two soundtracks on two tapes, both 5 min long.  I have used a magnetized pin to prick holes and scratch the surface of the tape so that different sounds are made. 

Whilst doing this I have taken two unexposed reels of double8 film and filmed them 

with the lens cap left on, producing black.  Since it works between two reels, you have to open the camera half way to turn it around and shoot the other side, so It gets exposed to light.  It becomes shifting colours into black over around 4 mins.

Anyway, I have been transfering the same marks on the tape across to the film bit by bit, so that the soundtrack marks are transfered into in image.  

Since the process is very long winded, I have now gotten to the stage where the first film is finished and now the second is half transcribed.  Next week they will both be sent to Andec Berlin to be telecined to Quicktime, and then the soundtrack will be sync'd  on each film for a double sided screen projection as part of my show in May.

Here is earlier footage of the films shown side by side after development before any marks were made from the soundtrack

Keywords

Inherent sources, self-imprint processes, re-appropiation, found sound, the pre-record, visual-musical processes, erasure, coverance, cut-up, drawing, the quotidian time, re-contextualise, descriptive text on sound, sound-image relationship, performative, the object.

and todays discovery was an organic chicken farm near Guetersloh, it was a very intense listening experience that has sparked some thoughts surrounding the framing of sound as a musical experience.  Definatley an aural experience worth living through

moving in

We arrived in bielefeld on monday Afternoon to a warm welcome of cake, coffee and some lovely vodka with grains in it that Pip brought down for all as an introduction to the group.  From there on I got settled in quite fast to my apartment, huge and beautiful as it is opposite my even huger studio. Later on was beers in the Artists Unlimited very own bar 'the milestone', of which the bar door opens to the stairs of my place so its a great extension of my living room!
Now I have arranged my studio and making the best of it space, so I hope to get some walls covered and having more room than usual means that I can try stuff out without getting cramped. 
Artists Unlimited is a 20+ year established organization, located in the centre of Bielefeld operating as group of practicing artists who share voluntary work and rent studio and living accommodation.  They occupy a building that was previously a paper factory, and has been carefully renovated and modified into complete apartments with working spaces.  They have their own gallery located on the ground floor, where the resident Artists can exhibit, and also numerous shows throughout the year associated with the cultural influx of the City as a whole.  Each year they invite several national & International Artists for a 3 month residency to work dedicatively on their own practice without the strains of daily life.  They provide an apartment, studio space and a monthly stipend for per diems and materials.
My initial intentions are to focus down on on some ideas and experiments that have been floating around for the last few months.  I am open to new influences, obviously the geographic and artistic culture will play an important role in this, after all a residency frames such things.  What is immediately interesting is the filmhaus that is connected to the organisation.  Here there are facilities for super8, 16mm, 35mm,and digital HD recording with such wonders as the old nagra 4 tape recorder.  I found out recently that there is a company that works with Fuji and has developed its own super8 and 16mm daylight film, so they should hopefully provide an insight into this process which I would like to explore as a surface for the pre-recorded sound.  It may result as a new drawing process or in some sculptural form

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