The "Collective Identities" blog is a fundamental part of a project called Collective Identities that I have created for the Master of Sound Arts course at London College Communication.
The project above mentioned is about an audio/visual installation which was part of the MA Sound Art Exhibition that took place from the 21st to the 26th of November 2011 at the London College of Communication Gallery at Elephant and Castle.
In this work It is my intention to continue exploring my interest in the ideas of collaboration, social exchanges, inter-human relations and interactivity related to my sound art practice.
My intention to explore this work from a socio-political perspective is expressed through an attempt to explore the relational art and the use of spoken word as sound art practice.
Titled “Collective Identities”, the project attempts to define the term “emerging artist” as a collective entity as one example among many in our society of the creation of collective identities through the use of such generalizing terms.
The research is therefore focused on identifying the meaning of being an emerging artist, the implications of the term “emerging” and how the art market implicates an artist’s growth.
The research and the work evolve from an attempt to contextualize my own identity as an emerging artist, a concept I identify with; through this audio/visual project, I am to reflect my own identity in order to explore the tensions between how an “emerging artist’ identity” can be defined, the controversy that lies within it and its connection to the evolution of contemporary art.
The audio/visual project in discussion comprises three key components: a physical representation of a studio environment of an artist/researcher, a blog that acts as an archive which contains information and details about the project itself as well as the artists I worked with, and four sound pieces heard through headphones placed on the studio furniture. These are experimental sound compositions created by using collected documentary recordings of interviews I made with the artists.
The installation explore the interaction between the observer and the work which embodies my presence, work place, research, collaboration with artists and exploration response in an attempt to share a transitory reality.
By placing office furniture such as a desk, a chair, a lamp, shelves, a clock, a carpet and a bin as well as sundry objects scattered in disorder like CDs, pens, keys, books, magazines, a radio, various papers indicating also my sound art practice, and a calendar, which identifies my project schedules, I am trying to reproduce my own studio and its messiness. This messiness is also an attempt to emphasize the confusion of an on-going research.
The desk as well as the chair have an important role in the installation. The former represents the place where usually a research is done, while the latter as being uncomfortable embodies the awkward position of an emerging artist.
In order to recreate a unique space I decided neither to use common furniture available at University or in any furniture shop nor new objects. Almost all the furniture and objects are already used and belong to me in a further attempt to place myself in the space and to emphasize my exploration message.
The objects left on the desk as well as on the shelves, such as art magazines (Frieze, Wires, Art Review) which are usually read by art followers, books related to art and the computer, which directs the viewer to the project’s blog online, are all attempts to create a space for engagement with the audience so as to communicate the role of an artist/researcher that I intend to stage in this representation and the research itself. The computer as a means of technology emphasises the message of what a researcher usually does so as to carry on a research such as keeping in touch with people via emails or chat, organizing appointments and meetings and going through digital documents.
The blog, which can be approached as part of the installation, holds qualities of an archive as a long-lasting life repository of knowledge. It provides information, images and details about the project as well as profiles, statements and works of emerging artists I worked with and attempts to embrace socio-political issues related to the art-market. These are explored through questions such as “What is the meaning of being an emerging artist, what implications the term “emerging” has and how can the art market influence the artist’s career and life path?”.
Below is a picture of the installation:
The sound pieces are broadcast in a loop through four headphones placed on the furniture and act as a further interactive and informative element.
The sound samples include collected documentary recordings of interviews I have made with ten artists, both female and male, touching on several subjects like their lives, struggles, ambitions as well as artistic background. The focus is however more on topics strictly related to my research theme such as what is to be an emerging artist, what implications the term “emerging” has and how the art market affects/influences the artists’ growth.
The interviews and their inclusion as part of the sonic material of the installation, embody another strong communication process, which is “serving to link individuals and human groups together” (Bourriaud 1998 p.43).
I gathered multi-disciplinary and international artists, to explore their idea of “art community” also in relation to their nationality, trying to express a wider vision of their status as emerging artists to the audience.
By using the documentary recordings as a medium and as a strong relational tool, I intend to engage with the artists, their personal lives, thoughts and identities. This approach aims to weave and narrate different realities of the same story and helps the viewers, participants and myself to connect with the various elements of the emerging artists’ social scene.
Interviewees’ voices provide interesting semantic meanings and sonic varieties such as accents, tones and timbres that relay information about their social and cultural past, as well as their state of mind.
These various sonic qualities allowed me to make sonic and compositional choices as to how to assemble these different elements. The artists give multiple and different definitions, considerations, impressions and contradictions related to the emerging artists’ world.
I gathered as much information as I could to have a wide range of sonic and semantic choices to experiment with, creating different solutions for my work.
The function of the interviews is also to give participants a voice and facilitate to open an intercultural process as a point for raising discussions, observations and further questions about our contemporary art scene.
I created four different sound pieces which each narrative are related to one of the following theme: the meaning of being an emerging artist, what implications the term “emerging” has, how the art market can influence the artist’s growth and the emerging artists' lives and possible obstacles faced by them.
In order to help the viewers to engage with the sound as well as the space they would experience, I decided to place each headphone on a pile of books and papers whose titles and content are closely related to the topic of each sound piece.
Using interview fragments, each sound piece starts from a logical conversation among artists.
At times, apart from feelings of frustration, hope or uncertainty, some irony is being expressed, and emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of the debates, which are imbued of the various definitions, contradictions and point of views provided by the artists.
Moreover, as each piece goes on it is interesting to note that some of the artists gain awareness of the meaning of each subject as something they were not aware of before.
Gradually, the different sounds transform themselves into a mishmash of overlapping voices, loops and noises as a destruction of the original words until the “chaos” becomes overbearing.
These experimental sound pieces embody my research response.
Through identifying with the emerging artist community this exploration expresses my response as one opinion among many within that community. This paradoxical duality, represented both by the clear speech and the “chaos”, act as strong informative elements. The aim of this is to raise the consciousness of the audience observing the emerging artist scene giving on one hand an overview of it but on another leaving many unanswered questions and confusion where subjectivism prevails.
It is my intention to bring in more emerging artists after the final presentation of the project and to continue developing it.
I am very interested in presenting it again in the future as well as to keep the project open online as a powerful means of communication.
The project above mentioned is about an audio/visual installation which was part of the MA Sound Art Exhibition that took place from the 21st to the 26th of November 2011 at the London College of Communication Gallery at Elephant and Castle.
In this work It is my intention to continue exploring my interest in the ideas of collaboration, social exchanges, inter-human relations and interactivity related to my sound art practice.
My intention to explore this work from a socio-political perspective is expressed through an attempt to explore the relational art and the use of spoken word as sound art practice.
Titled “Collective Identities”, the project attempts to define the term “emerging artist” as a collective entity as one example among many in our society of the creation of collective identities through the use of such generalizing terms.
The research is therefore focused on identifying the meaning of being an emerging artist, the implications of the term “emerging” and how the art market implicates an artist’s growth.
The research and the work evolve from an attempt to contextualize my own identity as an emerging artist, a concept I identify with; through this audio/visual project, I am to reflect my own identity in order to explore the tensions between how an “emerging artist’ identity” can be defined, the controversy that lies within it and its connection to the evolution of contemporary art.
The audio/visual project in discussion comprises three key components: a physical representation of a studio environment of an artist/researcher, a blog that acts as an archive which contains information and details about the project itself as well as the artists I worked with, and four sound pieces heard through headphones placed on the studio furniture. These are experimental sound compositions created by using collected documentary recordings of interviews I made with the artists.
The installation explore the interaction between the observer and the work which embodies my presence, work place, research, collaboration with artists and exploration response in an attempt to share a transitory reality.
By placing office furniture such as a desk, a chair, a lamp, shelves, a clock, a carpet and a bin as well as sundry objects scattered in disorder like CDs, pens, keys, books, magazines, a radio, various papers indicating also my sound art practice, and a calendar, which identifies my project schedules, I am trying to reproduce my own studio and its messiness. This messiness is also an attempt to emphasize the confusion of an on-going research.
The desk as well as the chair have an important role in the installation. The former represents the place where usually a research is done, while the latter as being uncomfortable embodies the awkward position of an emerging artist.
In order to recreate a unique space I decided neither to use common furniture available at University or in any furniture shop nor new objects. Almost all the furniture and objects are already used and belong to me in a further attempt to place myself in the space and to emphasize my exploration message.
The objects left on the desk as well as on the shelves, such as art magazines (Frieze, Wires, Art Review) which are usually read by art followers, books related to art and the computer, which directs the viewer to the project’s blog online, are all attempts to create a space for engagement with the audience so as to communicate the role of an artist/researcher that I intend to stage in this representation and the research itself. The computer as a means of technology emphasises the message of what a researcher usually does so as to carry on a research such as keeping in touch with people via emails or chat, organizing appointments and meetings and going through digital documents.
The blog, which can be approached as part of the installation, holds qualities of an archive as a long-lasting life repository of knowledge. It provides information, images and details about the project as well as profiles, statements and works of emerging artists I worked with and attempts to embrace socio-political issues related to the art-market. These are explored through questions such as “What is the meaning of being an emerging artist, what implications the term “emerging” has and how can the art market influence the artist’s career and life path?”.
Below is a picture of the installation:
The sound pieces are broadcast in a loop through four headphones placed on the furniture and act as a further interactive and informative element.
The sound samples include collected documentary recordings of interviews I have made with ten artists, both female and male, touching on several subjects like their lives, struggles, ambitions as well as artistic background. The focus is however more on topics strictly related to my research theme such as what is to be an emerging artist, what implications the term “emerging” has and how the art market affects/influences the artists’ growth.
The interviews and their inclusion as part of the sonic material of the installation, embody another strong communication process, which is “serving to link individuals and human groups together” (Bourriaud 1998 p.43).
I gathered multi-disciplinary and international artists, to explore their idea of “art community” also in relation to their nationality, trying to express a wider vision of their status as emerging artists to the audience.
By using the documentary recordings as a medium and as a strong relational tool, I intend to engage with the artists, their personal lives, thoughts and identities. This approach aims to weave and narrate different realities of the same story and helps the viewers, participants and myself to connect with the various elements of the emerging artists’ social scene.
Interviewees’ voices provide interesting semantic meanings and sonic varieties such as accents, tones and timbres that relay information about their social and cultural past, as well as their state of mind.
These various sonic qualities allowed me to make sonic and compositional choices as to how to assemble these different elements. The artists give multiple and different definitions, considerations, impressions and contradictions related to the emerging artists’ world.
I gathered as much information as I could to have a wide range of sonic and semantic choices to experiment with, creating different solutions for my work.
The function of the interviews is also to give participants a voice and facilitate to open an intercultural process as a point for raising discussions, observations and further questions about our contemporary art scene.
I created four different sound pieces which each narrative are related to one of the following theme: the meaning of being an emerging artist, what implications the term “emerging” has, how the art market can influence the artist’s growth and the emerging artists' lives and possible obstacles faced by them.
In order to help the viewers to engage with the sound as well as the space they would experience, I decided to place each headphone on a pile of books and papers whose titles and content are closely related to the topic of each sound piece.
Using interview fragments, each sound piece starts from a logical conversation among artists.
At times, apart from feelings of frustration, hope or uncertainty, some irony is being expressed, and emphasizes the heterogeneous nature of the debates, which are imbued of the various definitions, contradictions and point of views provided by the artists.
Moreover, as each piece goes on it is interesting to note that some of the artists gain awareness of the meaning of each subject as something they were not aware of before.
Gradually, the different sounds transform themselves into a mishmash of overlapping voices, loops and noises as a destruction of the original words until the “chaos” becomes overbearing.
These experimental sound pieces embody my research response.
Through identifying with the emerging artist community this exploration expresses my response as one opinion among many within that community. This paradoxical duality, represented both by the clear speech and the “chaos”, act as strong informative elements. The aim of this is to raise the consciousness of the audience observing the emerging artist scene giving on one hand an overview of it but on another leaving many unanswered questions and confusion where subjectivism prevails.
It is my intention to bring in more emerging artists after the final presentation of the project and to continue developing it.
I am very interested in presenting it again in the future as well as to keep the project open online as a powerful means of communication.
