25/8/14
Well it’s pouring with rain on a bank holiday Monday afternoon so what better time to update my blog, or attempt to. This time I’m going to write it in Word and try to copy and paste my text in an attempt to avoid losing much of what I write every time I try to update the blog!
I had a long meeting with one of my collaborators, Lynn, the other day. we were discussing a commission we have, but towards the end I wanted to discuss ideas about this collaboration. I think so far that we have been collaborating, but somehow it’s not quite what I think we could be doing…I suppose I mean that I think we should try different methods of collaboration that we haven’t tried before. For example we go to various places together and film and record and perform after discussing what we are aiming to do, or try things out in a more open way, within a roughly defined project. I tend to do the sound aspect, writing songs, recording etc and Lynn does the filming and final editing. It seemed to me that doing things in a different way would at least be worth a try though more time-consuming. The time factor is important. Lynn has already spent ages trying to edit things after I send a sound file to her, trying to get something she is happy with. I think the amount of money I asked for in the bursary to pay her for her time is woefully inadequate, compared to the time she has actually spent. I’ll need to remember this next time (if there is a next time!)
But also I feel that the collaboration is a bit distant in some respects. I do the sound separately, and Lynn does the video and sound editing together, and she feels this is a collaboration because the final work is a collaboration. But I feel that it’s the coming together of two separate bits of work. I suggested perhaps doing some of the editing together, so that the editing becomes more collaborative, and that, for example, it would be useful for Lynn to see the actual sound edit in Final Cut Pro that I have done, rather than just the final wav file being sent to her to work with. In fact I’ve actually not done a very detailed sound edit of any of the collaborative material, because I felt that I would be determining the character of the final work quite a lot if I did that. I don’t think Lynn is very keen on this idea, and thinks that her seeing my sound edit on the timeline isn’t going to be that useful, since anyway the final piece won’t reflect how the edit looks. I’m sure there are many ways of two people working with sound and images though.
I, on the contrary, think this is important, especially in terms of the work I would like us to do at Greenham Common. I’ve been thinking about the way in which the edit timeline is layered like archaeological strata, and I like to think that the sound-editing process is a bit like the layers of time in the earth at the Common, some bits coming up to the surface once in a while through human or natural activity, and then being submerged or buried again. I wondered if Lynn fancied trying to do something similar with the images on the image timeline, but she felt this was probably not that useful. On the contrary, she felt that maybe the images in the edit were like the way in which the visitor comes to Greenham and just sees what is on the surface, and underground is where all sort of intricate and complex layers of time are to be found in a semi-destroyed state.
We decided to devote more time in the project to the Greenham Common work and I want to go there again before the summer ends and it gets dark early. After I do a performance I’ve been rehearsing at the end of this week, I’ll sort out a visit to Greenham to do more photography and sound recording. Then I need to find some time to think of ways in which to make layers of sound which are complex enough to embody the ideas I have. I’m not sure at all what Lynn wants to do there as she wants to go when I’ve pretty much finished my bit of the work. This is a shame I feel, and it could be a question of time and money. I think in future I will work out far better the time that collaborators would spend and ask for the appropriate budget. I could be wrong, but I feel there’s a lot of pressure on Lynn’s time and money.
There has been no reply to my approaches to Orford Ness, so the time due to be spent on that will now be devoted to Greenham. This is a great shame, as we could make really good and interesting work there. Oh well, perhaps another time. Also I would like still to go to Holkham Beach and do something with the geese. I may have to do this on my own, but perhaps I can persuade Lynn to come with me. She feels we should devote the rest of the a-n project to Greenham, but I feel I have a good opportunity here to pay her with whatever is left after Greenham to work with me on something with the geese at Holkham. It will be different from anything we have done before, either individually or together.
Lucy, my voice teacher, has been very supportive all through this collaborative project, and in helping me with other work I am engaged in, and is always trying to push me forward. When we get time, I think a meeting of the three of us would be very useful.
