march 16, 2016

the title for the piece indicates the genesis of the work emphasizing the date when the audiovisual file was in fact created. this piece was daniel neumann's and richard garet's contribution to the 2016 screen compositions series, curated by katherine liberovskaya, taking place annually at experimental intermedia. the main objective of the series is to facilitate collaborations between artists working with sound and moving image.

the moving image was made from a series of explorations of video captures of land and sea sceneries from the north area of the san francisco coastline. garet's approach was empirical and expansive, departing from the source material. the defining aesthetic choices that established the direction of the work emerged from the process itself. the final outcome was defined by pushing such aesthetics further, while also shaping the behavior of frames transitioning over time. garet became interested in the potential and imaginative creations that surfaced in the work because it referenced not only the pictorial qualities of landscape painting, but also it suggested a dreamlike subjective feel for the piece. once garet observed that the exploration went in that direction, he continued with it putting special interest on dynamics and transitions, while also considering the spectator's vision of sitting through a slow but fully charged work's timeline. for garet this work has become an ongoing exploration and new variations from the source are to be expected.

the audio piece was created in response to the video. neumann wanted a textural response, rather than giving it a narrative or a specific meaning. he chose audio that had inherent depth, a certain grain in the surface, and layers. the content is entirely based on field recordings, yet recordings where the actual source is not apparent. some of the recordings originate from a performative recording process: driving near marfa, texas, with the car windows open so that they whistle and pulsate, with am radio playing on lower volume between stations / interference from a faulty cable / close-miking of a resonating tin can, creating modulations through subtly moving the microphone stand / the last squeak of a gas meter in an annex. processing was limited to cutting, layering, eq and one delay effect plus reverb.

daniel neumann and richard garet have been in constant communication for almost a decade observing, listening to, and in conversation about each other’s work, as well as about sound works in general. on several occasions they have collaborated and contributed to each other’s efforts and projects. to read and know more about daniel neumann and richard garet click on the artists’ names.

contour editions 
august, 2016