Brigitte Hart
Sound Artist
CTM 2017 'FEAR, ANGER, LOVE' - Brigitte Hart
'Rosa x damascena: The Damask Rose'
A sonic exploration into the ethics of mortality and empathy in the information age
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SUMMARY
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Develop a 40-45 Minute radio composition using material from vocal experiments to generate a sonic scape with a focus on the Syrian Civil War
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Consult ethicists and phiosophers for academic material
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Experiment with vocal exercises to generate sonic material i.e. Voicing statistics into frequencies
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Compress a 19 hour recording of all the childrens names who have passed away during the Syrian Civil War into a 45 minute drone scape to form the background of the piece
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Live performance includes performers and audience participation which will be recorded for the final version of the radio edit.
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Participants/ performers will be asked to read three names aloud once during the piece.
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The intention is to develop a sonic space which encourages pause and reflection, to experience 'information' with consideration and reverence.
The Damascus Rose - The scent of this rose to be permeated throughout the performance space
Vocal Experiment: Statistics into Hertz
Here I have experimented with converting statistics into frequencies and sung or whistled to generate sound. The frequencies that were too low i.e. 13, 13hz were stretched to audibility rather than pitched. The lowest notes came out as a rich bass texture and here I have combined all numbers/ tones to generate an abstract 'chord.' It's important to note that every second that is played, the resonance cycles that specific number of times which is what the pitch is made of. Therefore my voice is literally sounding the number of lives that have been lost with each passing second. All sounds on this recording are voice.
Vocal Experiment: Compression of Names
An eight minute recording of the names of deceased civilians killed in Syrian warfare. The recording has been compressed, layered and manipulated but consists solely of one voice reading the names.
The second recording includes a sample of a sub bass generated from the reading.
Little Stars, 2014
Instructional Performance, Melbourne
Little Stars is a binaurally recorded chance composition and instructional performance piece which took inspiration from recent events on the Gaza Strip.
Unknowing audience participants were asked to space themselves in a room around a centrepoint candle. Each were handed a piece of paper and told to read aloud three names over a five minute period.
Name 1. A child recently killed in Gaza
Name 2. A star (celestial body)
Name 3. A child rescued in clandestine kindertransport operations in WWII
This piece aims to draw attention to the act of consciously saying a name. In an age of information overload we are bombarded with names and numbers and words that are often wasted. Little Stars was intended to offer a space where one has the time to consider what they are saying, what it might mean, how saying that name might make one feel. Ultimately it has a focus on paying homage to the little lives that continue to be uneccessarily lost.
Little Stars is an example of posing three questions to an audience in a live environment.
This piece will be an elaboration on the idea behind Little Stars set within the context of a vocally driven sonic scape.
This improvised environment is symbolic as I feel that to counter or compliment the scape an unpredictable and organic human element is crucial to curating a conscious presence about the piece. The carefully selected questions are also posed as a way to call ones attention to the moment and deliberate. I also feel that it's important to give the participant the autonomy to 'call ' the moment in which something is spoken. The audience from Little Stars appreciated being given the space to reflect and decide for themselves when to speak.
Too often we are simply quickly fed ideas and information without a chance to think and deliberate and then make a conscious choice.
Instructing an Audience
