Re: [microsound] beware the decibel...

[Kevin McCoy <km.takewithyou@xxxxxxxxx>]

Agreed entirely - I saw a set a while back and my ears weren't done ringing
for a day and a half.  I loved the band and they played amazingly, but I
walked away feeling that it was incredibly unfair.  No one has the artistic
right to make me worry about my hearing *two days* down the line.  But I did
learn to bring earplugs to any shows I attend after that, just in case.

Also, for microsound-related events, my experience has been that I love
hearing the detail in the work, and my ability to experience this detail
decreases after a certain threshold in volume - let's not forget this!

Thanks for the reminder, Randal.

On that note, I agree that volume is a political and artistic consideration
and a necessity in some contexts - but to an extent, volume is relative...
spending all day in a quiet room and then stepping outside to a busy street
makes the street seem much louder!

I was disgusted to read about Akiyama's performance; to me it seems the
ultimate in self-indulgence to potentially cause harm to your audience who
have traveled to see you and not be able to take it yourself.

As for physical violence in conceptual/performance art, at least it was
Chris Burden himself getting shot in the gallery and not a visitor.

Kevin

On 7/12/06, Randal Davis <randal_davis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Before this goes on any longer, I feel a very serious need to inject some
> realism, or at least a very personal experience.
>
> I am a 51 year-old intermittent composer and most definitely former
> performer, who has lost approximately 80% of my once very, very good
> hearing.  I have lived with this now for more than ten years, and will
> live
> with it the rest of my life.
>
> I say "intermittent" because the frustration of trying to work within the
> constraints of this disability is, well, let's just call it frustrating.
> And I say "former" because direct exposure to even the sound levels of an
> acoustic chamber ensemble on stage could cause still further damage.
>
> The aesthetic points in this thread are all well-taken - Graham Miller,
> and
> others, are doubtless correct that sheer amplitude may be a vital
> component
> of an aesthetic position.  It is, after all, as foolish to imagine a Glenn
> Branca symphony at polite levels as a Morton Feldman composition at other
> than approaching the threshold of audibility.
>
> So far, so good - this is, truly, the prerogative of the artist.  But let
> us
> not lose the deep thread here.  An artist may change their intention at
> any
> time.  Hearing loss, on the other hand, is irrevocable.
>
> The result, for me, is that now, with some $5K worth of hearing aids (US
> readers take note - they are not covered by health insurance), I can
> function more or less normally, at least socially. But this thing, music,
> that I loved more than life itself, whether it was Satie, Stockhausen,
> Miles
> Davis, or Autechre, is now hardly more than a memory.
>
> The damage caused by exposure to loud sounds is cumulative - in other
> words,
> the problem is not just that one, really, really loud performance, but the
> many (only just) loud gigs.
>
> Please, my friends, if you are reading this, take care.  There have been a
> number of interesting threads on the aesthetics of laptop performance -
> does
> it really work, as performance, to watch someone poring over a keyboard?
> Good question - but imagine what it would be like if that was all you had,
> and there was no sound.
>
> My point here is, finally, fairly simple.  We don't need debate, though it
> is an important question, the aesthetics of amplitude, or its
> socio-cultural
> matrix in modernity and postmodernity.  Take whatever position you like on
> the aesthetic debate - but I suspect you would still like your voice, so
> to
> speak, to be heard.
>
> Thought experiment: take an ice pick to your eyes, then decide to be a
> painter, and let me know how it works out.
>
> RD
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andras Hargitai" <andras.hargitai@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: "microsound" <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <info@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 4:21 PM
> Subject: Re: [microsound] beware the decibel...
>
>
> > I don't agree. Feeling the sound doesn't necessarily come with volume.
> > Of course to a certain extent yes, e.g. in the case of bad speakers
> > when you can hardly hear anything or situations like that.
> >
> > 2006/7/12, Xdugef <info@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> > > Yea earplugs are a must because if you want to feel the sound you need
> > > volume.
> > >
> > > > So again: I ask why?  If you play your music at physically damaging
> > > > volumes, why?  What do you hope to get out of it?  And what are you
> > > > expecting of your audience?
> > > >
> > > > I'll also say that I'm 26, I hate being this curmudgeonly, but I
> want
> > > >
> > > > to be able to hear in the future.
> > >
> > >
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> >
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