Process Piece

https://soundcloud.com/jacobneuenswander/assembling-an-ar-15-rifle

My partner and I wanted to do a process that was both (hopefully) unique and that would create a reaction to the listener. After brainstorming for awhile, I was reminded of a friend of mine with a gun who I knew would be able to assemble it. A gun is something we are all very aware of because of their use in media and politics, but how many of us know how they work? I sure didn’t. We knew they had a lot of parts, but we didn’t know what parts, how many, or how they all fit together. We made two recordings: one with just the sounds of the assembling, and a narrated recording, trying to capture as much of the sounds as possible. At first we thought we’d us the sounds of him assembling the gun, followed by a gunshot for context. However, we found out in the Thursday lab when we showed it to another group, that without the narration the process was terribly unclear. At first the narration seemed hesitant, but like the viewing we were given in class My Mom the Taxidermist by Borup, our friend the gun owner’s frank, neutral, instructive voice describing the intricate pieces and process of assembling the gun, using equally complicated jargon, is unbiased and therefore it is up to the listener to decide what to think about what he is describing. This neutrality reminds me of a documentary we were shown last semester in TMA 102 called The Devil’s Miner. They simply show things as they are, what occurs, and allow the miners, especially the young boy, to tell the story and day-to-day life of the miner. To some people, it is interesting to see their conditions, for others it is a ghastly revelation of a poor people that are put in both physical and spiritual jeopardy from a shockingly young age. Likewise our friend’s description of the gun in its neutral, frank tone simply states what is, and doesn’t give any points or descriptions of his feelings about the gun or the uses of it. The audience’s reaction is therefore their own. It is a direct reflection of what they believe. To some it will be interesting and baffling in its complexity. To others every click will bother them as they imagine what they deem to be a terrible weapon as it is being created. As the shot is fired, some will hear it with interest, while others will be concerned. There are, of course, many feelings and beliefs, and I only named a couple, but the point is that both should come away with a better understanding of the complexity of the gun. 

Tiny Stories

I’m really glad that the focus of this assignment is exploring different sources, because it made this process so much more stimulating, enjoyable and creative. My first order of business was to think of all my normal sources of inspiration and get as far away from them as possible, at least for the initial idea, or the connecting element. I finally thought I would have the connecting element be five people I know, as it would be both interesting and new for me. It hit me that I have five roommates, and if I could find a way to hone in on a piece of each of their personalities, then that would be a fascinating and fun inspiration for a tiny story. My next order of business was to figure out how to get down to such a specific and deeper part of their personalities in a connected way. I originally thought of having them all do a mad-lib or word association, but in class Claire suggested I ask a broad question. That suggestion was boosted by Sterling’s about a minute later, who shared that if you want to get to the root of anything you ask the question “why?” five times. Bingo, there was my process, but what of the question? It hit me as I was walking home the other day: ask what their favorite color is. Something that seems so small, insignificant, and basic about a person just might hold a deeper meaning and reveal more about their character than politics or pet preferences when explored more thoroughly. I was right! As I interviewed each roommate I asked them what their favorite color was and asked a ‘why question’ at least five times to their response. I actually did the brainstorming and interviews before the reading, which made me both understand and agree with it all the more. Dillard talks about ‘seeing’ the small things that goes unnoticed. Both I and my roommates saw things that were so foundational parts of their personalities that none of us had realized or taken notice. I failed to mention that one of the stories ended up being mine, as I was unable to get a hold of one roommate. That was a fascinating experience as I ‘interviewed’ myself, striving to be as strictly honest with myself as possible, to truly dig in as deep as I had with my roommates, and the answer was enlightening.

Once I had those ‘pieces of personality’, it was time to fashion a story around them. I decided that the colors were important, and I wanted to incorporate them somehow. I like to listen to music when I’m doing this kind of work, and I had been craving the “Misty Mountains” song from the Hobbit for awhile, so I put the entire soundtrack I found on Youtube. As I listened I was reminded about how fantasty/fiction is the perfect basis for establishing symbols, so I considered each response and created a symbolic story for it. 

Music Mosiac

Song: "Strange Paradise" by Bonds

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRvl-djWMd8

(Note: I did not see the video until after the images were already created)

            I’m not going to lie, at first glance it seemed a bit of a stretch to connect this week’s Music Mosaic with Forbes’ “The Power of Story in an Age of Consequence” talk. However, now it makes more sense when I consider that these mosaics are a reflection of our personalities, of our own selves. At least, I found that my mosaic is a reflection of myself and my thought processes. Forbes talked about the importance of the story in shaping culture and crossing boundaries by communicating on a level that is much harder to reach in any other way. What better way to tell our stories than through a careful selection of music? And, better yet, to then depict the images and feelings we receive from that piece of music?

I found this song, “Strange Paradise” by Bonds, on a CD in one of the apartments on my mission, having been left by some missionary sometime earlier. At the time I really connected with this track because its “traveling” feel encouraged spiritual pondering. Now that I’ve returned from my mission the “traveling” aspect is often more related to a colorful space journey, which is where the first image comes from. However, after sharing ideas with a partner in class these images evolved from a simple space odyssey to include the kind of wonder and graceful beauty in our own world. My mind combined not only Sci-Fi images in response to the song, but also the beautiful flow of a city at night, especially with a combination of old and new buildings (just like the combination of the violin and the electronic effects). As I took time later to sit and listen to the song I saw the neon stars, hyperspace, and vortex images, each image followed by another image, such as the road trip, contemporary dancer, and the city at night. I tried to recreate this visual journey by starting each ‘segment’ with a base ‘space’ image that I had created in a CG software called Lightwave, then a corresponding photo image, as that is how they appeared in my head.