This essay is a version of the exhibition catalogue for Silent Forest shown at the San Francisco Art Institute as part of SoundCulture96.

As a recent transplant to Australia, I welcomed the opportunity to write about this work, to introduce it to the city where I have spent much of my adult life. In framing my comments about Silent Forest, it was important to keep in mind what might be involved for an American audience in viewing this work by an Australian about Vietnam in the United States. It is true that San Francisco is not part of the U.S., but just the same....

SoundCulture.

http://www.soundculture.org/
http://www.lns.com/sc96/

SOUND THEORY


Thanks to Larry Sider and the School of Sound form which much of this material is referenced.

Attali, Jacques Noise: The Political Economy of Music (University of Minnesota Press, 1985)

Bernstein, Leonard The Joy of Music (London, Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1954) Bernstein’s passion and enthusiasm for music jumps out of the page in this remarkable work.

Cage, John Silence (Connecticut, Wesleyan University Press, 1961)

Chanan, Michael Musica Practica (London, Verso Press, 1994) A discussion of the social practice of western music from Gregorian chant to postmodernism.

Chion, Michel David Lynch (Trans. Julian, Robert, London, BFI Publishing, 1995) Analysis of Lynch’s work. Contains surprisingly little on sound.

La musique électroacoustique (Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1982) Thoughtful study of electro-acoustic music.

Jacques Tati (Paris, Cahiers du Cinema, 1987) Criticism and interpretation of Tati’s films.

Cooke, Deryck The Language of Music (London, Oxford University Press, 1959/1989) Deconstructs music’s affective power through a study of intervals, harmony and rhythm etc.

Kelly, Owen Digital Creativity (London, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1996) The book looks at how digital creativity has evolved. It examines the tools available, gives examples of a range of artistic works and questions the implications of such digital creativity.

Lander, Dan & (eds.) Lexier, Micah

Sound by Artists (Art Metropole, Toronto, Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff. 1990)

Meyer, Leonard B. Emotion and Meaning in Music (Chicago University Press, 1956) Still as provocative as when it was first published.

Murch, Walter In the Blink of An Eye (Los Angeles, Silman-James Press, 1995) thought-provoking essay on film editing. The reader is taken on a journey through the aesthetics and practical issues of cutting film.

Year : 1993

Exhibited.
Annandale Galleries, Sydney 1993.

Materials.
Voltaic circuit in x21 Scientific Flasks, electro-magnet, Statuette of Ganesha, a Hindu deity.

Support structure, Aluminium and yacht wire, x2 Aluminium stepladders, framed objects.

Dimensions.
13m x 4.5m x 4.5m.

The small Sussex fishing village in which I spent my childhood contained two significant buildings, significant not for their formal qualities, they were both simple cottages, but because one had been the home of Halley, the astronomer and the other the home of William Blake the poet. Without being conscious of the fact, I grew up in a cosmos in which the arts and science were intertwined, it has marked my endeavours ever since.
Nigel Helyer.