Cardinal Rose
“There are no road signs to help navigate. And, in fact, no one has yet determined which side of the road we're supposed to be on.”
Cesar del Valle - Precipcicio II. Pencil, paper, 40,5 x 29,7 cm (2010)
(Source: artchipel)
“Broken Things” by Livia Marin (Source: screaming-down-from-heaven)
Only a few short months ago, I saw my Japanese friend making the easiest salad I’ve ever seen. With nothing but a bunch of radishes, she produced a lovely-looking, low-calorie, healthy side dish. Before seeing her cut and arrange the radish leaves, it had never occured to me that they were edible (and tasty!). Now, radishes have become a staple in my daily vegetable intake.
Hurray radishes!
An artist duo that often works with sound, presented often in the context of an installation. I’m personally fascinated by the artists’ audio walks. They are introduced thus:
INTRODUCTION TO THE AUDIO WALKS
The format of the audio walks is similar to that of an audioguide. You are given a CD player or Ipod and told to stand or sit in a particular spot and press play. On the CD you hear my voice giving directions, like “turn left here” or “go through this gateway”, layered on a background of sounds: the sound of my footsteps, traffic, birds, and miscellaneous sound effects that have been pre-recorded on the same site as they are being heard. This is the important part of the recording. The virtual recorded soundscape has to mimic the real physical one in order to create a new world as a seamless combination of the two. My voice gives directions but also relates thoughts and narrative elements, which instills in the listener a desire to continue and finish the walk.
All of my walks are recorded in binaural audio with multi-layers of sound effects, music, and voices (sometimes as many as 18 tracks) added to the main walking track to create a 3D sphere of sound. Binaural audio is a technique that uses miniature microphones placed in the ears of a person. The result is an incredibly lifelike 3D reproduction of sound. Played back on a headset, it is almost as if the recorded events were taking place live.
A question that plagues all modern individuals, the location of one’s keys is rarely certain. Indeed, my own have vanished. Yesterday, on a Sunday in a small Dutch town where no stores are ever open, I know without doubt that I was in my house all day save for a trip to the garbage disposal outside. The singular instance of key-usage occurred upon my return, leading me to conclude that the keys must be somewhere inside my 105m2 apartment. Yet, this morning when I thought to leave my house, not even a hint remained of their prior existance.
I have searched not only high and low, but near and far, in and under, through and around. No nook, no cranny has gone un-rifled. Well, one nook or one cranny… the one that holds my keys. I’m beginning to think I have a case of the borrowers, that some fancy little people have stored them in the walls.
