Sound artist Jeph Jerman and I talked about shooting some videos of some of the situations that happened when we recorded sound – not as a glimpse into technique, but an exploration of the physical effects that occur when vibrations are instigated. Conversely, I suggested we also video some footage that involved movement but no audible sound, to show an alternate situation, but to also raise the question of the impossibility of silence.
We collected these videos and assembled them on a DVD titled Nodes and Anti-Nodes that was released in December of 2007 in an edition of 500 copies in a letterpressed case.
The relevance of this project still strikes me today, when I think about how my work functions, and in the greater scheme, how sound affects us all on a daily basis – in our environments, what we choose to listen to, and what we don’t choose to listen to. Consider the Rhythmplex symbol, an image based on a plate from Ernst Chladni that shows material forming a pattern based on specifically tuned sound vibrations. Think about our minds, bodies, and cells reacting to the sounds around us in that regard. How often are these natural patterns created, and how often are they chaos? And what does that mean for our health, happiness, and well-being?
Here’s some footage from the project:
[btx_video type=”external” video_url=”https://youtu.be/SqBJRCav7kU”]