[Original at https://www.turborebop.net/borut_galerija/index.php?folder=performances/Bowlfuls_of_Sound]

Bowlfuls of Sound | Posodi polni zvoka

Posodi polni zvoka je bila predvidena struktura nastopa v Moderni galeriji v Ljubljani (september 2005). Kljub (ponovno) problematični izvedbi (gibljiva objekta – dve posodi, nista bila končani pravočasno…), pa sama struktura drži tudi za prihodnost.

Bowlfuls of Sound is the name of the structure of event at the Modern gallery in Ljubljana (september 2005). In spite of the (again!) problematic realization (two moving objects – bowls, were not finished by the time of the performance…), the strucure itself holds (water) for the future.

All photos were taken by Roni…

Description of the two objects will be presented here…

Some mp3 excerpts are here:
track 1
track 2
track 3
track 4
track 5
track 6
track 7

O FLUIDNEM PROSTORU

Kljub predvidoma samostojni zaključenosti (pojavne estetike) nastopa trojice Borut Savski, Luka Prinčič in Matjaž Manček (zvočni / glasbeni nastop = koncert), pa je morda vseeno vredno opozoriti, identificirati posamezne kose, ki sicer bolj ali manj neodvisni, združeni skupaj tvorijo koncept (strukturo / zgradbo / dramaturgijo) dogodka.

Izhodiščni domislek o dveh gibajočih se, eno na drugo nanašajočih se kroglah (-> posodah, polnih zvoka), se na koncu (tega besedila) sestavi s pričujočim razmislekom o fluidnem prostoru, ki naj bi ga na zvočnem dogodku vsi mi začutili in zaradi neposredne izkušnje morda tudi doživeli kot morebitni katarzični moment.

Fluidnost (tekočinskost, pretočnost) seveda “merimo” v zvočnem polju (ker smo pač zvočni umetniki). Fluidnost pomeni, da lahko prisotne mase razmeroma lahko prehajajo ena mimo druge, se skupaj vrtinčijo, poljubno krožijo, usodnejših trkov (-> konfrontacij) pa zaradi mehkosti materiala pravzaprav ni. Dinamične spremembe v poljubnem od prisotnih objektov / zvokov se mehko prenesejo do roba prostora, nekje doživijo resonanco, drugje pa se omilijo. Seveda govorim predvsem v metaforičnem jeziku – v prenesenem pomenu – o svetu, ki bi bil mehkejši, poljubnejši, bolj odprt.

Nasproti kakršni koli fluidnosti namreč stoji (ali: pred stanjem fluidnostjo obstaja) – trdnost. Trdnost nespremenljivih relacij, velikih inercij – inertnega prostora. Prostora, v katerem se nič ne zgodi, kjer je vse jasno, vsa vprašanja pa imajo odgovore. Mera inertnosti so inercije, ki vztrajajo med relacijami veličin / objektov / entitet v prostoru. Spreminjajo se počasneje, kot pa jih mi dojemamo, zato se zdijo nespremenljive. Utekočinjanje določenih relacij pomeni zmanjšanje odzivnega časa soodnosov, zmožnost zaznavanja pretakanja časa.

A vendarle šele zunanja (trdna) točka omogoči meritev – uvid v spremembe. Zato je potrebna konstrukcija situacije – dogodka.

Konstrukcija / kompozicija zapoveduje:

Dve kroglasti posodi sta opremljeni z enostavno motoriko in bolj kompleksno senzoriko. Občutljivi sta za zvok, ki ga slišita, a ga tudi proizvajata (nadzirana mikrofonija). Od tod tudi teza, da sta posodi polni zvoka. Eno drugo lahko tudi zaznata (infrardeči senzor) in tedaj spremenita smer. To naj bi omogočilo postopno cikcakasto približevanje posod, kar pa nas ne zanima več, a za posodi je to nekaj, čemur lahko rečemo vodilo / motiv (pri človeku bi to imenovali celo smisel). Preprosta samonanašajoča se algoritmika proizvede / rodi nekakšno avtonomijo stroja.

Dve opisani kotaleči se krogli tako postaneta ovčici in potrebujeta pastirja. Vendar je bil pastir (s palico) prisoten že prej! To je želja muzikanta, ki je imel željo po konkretnem zvoku – rezek, glasen udarec s palico. POsodi tako zaradi pastirja postaneta ovčici. Palica ob dodatku zvočno občutljive podlage postane glasbeni inštrument. Prav to pa lahko določi tudi kvaliteto preostalega igranja. Mehak zvok posod in rezkost udarcev ob tla in po strunah.

Tretja entiteta (ker smo muzikanti trije) se je kristalizirala okoli manipulacije podobe in pretvorbe v zvok. To algoritmiko poganjajo vizualni podatki neposredno s samega prizorišča, tako da smo v ta segment kot spremeljivke vključeni vsi prisotni. Projekcija nas samih v prostor pred / za nami bi lahko bila priložnost za nov aspekt, a bodi dovolj. K fluidnosti bomo dodajali še z enim pomagalom – s spreminjanjem položajev posameznik zvokov med štirimi zvočniki.

ABOUT THE FLUIDITY OF SPACE

In spite of the, hopefully, self-sufficient aesthetics of the sound performance by Borut Savski, Luka Prinčič and Matjaž Manček (sound / music performance = concert), it may be worth mentioning or identifying the separate pieces, more or less independent, that together form the concept (the structure / the composition / the dramaturgy) of the event.

The primary idea of the two moving, mutually corelated spheres (-> bowlfuls of sound), in the end (of this writing) connects with some ideas of a fluid space, which we would like achieve at the event and maybe – because of the personal experience – take as a kind of moment of catharsis.

The fluidity is (here) of course measured in the field of sound (since we are sound artists). Fluidity means, that the present masses can relatively easily move one past another, they can spiral together, circulate at will, but almost never hit hard on each other. Because of the softness of materials there is no hard confrontations. The dynamic changes in one object / sound are softly transferred to the edge of space – at some points exhibiting resonance, at other points they die out. Of course this is the metaphorical language – of a world softer and more open.

In opposition to any fluidity stands – the hardness of material. The hardness of fixed relations, of immense inertia – the inert space. In such a space nothing ever happens, all is known, all questions have answers. The measure of inertia are inertias of relations between the objects / entities in a given space. The relations change slower than we can observe – so they seem unchanging. The fluidity of space means shortening of the reaction time of such relations, to provide the ability to observe the passing of time.

But it is only from a fixed viewpoint that we can observe what we measure – to see the changes. Therefore we need a construction of the situation – the event.

Construction / composition is defined by:

Two spherical bowls have simple motorics and a bit more complex sensorics. The are susceptible to the sound they hear, but they also coproduce the sound (compressed microphony). This is why the bowls are full of sound. They can see each other (infrared sensor) and then they change direction. This should allow for the bowls to slowly zigzag closer to each other, which doesn’t really interests us anymore, but for the bowls this may be defined as a motive (with human it could be called the sense). A simple autoreferential algorythmics produces / gives birth to a kind of autonomy of the machine.

The two wobbling spheres thus become two sheep and need a shepherd. But the shepherd (swinging the stick) was there before! It is a wish of a player who wished for a very concrete sound – sharp, loud hit. The bowls become sheep only because of the shepherd. The stick played on an active background become a musical instrument. It can define the quality of the rest of the sound. The soft drone of bowls and the sharpness of the hits against the floor and the plucks against the strings.

The third idea / object (since we are three) have crystalized around the manipulation of image and translation into sound. This algorythmics is powered by the visual information fed in directly from the event, so that we are all included into this segment. The projection of us in the space in front / at the back could be a lead to another aspect, but let it be enough. We will add to fluidity with one more approach – the changing of the positions of sounds among the four loudspeakers.