We got a very nice
full package a short while ago from Steve Roden. He included a world
of sound that we heard only in passing before, and finally we could
sit and absorb them one after the other.
His work in visual
plastic media, writing and audio comes together not only as compact
discs with nice packages, but full catalogues and books, each based
on its own starting point. Full of rich and thoughtful constructions,
this work occupies space where clean definition is inappropriate.
Roden suggests
that space is full of pockets, and each of these pockets is full
or partially full with the overflow from the world. Architecture,
for example, leaves a feeling of the unknown everytime one visits
even one's own house, depending on which pockets are noticed. The
everyday space of a person is subject to continual reinvention and
discovery.
Revolving stagnation,
such as a closed room or a forgotten garden pond, produces empty
spaces which are filled by remains of the past. Slowly accumulating
rot such as mold and dust fill space with rich patterns and shadow,
and begin to defy materiality and physical presence. Shadows themselves
are pregnant reminders of what cast the shadow, yet they begin to
live on their own, and during certain periods such as dusk and dawn,
shadow and source, figure and ground, are no longer clear.
Roden works with
these forgotten places and spaces, not with fantastical intention,
but with an ear for heightened reality.
The only problem
I see recurring is that of representation. The "original"
installation on-site is transferred via a published medium into
words, pictures, and sound that will be heard in totally different
contexts. Catalogues with photos of the installations express the
basic points of the work -- minus the art.
However, the CD
itself becomes a new "original" source : filling up my
living room as I write, Roden's sound brings artifacts of Schindler's
House into a new context -- my life. Where I can only observe the
two dimensions of the photograph and imagine the three dimensional
space represented, the sound comes into my world full-on.
Steve Roden. "Schindler
House". CD/exhibition notes
MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles CA
A house built by
architect R.M. Schindler in Los Angeles is turned into a site of
personal reflection, (Roden and his father have a history of interest
in the house), as well as a contextual and situational enhancing.
Using some of the natural sounds of the house, such as bamboo trees
knocking with the wind, the fireplace, and creaking window panes,
Roden accentuates natural sound and reproduces it on-site. It is
difficult to imagine how it sounded in the house, because the natural
environment could change it drastically at any moment. In our house,
however, it also provided lush highlights to the natural sound.
It reminds me of christmas lights blinking on and off in organic,
soft, nearly rhythmic patterns.
The Schindler piece
is my personal favorite of this package. The sound and the context
bring a sentimental yet cool atmosphere that is complex, yet expertly
presented. It sounds still, yet slowly changing and revolving. It
is not music, but it is far from noise.
Steve Roden. "View".
CD/exhibiting notes JennJoy Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
A sound installation
made for headphones facing an open window. Looking outside our window
while playing the CD, again, I noticed a quiet accentuation of the
always changing environment. I have a small issue with the length
of this CD: it is very long. Each of its three movements, although
full of slight variation and needlework detail, remains static for
an extended period. This brings both the strength and weakness of
the work forward: what is it? Where and when do we listen to this?
Close listening is a test of patience, leave it in the background,
and its lovely craftsmanship goes unnoticed.
Steve Roden. "the
radio ". CD Sonoris, Bordeaux,
France
Using both the
broadcasts received by the radio, and the acoustic sound of radio
parts, here Roden makes a smooth chocolate cake out of theoretically
endless variety of ingredients that this subject invokes. For most
pieces using a title such as this, you can be sure that wacky plunderphonia
would take the driver seat, but Roden remains calm and sure. In
fact, he sings a little libretto overtop.
Steve Roden. "I
speak through a hole in my head". book
New Plastic Paper, Pasadena, CA
Here Roden explored
the in-between space one finds regularly in an automobile. Living
in the L.A. metro area, the average person spends an unbelievable
amount of time each day in the car. Much of this time is spent at
a complete stop: traffic lights, traffic jams, construction and
drive-through tellers provide the mobile human strangely still periods
of often tense and helpless immobility. Most people deal with this
unwanted but inevitable space by laying on the horn, listening to
the radio, or speaking by mobile phone. (See my Commuting Sound
essay in this issue, inspired by this piece.)
Roden wanted car
time to be creative instead of passive. His project for this book
was two in one: the first consisted of speaking into a tape recorder,
the second of drawing while waiting at stoplights.
Neither the drawings
nor the words have come out looking satisfying to me. There are
several great little ideas there, as can be expected, but Roden
chose to make the project firm and unedited his results. The idea
of the project is strong. I would have preferred also a strong critical
judgment to include only the best examples of the drawings and text
in the final result. Ideas such as this are important to bring light
to the shadow areas of life, but also they inspire the act of making
something. One process that I find very satisfying goes something
like this: idea to formal practice to revised idea to critical edit
to final presentation. Roden chose: idea to formal practice to final
presentation. This is funny because with his audio work, it sounds
like there is some very intense revision and composition work.
Well, it is still
a really good piece, despite inflicting my personal desires onto
it.