Petr VĂĄlek, OndĆej Merta, Jara Tarnovski â Punctum (Flaming Pines)
The Czech trio of Petr VĂĄlek, OndĆej Merta and Jara Tarnovski are intrepid musical explorers. As musician, painter, and illustrator, VĂĄlek constructs electro-mechanical kinetic sound objects and diy synthesizers. Merta balances music making, teaching and electronic instrument design at Bastl Instruments which he co-founded. Tarnovski is in a plethora of musical projects and runs the label Jipangu, which focuses on experimental music and sound art. The trio previously released Metal where they performed utilizing VĂĄlekâs sculptures and synthesizers along with metal ball bearings, kitchen utensils and junk.
Punctum, recorded live at a community space in Prague, takes a similar tact. Before the performance, the three combed the basement, dragging up pots, pans, junk appliances and old bicycles, and headed outside to collect tree branches and stones. Over the course of two improvisations, the group attacks their collected detritus and VĂĄlekâs electroacoustic machines with unbridled vigor. First up is the 18-minute âcut pum nâ which begins with restless clatter, gradually building in velocity and density. The three are pensive listeners, weaving together the variegated layers of interstitial sonic textures and timbral detail. There is always an underlying sense of intentionality to their collective clamor, with metallic jangling dings chiming out from the cyclical clatter and pommeling, percussive bustle.
For the second improvisation, âcut pun m,â the trio is joined by SunDog (vocalist Isabelle Duthoit and eRikm utilizing various electronics). The addition of two additional voices into the mix might suggest that the proceedings would get more cluttered and anarchic. But while the palette is expanded, the strategies of the first improvisation carry through. It is impossible to pick out extended vocalizations from electromechanical squeaks and chirps or percussive clanks and sputters from electronic oscillations or the rustling and scrapes of the flotsam and jetsam scattered around the space and the five make the most of those synergies. Here in particular, they are attentive to building densities without overwhelming the sonorities of their expansive auditory assemblage. There is a more clearly defined arc to the improvisation, starting with a more open array of sounds that accrue around a ground of electronic hum. Percussive patterns emerge, get layered across each other and are woven in to threads of abraded tonality, teetering gesticulations, and spectral howls with deft control. In the final few minutes, they slowly unwind the layers, as if preparing to distribute the collection of devices back to where they were found, advancing a natural statsis out of the spare creaks, shudders, and clangs.
Le « jour » sâachĂšve⊠Câest la nuit et ce dont je vais parler sera plutĂŽt de lâordre de la nuit. Dâune nuit qui nâest pas le contraire du jour, peut-ĂȘtre un autre jour, au sens oĂč le jour câest aussi une ouverture sur un autre espace.
punctum: that moment captured in a photograph that means something slightly different to everyone, and that challenges you, making it difficult to understand why itâs so moving.
The punctum points to those features of a photograph that seem to produce or convey a meaning without invoking any recognizable symbolic system. This kind of meaning is unique to the response of the individual viewer of the image. [...Roland] Barthes insists that the punctum is not simply the sum of desires projected into the photograph. Instead, it arises from details that are unintended or uncontrolled by the photographer. Photography can be distinguished from painting or drawing in that its apparatus visualizes the world automatically rather than being wholly informed by the interventions of the photographer. The theory of the punctum speaks the indexical nature of the photographic medium. It also accounts for the importance of emotion and subjectivity in interacting with photographs. [source.]Â
Have you ever looked at a photo and felt⊠struck? Your breath catches, a flash of emotion, thereâs a visceral reaction you canât quite put a finger on. You are affected, and you sit there staring at the photo trying to find out why, but you just canât quite place it.Â
What is that?
Iâve been searching for it lately, and itâs brought up more questions than answers. Questions like what makes aâŠ
