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soundmarks

by Ryan Burge

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soundmarks - patina of memory 46:00
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Soundmarks is a collaborative work with visual artist Jenn Garland, commissioned by the 2019 Fremantle Biennale. The Biennale features local and international contemporary artists, with this year's theme being Undercurrents. Probing how ecology influences soundscapes and how soundscapes form an understanding of culture, the work explores the cultural undercurrents of the port city by foregrounding its soundscape as an artefact of cultural activity. We explore this theme through sound using the concept of soundmarks, originally coined by R Murray Schafer. The equivalent of landmarks, soundmarks make one place sound different to another. They define spaces and the activities that happen within them, contributing to our understanding of identity and community. One might think of the blast of a ship horn, tolling of church bells or any other activity that makes sound in a given location. However, as sound is ephemeral and memory of it rarely endures long past its production, its influence on a sense of place is often overlooked.

Beginning with the premise that the way we perceive our surroundings depends on what we hear, as well as what we see, Soundmarks considers alternate ways of knowing a place. It is a site-specific sound installation that reimagines the familiar and explores the unheard to create a nostalgic yet otherworldly space which interrogates cultural memory. The multi-speaker array plays a constantly changing soundscape that never fully repeats, delving into relationships with Fremantle’s coastal environment and history.

Taking sounds from the surrounding areas of the Commissariat Building in which the exhibition is housed such as the Roundhouse, Bathers Beach and South Mole, composer Ryan Burge collected field recordings at these landmarks, and many others, over a 12 month period. Selected recordings are layered, processed and embedded with composed soundscapes. The ‘everyday sounds’ of Fremantle have been submitted to lo-fi sound processing techniques using vintage sound hardware, such as tape, which subsequently loses sonic details as an analogy for omissions in memory. The listener may not be able to distinguish old from new, creating a sense of nostalgia for ‘the now’ or ‘the never-at-all’.

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released June 11, 2021

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Ryan Burge Perth, Australia

Ryan Burge is a composer, sound artist, studio producer and performer. His compositions experiment with mixed media, in particular, electronics and field recordings in conjunction with live instrumentation. Threads of influence include visual arts, politics and philosophy. ... more

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