“The whole body is like an antenna” (Fred Frith)

Lytting handler mindre om orer og mer om oppmerksomhet. Det er her jeg finner inspirasjon og kontakt til andres materiale og det er her jeg justerer mine egne output.

Jeg har valgt meg to utdrag fra tekster jeg finner interessante i denne sammenheng: Pauline Oliveros og Gordon Hempton. 

Pauline fordi jeg kjenner hennes arbeid via workshops og samarbeid, og opplever at hun lytter som hun underviser. Hennes partiturer er som regel notert som tekster i en Open Form partiturtradisjon, og flere av disse er rene lytteovelser. Pauline har igjennom arene utviklet sitt eget lytteinstitutt ”Deep Listening Institute”. Dette avsnittet viser noe av lyttingens vesen slik jeg opplever den i improvisert friform ^[1]:

“(…) When I arrive on stage, I am listening and expanding to the whole of the space/time continuum of perceptible sound. I have no preconceived ideas. What I perceive as the continuum of sound and energy takes my attention and informs what I play. What I play is recognized consciously by me slightly (milliseconds) after I have played any sound. This altered state of consciousness in performance is exhilarating and inspiring. The music comes through as if I have nothing to do with it but allow it to emerge through my instrument and voice. It is even more exiting to practice whether I am performing or just living out my daily life.” (Oliveros).
 

Gordon Hempton beskriver det pa denne maten ^[2]:

”The ocean is a drum. It beats the music of the global weather systems. In ancient times during days of sail, an experienced mariner could tell the weather far out at sea by interpreting the look and feel of the oceans waves. The pacific is my cradle, gently rocking my gaze, rising and lowering the fogframed islands. I look for my ”friend” the harbour seal who often greets me with a flipper kick to the ribs to inform me I´m scaring his fish, but I don´t see him and turn my attention to the approaching swells.

Unlike a surfer who catches a wave atop his board, I am a body surfer. I employ no board, preferring no layer of separation between myself and the surging, glorious, thrusting wash of the surf. I wait until a wave crests, then with one quick kick I launch myself and join the wave. Changing my shape with changes in water-body pressure, I am able to travel with the wave toward shore until either the wave spills all of its energy or I separate voluntarily from the wave – or I wipe out. I am at home here, where my body is the only brain that I need. All I have to do is choose the right wave, kick-start and drop in on the wave, then let my body respond.”

Det har vaert fint a hore om dansernes lyttefokus, som ogsa likner mitt: vi lytter ikke bare med orene, men med alle de aktive sansene i fusjon med oppmerksomheten. Tekstene over sier noe om denne utvidede og naermest fysiske, kroppslige opplevelsen ikke bare av lyden, men ogsa av andre elementer som inngar i oyeblikket. 

^[1] Pauline Deep Listening: “A Composer's Sound Practice” (s. xix), Deep Listening Publications, 2005.
^[2] Gordon Hempton and John Grossman: “One Square Inch of Silence: One Man´s Quest to Preserve Quiet”, Free Press, New York 2009