Radiat MN performing the noise of mind

Beschreibung
"A collaborative project by Pia Palme & Ryoko Akama.

This juxtaposition of sonic installations by two composers draws on different perspectives of ‘noise’. Akama explores social noise from her position as a sound artist, whereas Palme uses the noise/signal duality to define her performance of personal mind’s activity. The pieces co-exist and interfere with each other in shared space. The resulting work discusses the cross-perspectives and methodologies of individual approaches, overlaid and influenced by parallel working processes.

RADIAT MN – Pia Palme: In this installation Palme performs the multi-layered structure of the ‘noise of mind’ as she observes it during live improvisation. Four speakers and a human performer – Palme performing a contrabass recorder and four microphones – are placed along a line in space.

In musical practice, thought activity during a performance is largely considered as ‘noise’ – an unwanted by-product of the mind. Here, Palme redefines the relevancy of her inner states by reversing the noise/signal duality: the totality of the mind’s activity is turned into performative material, re-composed and reproduced by vocal and instrumentalproduction, captured and amplified with microphones and exploded into the environment.

The five-tiered score governing this performance requires precise awareness and monitoring of one’s inner states. Palme defines the mind as inclusive and multi-layered, on a scale from the internal monologue, the longing to communicate, emotions and perceptions, to extrovert vocal production; the instrument, as an extension of her breath, marks the shifting border between inside and outside.

Actions to re-perform mental movements include extended techniques picked up by four separate microphones, such as a radio transmitted throat-microphone with PTT-button. The sonic layers are distributed to four separate speakers.

The sonic environment oscillates between noise and signal; which part of mental activity is relevant for a performance and which is not?

RADIAT GC – Ryoko Akama: Akama’s installation draws on environmental and ecological concerns in which social noise and its capability of collaborative-ness are questioned. It uses a Geiger counter, a radiation detector in the air, and radio transmission system. Water in a pool is vibrated by four speakers which receive frequency compositions created by noise data through a Geiger counter. The cymatic patterns which occur on the water’s surface result from the transformation of sonic energy. This physicality of information science sustains optic listening and a subtle encounter with low frequency soundscapes."
Pia Palme (2013)

Uraufführung
5. Oktober 2013 - Huddersfield, University of Huddersfield
Veranstaltung: conference ‘Noise as in music’
Mitwirkende: Pia Palme (Komposition, Kontrabassblockflöte u. Stimme), Ryoko Akama (Komposition, Klanginstallation)
Weitere Informationen: A collaborative project by Pia Palme & Ryoko Akama