grass folded and pressed

Cherniwchan, Chrystal; Tattersall, Craig

Abstract

Things unfold. But, things, also, echo. Back and forth. The beginning and the end, together. Music. Like a thread, going from there, to here. Or, like a balloon, which is, of course, a captured breath: held, inside, to carry forward, that energy, to, somewhere, else. I always thought, the balloon floating in the sky, was like a lost breath. A body, someone's. And if you were to find that balloon, open it up, slowly, you would receive, that breath. To let it, out slowly, against one's own lips. To inhale, that other breath, that had floated, from somewhere. Or, to hear it. Suddenly. A voice. Brandon LaBelle [1]


‘grass folded and pressed’ is a project in collaboration with Craig Tattersall, and started on site(s) in the North West and the South West of England where we were located. Field recordings were captured along with close recordings of site specific/historical objects using combinations of open mics, contact mics and hydrophones.

Once the audio had been harvested it was shared between us, along with photographs we made from the sites that would be further developed in our studios. again the results were sent back and forth, this time to be taken back to the original site to be played back and recorded in symphony with the spaces. slowly building a layering of site upon site, sound compressing sounds like geological layers.

Musical responses are weaved into the score; utilising spoken word, typewriters as well as tape loops, humming, harmoniums and pianos. Accompanying the audio is a sound object in the form of a book that illustrates interventions with place, and the intimate act of listening throughout this collaborative process- merged places unfold.

The final audio and book are a result of these ‘conversations’ between artist and site, artist and artist and site and site.

[1] LaBelle, B. (2013), ‘Tender Beats’, in A. Carlyle and C. Lane (eds) On Listening, p. 112. Axminster: Uniformbooks.

Citation

Cherniwchan, C., & Tattersall, C. (2022). grass folded and pressed. [Book and Cassette]. Manchester, UK

• Physical Artefact Type: Artefact
• Publication Date: Jul 19, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2023
• Keywords: Photography, Sound Art, Artist Publication
• Related Public URLs: https://thehumblebee.bandcamp.com/album/grass-folded-and-pressed