proximities (sound)

sound composition
2010
parco de la musica
rome, italy

the soundwork proximities was realized during my 2010 chinati residence and was released as a CD on the line label in 2011.

I began by recording a performance of a series of tones played on an old battery powered Paia Oz, that were determined by the letters A-G as found in a text by minimalist sculptor Donald Judd. I recorded the tone sequence several times during sunrise, amidst 50 of Judd’s stainless steel sculptures in an old army barracks that has been converted into a museum. The performances were recorded with an H4 digital recorder, my iPhone and also a cheap Sony micro-cassette recorder.

During several of the performances these small devices were emitting the sounds of previous performances from their tiny speakers. At times I also hummed. All of the processing in the recordings was generated by the extremely resonant physical space. The occasional popping sound, which can be heard at the end, are the sounds of Judd’s sculpture expanding while the sunrise changed the temperature within the space.

the piece was exhibited in 2012 as an installation in the parco de la musica – a large garden in rome  – as part of the exhibition: forte piano: the shapes of sound.