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.