attack on silence
(2008)brings together a series of works by British artist Mark Fell exploring the relationships between geometry, color, and waveform.
For the past decade Mark Fell has been one of the leading innovators in the fields of experimental electronic music and sound art. Combining interests in experimental music, contemporary art, computer technology and philosophy, his work has been performed and exhibited internationally to wide critical acclaim. Mark Fell is one half of snd.
Sacred geometries, and their sonic equivalents, are said to mirror the micro and macroscopic structures of the physical world; the complex harmonies of the Tibetan singing bowl, like the patterns of the Mandala, allow access to the deepest levels of the consciousness inducing meditative states that transform the very being of their participants. In the modern reciprocals of these technologies the shift is one of teleology. The sacred metals and antique art of the singing bowls give way to the magic of digital synthesis as sacred geometry gives proxy to psychophysiology and the cognitive neuroscience of brainwave entrainment.
Drawn from these sources—with mutual ambivalence—and realized through a distinct aesthetic minimalism, intricate combinations of form, color and sound are projected through a series of transitions, sometimes gradual, sometimes abrupt, sometimes giving way to sustained tones and repetitions. In a process of ever-emerging horizon—an attack on silence and a space for silence—the potential arises to be ensconced or alienated, a space for enchantment, for anxiety, for profound boredom or for reverie.
Are these phenomena affirmations or reconfigurations of the subject—routes to an authentic, spiritual or otherwise—or are they essentially physiological? Are they aesthetic distractions or intrusive technological interventions—pointers to dystopian possibilities? Are we being enlightened? Examined? Entertained? Enmeshed?
Recorded at The Music Research Centre at the University of York (UK) and snd studio Sheffield 2007 and 2008. Digital coding and mastering by tez.
Source: L–INE
One of digital music's leading innovators, Mark Fell is perhaps best known for being one half of the iconic clicks+cuts duo .snd, but his work as a solo artist - whether as Secular Musics Of South Yorkshire or under his own name - tends to be of a more experimental and sonically challenging ilk. That's certainly the case with this audio-visual project, which draws together highly minimal, morphing electronic sound designs (mixed in both stereo and Dolby 5.1 formats) with correspondingly morphing blocks of colour and shape. Divided into three chapters (ranging from two minutes to almost thirty-nine in duration), this disc offers an insight into synaesthetic correlations between sight and sound. While you might previously have bumped into this sort of experiment within the confines of the Raster Noton roster (particularly via someone like Ryoji Ikeda) Mark Fell takes a more colourful, academic and less rhythmically conditioned approach, utilising high-end audio processing techniques to mould and remould sound, all accompanied by abstract yet highly organised visual displays which change in accordance with what you're hearing. While the images aren't exactly static, owners of plasma screens might start getting a tad nervous about screenburn during certain stretches - but hey, that's minimalism folks. Possibly the most intriguing section of the DVD comes during the second chapter, when a grid of incrementally different hues switches and transforms itself according to highly resonant blip tones, pulsing and filtering themselves as the piece progresses. It's all very bizarre when you stop and think about what you're actually fixating on; it seems like such a minuscule transmission of information, but Attack On Silence is most certainly something to be savoured by audiophiles and sound nerds the world over. Highly recommended.
Source: boomkat