Singular

Singular

 

This piece is inspired by Gregory Whitehead’s concept of parallel woundscapes, which he explains as being “just one wrong turn away from normal life,”characterized in his work by the addition of abrupt, often violent sounds.1

With this in mind, I considered the idea of parallel universes and the dimension of time in relation to sound. I took several sound recordings of my surroundings sitting in the lobby of Bobst Library. Each recording is unique and in reality exists (or existed) in a separate time frame, that is, they were recorded at completely different times with no overlap. These recordings are layered together in the piece and consequently give the illusion of coexisting in a single time-plane. As the piece progresses each layer is manipulated in a different way, allowing the audience to gradually discern that there are indeed multiple distinct layers of sound present. These layers of sound represent parallel soundscapes, unique in their sonorous natures but giving the illusion of existing in a single, unified space. At the end of the piece all of the manipulations/effects stop abruptly, bringing the audience back to the “prewound” universe.

  1. Whitehead, Gregory. “The Phantom Self” Interview by Damona Wolff. http://gregorywhitehead.net/gw/lifeartlife/.
 
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