insect communication
An intricate web
Creating summer 1: insects (*see "About this Project" below) has been the unfurling of a web of communication layers.
Unfurling rather than weaving because the process has a mind of its own.
... gathering materials for score-sculptures...
Emergence
Sit in a field on a summer evening. All of a sudden a cluster of insects begins sounding in one area. Just as suddenly, they all stop. Another cluster begins sounding somewhere else. It's the sonic counterpart to the way flocks of birds fly in tight formation, changing direction rapidly, or the way a bee swarm moves. This subtle yet intricate form of communication is the crux of my inquiry.
Language
The densest strand of this web.
Beneath the languages we speak now are other languages. Beneath those languages are pure sounds, phonemes, pitches, grunts, clicks, hisses. Animal sounds. Insect sounds.
Specification
This stand of the web is the process of converting artistic and philosophical inquiry into compositional ideas, which are then converted into scores that clearly explain how to make specific sounds in specific ways at specific times. This needs to be communicated, not only to a trained choir familiar with the score style and singing techniques I employ, but also to the audience, who are also welcome to join us in performing this piece.
...the warm glow of summer...
Environment
A web exists in relation to its environment. It may attach to a blade of grass at one point, and to a dangling strand of lichen at another. Communication is not only something that occurs between individuals or groups. It also occurs within a place. That setting affects what, when and how things are communicated.
...less said = more inferred...
Implication
The strands of the web create shapes of space. What needs to be left out of the communication? What silences can be created? How does one infer silence - a.k.a. the impossible sound?
*About this project:
summer 1: insects is the second installment of the Long Tone Choir's five-part durational performance installation series that explores the seasons, and will be presented at the Center for New Music on Sunday, July 30th, 2017 at 2p as part of Julia Ogrydziak's Hush Series. These installations are made up of nature-sculptures as settings for the scores, which are set around the audience. The choir begins the performance, and then the audience is invited to join us in performing the composition. Each performance is two hours long. The first installment, winter, was performed at the Center for New Music in January 2017 as part of Danny Clay's Quiet Time Series.