"All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music".
Walter Pater
This quote has long fascinated me, don't get me wrong though, I am no musician by any stretch of the imagination, one day I'll learn a musical instrument I guess? But it, the quote, often makes me wonder about my own photography and music, not to mention photography generally.
Everyone can 'listen' to a song, but how many really 'hear' it. Many people can play musical instruments, sing, but how many can write a song, a good one I mean. One that captures people's imaginations, the public consciousness, sticks in history as a memorable moment time or place?
The same applies I feel to photography, even more so now that digital has become so pervasive.
What makes a song or piece of music special?
What makes a photograph special then? How does one create an image that resonates at as many levels as possible, is there even a formula? Does it all matter in the end? Is there a connection between the two music and photography?
Does this image make any sound/s?
Ryoji Ikeda? damn, i wish i'd caught that.
As a non-musician, I'm seeing something more abstract up above, but I think it's coloured by previous comments and so I've already got music in my head from that.
(btw, have you heard the Alva Noto / Ryuichi Sakamoto stuff? very good...)
hamish, it's more to do with the lines. as soon as i looked at the photo, i heard brass and a bass. i actually thought the beams were mouldy wood rather than metallic.
when i have a moment, i'll try to look at the roid rage as a slideshow and let you know whether it comes across as a cohesive piece of music.
also, i feel it may be significant that hamish and i both play an instrument and are able to "hear" music for this photo. if you know other people who play instruments, it may be an interesting experiment to compare non-musicians/musicians.
for what it's worth, i feel the opposite is true also - some sounds/tones have distinct colours.
thanks guys, I like the fact that you both mention brassy sounds and it's interesting that you hamish talk about hissing, personally I'm not sure it makes ANY sound, but I'm flattered you both feel it does. one thing that still intrigues me is the idea of "the condition of music" what ever this maybe and what makes an art work similar to this?
the other thing is what about the whole set, roid rage does it come across a piece of music?
This is a very interesting topic for me! I'd like to ramble about it for ages. As I hate typing I will make bullet points instead, and try and remember to quiz you in real life next time we meet.
- Does what's represented in the photo contribute to the sound.
- Do you get this brassy sound because it's a bundle of things that would, in fact, make a similar noise if dropped in a heap? Or is it the form of the lines etc?
- How do Kandinsky's far more abstract works, which have been celebrated for thier "musicality" actually work. They are clearly not to do with representations of objects which make noises.
I like the idea of visual art having sound. But it hardly ever happens for me, which annoys me. "Audiovisual" works I always find profoundly dissapointing, though I _really_ want them to work. The best things I have seen in this realm are a very simple oscilliscope display made by a guy in Melbourne whose name escapes me at the moment, and Ryoji Ikeda's installations, some of which were at ACMI last year. Anyway I'll shut up now.
For what its worth, that photo makes me think of hissing. Curiously, also with lots of low frequencies. BUT IT DOESN'T HISS DAMMIT. I just want it to.
yes. it's a cacophony of brass and a sudden jumble of a bass.