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Conference review: Linda O'Keeffe
Posted by: Justin Grotelueschen on June 21, 2005 08:34 PM | Comments (4)
The third Deep Wireless symposium took place in the Drake hotel in Toronto this year. Having not attended the other two I cannot make a comparison on quality; I can only comment on how good I thought this one was, and that I will definitely be attending the next.
During the symposium, topics covered included the decline of radio as medium for sound art, the new medium of Internet radio, various methods of making docudrama pieces, interviewing skills, and new technologies around for producing sounds. The speakers ranged from radio producers from the CBC to documentarians, sound artists, and performers. The quality of speakers was fantastic. All of the work that was played was stunning in its range and quality; the conception behind all of the work used the notion of storytelling via audio soundscapes, which captured the most emotive, sometimes comic, sometimes heartbreaking sounds I have ever heard. Having been raised in a visual culture, even though I myself am a sound artist, it is difficult to find a variety of sound work that captures the imagination.
During the whole weekend the talks were being broadcast from the Drake on the several international radio stations and on web radio. If you could not attend the symposium personally, you could always listen in -- something that would not be done for any other art event.
At the Eric Leonardson Workshop, CKUT 90.3fm Producer Caroline Kunzley plays the springboard.
On the Monday after the symposium, a day-long workshop was organised by Eric Leonardson and Chris Brookes, two established people in their fields. First was Leonardson, a musician who creates his own instruments and has been playing around the world with them since the seventies; his springboard instrument, made from wood, metal springs, rubber and a walker, emits haunting sounds via contact microphones embedded in the wood. He uses a double bass bow to play on the springs and rubber bands, but he has a collection of various tools one would never think of to produce music. He has worked in theatre, been recorded on various albums with acclaimed composers and instrumentalists, and also recently worked on a movie doing the sound design. To check out more of his work you can go online at www.ericleonardson.org.
The other workshop was given by producer Chris Brookes. His work has been playing on CBC's show Outfront for ten years, as well as his own radio station in Newfoundland. At the workshop he played a number of works that he had made, including some he had produced and others he had assisted on. His techniques for getting the most out of individuals when doing everything from live recordings to one-to-one interviews were fascinating and insightful. I came away with hundreds of ideas for new work.
The only problem I would have with the Deep Wireless symposium was that it wasn't long enough. At a very reasonable price of 170$ Canadian, this was a bargain for what you received. The compilation of work played was so varied and stunning in its artistic range that it left me begging for more.
Suffice it to say, there is a history of sound art -- albeit a young one -- but the quality of available work under such headings as audio documentary, sonic soundscapes, and sound art is profound -- if you know where to look for it. The aural culture of sound art may be in its infancy as yet, but it is by no means lagging behind visual culture in its ability to paint vivid auditory pictures.
-Linda
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