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  artists
:: Jeph Jerman : excerpts from the sound diary
dec. 2, 99
i sit and listen to the roar of air up the
flue...wait for the crackling, the hissing, the heat. i add fuel every
so often and listen to how it changes the sound of the fire.
soon the kettle atop the wood stove starts to sing. a weak,
shrill, thin whistle that almost stops second by second. over time
it becomes a hiss, like a steam radiator, or our hot water heater
in the closet. pulling another piece of tree limb or cast-off board,
i tap it to hear it's resonance, then place it in the fire. am i burning
musical instruments ? what matter, when the fire plays them so much
more beautifully than i ever could ?
dec. 12, 99
it isn't silence. i can hear the rush of
liquid in the fridge pipes and the electric whine of the heater, which
is ever-present, if barely perceptable. these quiter sounds are broken
by human voice...our neighbor, Frances, talking animatedly to her
dog Jane. the rolling crunch of tires on gravel. my pencil scritch
on the book page, someone knocking on a door. a door shut (soft thump).
then only occasional far-off traffic, rising or falling drones...the
refridgerator clicks on, whirring, rushing, buzzing...
dec. 13, 99
...ascending hiss/gurgle/whistle...tri-part buzz
or whirr overlayed with descending drone that stops abruptly - a
small quick rattle, bubblings and gurglings, scratch - a distant
rumble - high-pitched ringing ( that changes if i move the position
of my head ) - whirr ends - gurgles, for awhile, passing hiss -
high positioned drone - breath of machine - clicks and creak - tiny
wet hiss and rising pipe ( filling a volume ) - mouth sounds and
then ideas...and i'm not really listening any more...until the roar,
no...click, then roar, breaks my concentration upon the mental and
sets my ears right again.
...falling drone, barks, wooden clicks - muffled peeps
- muffled rumbles that ascend and descend, intermittant ) - drone
with whistlings, more whistlings ( everything far-off, muted ) -
click,whirr -
Music is the paying attention to sound.
John
Cage
What interferes with listening...is that thought
jumps in very fast with a word and all it's associations, which
goes so fast that thought takes that to be direct perception.
David
Bohm
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