Trades and Labour Hall preview 21.6.09

This image is at the preview in the Trades and Labour Hall and shows the decks. I am hoping to get enough Butinol to replace the paper with as it will sit better and will cushion more on the concrete floor in Auckland.

I have been working on another sound piece today with my collegue Jane Egan who is going to participate in the project. She is training me to use the cutting program so I can compile my own stuff. Its very exciting and I am well on the way now. There will be a sound instruction piece which will involve personal sound through headphones.

I hooked up the film again last night and amped up the soundtrack which is much better amplified, it is background studio noise but it really works well with the visuals and together has become strong. 

Feedback

I have had very positive feedback during the week from the people who visited the show last weekend. Interesting that the project has generated so much comment and the participatory nature of the audience coming and contributing thoughts about the project have been most helpful to its development. One or two people havent been able to see past the decks being decks and others have seen holistic connotations and symbolism within the works. More recently I have been writing about the work and can see the potential complex connotations it generates. I am very happy with the connections to the big picture and my process which has gradually progressed.

Project #10 Trades and Labour Hall Gisborne.

The preview of Project #10 went very well and I am very pleased with the feedback I have had from people that came and braved the freezing conditions inside and out. 

I spent the morning on Saturday with a friend cleaning out the spaces not only of unwanted furniture and junk but builders rubble and even water spillage in the hallway, this was a real live demolition site. It was not too bad and the space started to feel good. The afternoon was spent installing and I found the process very interesting as I was having to get a feel of the space as things developed. Usually some prior visits to the site would allow planning of positioning of the different units but I had a tight time frame and had to make fast decisions. Some works were displayed on the floor of the large room and the tv speaker and drawing were in the smaller room. It was the shortest day which brought interesting symbolic reading not only in the work but also aspects of the building and the part natural light played on the objects. I had been interested in the way the natural light hit the painted surfaces as I am wanting to make use of it in Auckland. 

The twelve turntables were spectacular and had a very soothing calmness about them in stark contrast to the noise coming from the other room which I had set up with the intention of it being an agitation, a defiant gesture. I am sure the audience were confronted by it and I think I succeeded in causing a chaotic irritation. The film was again silent in contrast to the recording and I have become interested in the balance between these opposing factors, almost competing.

I can now clearly see the changes i need to make before the seminar and I have really enjoyed having this feedback before hand. I am definately going to make another soundtrack and would like to turn it into an instruction piece. The drawings will most probably be in the form of a live event in the studio in Auckland and I have been working on large paper surfaces to find out what and what not to do with the objective of having a reliable outcome. 

The performance and installation process is coming to fruition now after months and months of processing and it is very satisfying witnessing connections and development of that process. 

I have a great sense of satisfaction that some of the work is complete and also knowing what lies ahead niether of which could have been foreseen without the Trades and Labour Hall show.

Tracks

Today I went to the Trades and labour hall for the first time and looked at the space which is pretty rough. They have been demolishing in the building and so bits of rubble are lining the hall way as you enter and all up the staicase. I have two rooms I can use so will decide when I start shifting things into the space. Tomorrow I have to go and shift junk out and clean the floors as it is very dirty. The floors have old carpet which I hadnt considered and may not want to put the decks on to the floor now. I might use black paper under them if I do. Its a great space though and I see the preperation of it as part of the project which gives it purpose.

Project #10 - Film Still

The project is continuing to develop and the first showing is going to happen on the shortest day of the year. I am meeting with the owner of the building tomorrow to find out what I need to do to gain access over the weekend. I havent seen inside the hall yet and i am really looking forward to getting to know the space. The exterior of the building is covered with scaffold. I have worked progressively on the film and the sound this week. The film has a muted soundtrack which incorporates studio sounds and the sound of the stylus passing over several disks playing simultaneously and it is just possible to hear the tracks playing. 

I have been working on the sound and have decided to play it independenly to the film as a seperate piece. I have obtained a speaker which will have a diskman playing the noise I have made. I have overlapped about 18 tracks so far making an un believable stream of complex sound. Jane loaned me deck number 12 so at the last minute I have made my goal of twelve.

I have continued to paint records which will be displayed on the decks rotating at 33rpm.

The flyer is an A3 print on newsprint and I have made and delivered small invites also printed on newsprint.

I am considering painting on paper during the event live on very large paper surfaces. 

I now look forward to the weekend and the preview working on Saturday arranging the objects in the space and the opening at 10am Sunday. 

Project #10

The project has progressed and I can clearly identify aspects of the process that have combined to become one project. Previously I had had extraneous activities running parallel to my painting practice which supported and at times diverted me into sometimes less intense and refreshing activity. This project has developed into something that has many parallel activities. 

Sourcing and purchasing decks (now at 11) keeping the blog going as a diary of events. 

Filming and photographing the decks to explore possibilities of a film clip that can be shown as part of the installation. Making a soundtrack which will be added to the film and will be the main audio played at the event. The process invloves recording albums into the computer program and cutting pasting and overlapping multiple layers of sound to produce a chaotic cocophony. The film is going to be cut and looped and will be continuous. When the event takes place I will film it to document audience responses.

A document of instruction on newsprint will accompany the decks and will give banal information about how to activate the turntables. I have scanned material for this and have been laboriously eraseing unwanted marks from the scan on Photoshop which has taken hours. I have inserted my own instuctions to existing ones. I have yet to make the invite which I will deliver to limited number of friends who will come to the Trades labour hall where the project is going to be installed in about a week or two. They will be invited to participate and certain instructions will be offered to them similar to those on the document of instructions.

Painted records and board disks will accompany the project and will be displayed in conjunction with the objects.

I am pleased with the way it continues to develop.

Deck 10

I have really perfected the trade me process and tonight purchased deck 10 in good working order from ref 221882792. two decks to go to reach my target of 12. I have been learning about ways of making soundtrack for the film and will be experimenting with sound this weekend. I am starting to see the big picture now and can see how the project will develop as I get new ideas. I will explore possibilities for the film in the next two days.

Deck 9

I bought a deck for $13.50 on trademe last night couldnt believe my luck or that the owner was happy with his sale price and it is a telefunken HS404 which looks cool in the picture. I have had an interesting development in the process as I was listening to the sound of a stylus playing an album without the deck being plugged in to the amp and some noticable sound is evident enough to be quite audible by an audience. I think this might be a less obvious way of exhibiting the decks and I thought about many decks making sound but not plugged in. The program for editing sound is up and running at school now so will be mixing the soundtrack for the film from next Tuesday onwards. Next to get the venue settled and a date fixed.