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unsounds 13
Wordless
Yannis Kyriakides
€18.50
(incl. shipping + tax)
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Wordless is a suite of 12
sound portraits based on interviews with and by residents of Brussels from
the BNA-BBOT archives. Words from the interviews are edited to leave only
the hesitations, breathing emotional reactions and environmental sounds.
An aspect of the personality of the interviewee somehow comes across in
these in-between sounds, as if stripped of language another layer of
communication comes into focus, more emotional , more revealing than what
is expressed in words. The soundtrack of the edited interviews is then
re-sampled and set in musical structures with wave-based electronic
sounds, resonances, pulses and noise. The pieces themselves take the form
of wordless narratives creating a portrait in sounds of an aspect of the
personality of the interviewee.
The piece was conceived for a 4 channel system where two channels were
played back through headphones and the other two through a PA, creating a
sense of inside and outside sound worlds, the voices always coming through
binaurally on the headphones while the electronic sounds create a sense of
spatiality and physicality and awareness of the listening space.
Texts describing the interviewees and their stories are projected on a
video screen (slowly fading in and out) so that an idea of the person
described in the sound portratis can colour how we listen.
Wordless was originally commissioned by the ARGOS Festival, Brussels,
Belgium held in October 2004 and premiered there at the Beursschouwburg.
Additional funds given by the Dutch Fonds voor de Scheppende Toonkunst.
Many thanks to: Ive Stevenheydens of ARGOS for commissioning the piece.
Anne van Wichelen of BNA-BBOT for helping around the archives.
Niko Okkerse of 433fm for supplying the wireless headphones. and all the
interviewers and interviewees on the recordings.
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Yannis Kyriakides
Sound Clips from the
Texts:
Pensioner
DJ
RAI singer/Electrician
Texts:
1. Pensioner_0496
This pensioner from St.Gilles is of Italian origin. She arrived in Belgium
in 1951 with her children. Her husband worked in the coal mines. In 1962
they moved to Brussels. Their financial situation was difficult and they
encountered many problems with racism. They found whatever work they could
in order to support their children who according to her are now settled
and living well.
2. software engineer_0106
An interview with a 30 year old software engineer who came to study in
Brussels and ended up staying there. He does not feel very comfortable in
the interview and he often waits for the interviewer to tell him what to
say.
3. cleaning lady_0500
At the age of 10 she came from Morocco with her mother and sister to join
her father in Belgium. She stayed 7 years. In 1982 she went back again on
what she thought was a holiday and her father announced that she was to
stay permanently in Morocco. It was a nightmare, and furthermore, she was
obliged to get married. At the death of her father, and going against the
wishes of her brother, mother and future husband she decided to return to
Belgium. She thought she was going back to paradise, but it turned out to
be hell.
4. DJ_0617
The story of a DJ who explains the role music plays in his life. According
to the interviewer, the conversation was very pleasant, except for the
fact the music in the background was extremely loud.
5. sociologist_0158
A 25 year-old sociologist who likes to observe Brussels and look for the
most stunning views, to focus on parts of a city, which are run-down but
which always seduce him; and this because it buzzes with people, it loves
the outsider, the interaction, the social above all. He wants to occupy
public space and provoke people by creating events such as making tea,
music, and singing. In the interview he gives accounts of the city’s
retreats, the adventure of Brussels, his eye is pointed towards a certain
ideal of social life. The interview starts with a cup of tea.
6. artist_0640
An interview with a 38 year old artist. The interviewer has just come in
from a cold January rain storm, and there seems to be a lot of fun and
laughter in the ensuing conversation. This interview was part of a project
by Radio Zinneke based around the theme of different interpretations of
the term ‘ experimental’.
This long interview was the beginning of a very warm friendship between
the interviewer and the interviewee.
7. music salesperson_0618
Entering the record store, Arlequin, in the centre of the city, the
atmosphere is relaxed, the interviewee is very shy to begin with, but
slowly relaxes by the passing and going of clients and regulars. He talks
about his passion for the radio, and the atmosphere in the studio.
8. drummer_0404
A Gambian drummer is interviewed by two children about his life as a
musician, the many different percussion instruments that he plays, and the
cultural adjustments that he had to make coming to Europe from Africa. The
interview is held in Dutch, which for all the participants is their third
language.
In the course of the interview the children burst intermittently into fits
of giggles, which seems to be ignored by the adults. It turns out that
some amorous noises coming from an upstairs room are attracting their
attention. At the end of the interview the drummer gives an example of his
djembe technique.
9. schoolboy_0032
The city seen through the eyes of one of its youngest citizens. The
interviewee is a 7 year old boy from St.Gilles. He is certainly not shy or
lacking in things to say. he talks about his school, hobbies, friends and
future dreams. When he grows
up he wants to become a pianist in the opera. He’s also not a big fan of
the city, he wants to go and live in a tree-hut in the forest.
10. blindman_0425
Born with minimal eyesight, he slowly lost all his vision as he was
growing up. in the interview he explains how blind people go about their
lives in the world of the seeing and what kind of appliances and devices
are used to help. He doesn’t rule
out anything as impossible, he even names photography as one of his
passions. He explains how sighted people experience unsighted people and
vice versa.
11. rai singer/ electrician_0522
A singer of Algerian Rai music, who also works as an electrician. He
explains to a pupil, his taste for music, his studies and the thoughts of
his parents on him wanting to sing. The interviewer is from a ‘Passerelle’,
a class in a school with kids who have recently arrived in Belgium. They
spend half a year to a year learning the language and getting to know the
school system. At the end of this session the singer gives an example of
his talent in a rendition of the famous rai song ‘Didi’.
12. pensioned clerk_0197
In sessions organised by some primary schools, children go and interview
pensioners in old people’s homes. The idea behind this scheme is for the
benefit of both generations. Prevention against social isolation and
loneliness, the
breaking open of certain taboos, the passing down of knowledge and
experiences of past ages.
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