sound—or its absence: Contributors' Notes
- sound—or its absence:Contributors' Notes
See <mitpressjournals.jorg/toc/lmj/-/23> for full access to LMJ23 and CD tracks, as well as supplemental materials. See <leonardo.info/lmj> for more information and resources.
- Telephone Voice
Supplementary Material
• James Webb, Telephone Voice (.mp3 4.78 MB)
James Webb, Telephone Voice, from the LMJ23 CD entitled sound---or its absence, curated by Seth Cluett, 2013. Composed by James Webb. Voice actor: Adrian Galley. CD is available in copies of Leonardo Music Journal, Volume 23 (2013). See www.mitpressjournals.org/lmj for notes by the composer. (© James Webb. Compilation © Leonardo/ISAST. All rights reserved.)
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James Webb, Telephone Voice, self-portrait, 2011.
I used a clairvoyant to contact Orson Welles, interviewing him and transcribing the resulting speech for a voice actor to perform. Conceptually, the deceased American auteur directs the clairvoyant and through him the actor, who in turn influences the listener. The title refers to a style of telephonic enunciation often used to convey not only clarity but also a sense of status. The project was curated by Rahma Khazam and commissioned for the Palais de Tokyo's Répondeur, a monthly show where artists make works for the exhibition space's answering machine. The voice actor was Adrian Galley.
James Webb (b. 1975, Kimberley, South Africa) has been working on large-scale installations in galleries and museums, as well as unannounced interventions in public spaces, since 2001. His work explores the nature of belief and dynamics of communication in our contemporary world, often using ellipsis, displacement and humor to achieve these aims. Webb's work has been presented around the world at institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, CCA Kitakyushu in Japan and the Darat al Funun in Amman, Jordan, as well as in major international exhibitions such as the 55th Venice Biennale, 3rd Marrakech Biennale, the 2009 Melbourne International Arts Festival and the 9th Biennale d'Art Contemporain de Lyon. Webb was the subject of the survey show, "MMXII," at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 2012. His work is represented in the collections of the Iziko South African National Gallery, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, the Darat al Funun, Amman, and Domaine Pommery, Reims.
Contact: E-mail: <jameswebb@mweb.co.za>. Website: <www.theotherjameswebb.com>.
- The Circulation of Fluids I
Supplementary Material
• Catherine Béchard and Sabine Hudon, The Circulation of Fluids I (.mp3 11 MB)
Catherine Béchard and Sabine Hudon, The Circulation of Fluids I, from the LMJ23 CD entitled sound---or its absence, curated by Seth Cluett, 2013. CD is available in copies of Leonardo Music Journal, Volume 23 (2013). See www.mitpressjournals.org/lmj for notes by the composer. (© Catherine Béchard and Sabine Hudon. Compilation © Leonardo/ISAST. All rights reserved.)
When invited to submit an audio document from one of our sound installations for the LMJ23 CD, we chose The Circulation of Fluids, created in 2008-2009. This installation probes water's resonance: this liquid body is familiar to us mainly through vision and aerial hearing, but its subaqueous echoes are still quite foreign to us. Freshwater, saltwater, utility or drinking water, it remains an integral part of our lives. Most of our planet is submerged and the human body is essentially made up of water. We come from fluids; we live in the rhythm of fluids. Listening to aquatic worlds unveils...
