Just to dwell in unfamiliar silence reveals all those sounds that are obscured in normal circumstances by the noise of life. I-BTS is not so much about listening to sound but is more about examining ones awareness of sound, space and movement in combination, as well as recognising and reflecting upon the impermanence of these moments. External sounds can become sensory impressions redefining spaces or questioning states of being. The essence of sounds can haunt places or instigate a sudden moment of illumination, an occurrence in which feeling and consciousness is not subjugated by words, worldly concerns or the passing of time.
"As the activity of the mystic must end in a via negative, a theology of God's absence, a craving for the cloud of unknowingness beyond knowledge and for the silence beyond speech, so art must tend toward anti-art, the elimination of the "subject" (the "object", the "image"), the substitution of chance for intention and the pursuit of silence."
—— Susan Sontag, The Aesthetics of Silence
EXHIBITION
The first commissioned artist, Alyssa Moxley, explores meditative brain states, deep acoustic attention and imaginative listening. In her new works Sounds Move Through You, field recordings of the surrounding area are composed into a soundscape that moves in and out of the listening space, alluding to the intentional listening fundamental to the "silent listening" practices that regularly occur within Quaker Meeting Houses.
In her sonic installation sounds that are 8–12 hertz apart can be heard in the left and right speakers through a set of headphones. When sound is manipulated in this way the brain experiences a binaural beat analogous to the frequency of an alpha wave. Alpha waves are the electric currents produced by the thalamus, which is the brain's rhythmic centre, regulating daily and longer-term cycles. For example various states of sleep and wakefulness, metabolic function, and carnal desires manifest in behaviour through the regulation of the thalamus. These waves are produced during a state of relaxed wakefulness, usually with the eyes closed. This gentle spreading of attention is part of the highly alert yet unfocused state of mind that occurs during states of meditation.
EVENTS
7–9pm
Free
Audience members alongside performers are invited to respond to moments of silence in an improvised narration of concentrated listening. Featuring artists David Toop, John Butcher and members of the Singing Room (community choir).
7–9pm
Free
Musician and author of Sinister Resonance: The Mediumship of the Listener David Toop, Salomé Voegelin author of Listening to Noise and Silence: Towards a Philosophy of Sound Art and Stuart Sim author of Manifesto for Silence: Confronting the Politics and Culture of Noise will be discussing the value of quietude in an increasingly noisy world and its effect on artistic practice.
2–4pm
Free
PARTICIPANTS
JOHN BUTCHER
John Butcher's music ranges through improvisation, his own compositions, multitracked pieces and explorations with feedback and extreme acoustics. He has toured and broadcast in Europe, Japan, Australia and North America and was featured playing solo in the BBC TV programme Date with an Artist. Compositions include pieces for Chris Burn's Ensemble, reconstructed Futurist Intonarumori, the Austrian group Polwechsel, the Australian ensemble Elision, the American Rova Saxophone Quartet, and somethingtobesaid for the John Butcher Group.
Originally a physicist, he published his PhD Spin Effects in the Production and Weak Decay of Heavy Quarks in 1982 and promptly left academia for music. He has since collaborated with hundreds of musicians, mostly involved with improvisation —including Derek Bailey, John Stevens, Gerry Hemingway, Polwechsel, Gino Robair, Rhodri Davies, Radu Malfatti, John Edwards, Toshimaru Nakamura, Eddie Prevost, Paul Lovens, Christian Marclay, John Russell, Andy Moor, Phil Minton and Steve Beresford.
www.johnbutcher.org.uk
ALYSSA MOXLEY
Alyssa Moxley is an artist, writer, and musician with an interest in embodied knowledge and social identity. She has a first class BA in Social Anthropology and Music from the School of Oriental and African Studies; studied fiction writing and playwriting at Birkbeck College as well as recently earning a diploma in Sound Design and Music Technology from London College of Communication.
She has travelled to Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Altai), Morocco, and Timbuktu collecting folk songs and life stories from a range of traditional musicians. Her writing has appeared in Songlines, Steppe Magazine, the Prospect Magazine blog and the National (Arab Emirates) as well as the Hackney Citizen and the Hackney Wick and her audio work can currently be heard on The New York Moon and Openair Radio.
www.alyssamoxley.com
STUART SIM
Stuart Sim retired as Professor of Critical Theory in the English Dept., University of Sunderland, in 2008, and is now Visiting Professor in Critical Theory in the English Dept., Northumbria University. He was elected a Fellow of the English Association in 2002 and is published widely in the fields of critical / cultural theory and aesthetics. Amongst his recent books are Manifesto for Silence (2007), The End of Modernity (2010), and The Lyotard Dictionary (2011).
www.northumbria.ac.uk...
THE SINGING ROOM
DAVID TOOP
David Toop, composer/musician, author and curator has published five books, currently translated into nine languages: Rap Attack, Ocean of Sound, Exotica (a winner of the 21st annual American Books Awards for 2000), and Haunted Weather. His fifth book — Sinister Resonance: The Mediumship of the Listener — was published by Continuum in July 2010. As a critic and columnist he has written for many publications, including The Wire, The Face, Leonardo Music Journal, Sight and Sound and Bookforum, and he has written essays for artists such as Christian Marclay, Björk, Brian Eno and David Byrne.
myspace.com/davidtoop
SALOMÉ VOEGELIN
Salomé Voegelin is an artist and writer concerned with listening as an aesthetic practice. She is the curator of clickanywhere.crisap.org, and has recently curated two sound events at the Swiss Church in London. Recent projects include an urban pod-cast for RADAR in Loughborough, UK and a site-specific piece for the Bregenz Kunstverein, Austria, produced in collaboration with David Mollin. She is the author of Listening to Noise and Silence: towards a Philosophy of Sound Art, Continuum, NY, May 2010. Other recent writings include an article on Morton Feldman in the Wire 324, February 2011 issue, and an essay on durational radio listening for Kunstradio ORF Austria to be published by Revolver shortly.
www.salomevoegelin.net
VISITING
Walthamstow Quaker Meeting House
1a Jewel Rd
London E17 4QU
View location on Google Maps
Transport links:
Underground + National Rail: Walthamstow Central
Bus: Routes 34, 97, 215, 357. Jewel Rd stop
Exhibition Dates:
Fri 2nd–Sun 11th September 2011
Private View:
Fri 2nd September 2011
7–9pm
Opening Times:
Mon: Closed
Tues–Sat: 12–6pm
Sun: 1230–6pm
Contact:
info(at)in-betweentwosounds.co.uk
CREDITS
Curator:
Rebecca Stapleford
Identity, typeface, website design and coding:
Helios Capdevila
Thanks to: Walthamstow Quaker Meeting, Beryl Bell, Florence Evans, Helios Capdevila, James Porter, Clair Louise Staunton, Patrick Lears, Chris Aldgate, Richard Johnson and Whitechapel Gallery as well as all the artists and speakers involved in this event.