which is without being

 

Jockel Liess LG (2012)

A 15 min audio recording of a non-durational live generative quadraphonic sound installation, the four channels converted into stereo


 

About “which is without being”

With no clear beginning, end point or progression, “which is without being” exists as a state, driven by repeated renewal of itself, within the boundaries of a confined conceptual terrain.

“which is without being” is constructed in its entirety from one 75 millisecond sound sample; the dropping of a needle. The processes within the work aim to transcend this short temporal event by multiplication and spatial extension of its characteristics, whilst retaining its singular audibility as a reference point. Pitch variations of the original sample inhabit the range of 33 overtone frequencies, present in the 6th octave above the fundamental, and within their pure harmonic interaction create a changing timbral structure inherent to the work.

Resembling a closed system, it relies only on stimuli contained and transmitted within the system. The individual parameters controlling and processing acoustic information vary according to a simple set of behavioural rules which are triggered by feedback and interaction between the components, and act in response to the overall state of the system. The rhythms, textures, patterns and timbres of its fluid auditory motion result from self-organisation within the system.

It aspires to the unpredictability and impulsive resourcefulness of organic life. Working with natural recursion, the system improvises its future development on a momentary basis, drawing on its immediate past. Its decentralised control and sound generating structure is inspired by behavioural patterns as seen in superorganisms such as swarming or flocking: responsive spontaneity and unlimited complexity within its strict parametization.

“which is without being” aspires to awaken a state of meditative alertness within the listener.


Jockel Liess creates generative audio-visual compositions, which in their form and structure derive from artistic traditions of visual and musical minimalism. His work explores microtonality, structural composition and interconnected sound/image relations. Most recently, Jockel has been working on EPHEMERAL TRANSFORMATIONS in collaboration with virologist, Dr Zisis Kozlakidis, head of laboratory & biobanking at IARC, World Health Organization. www.jockelliess.org

Jockel is exhibiting in Part II of The London Group Open 2019, 4 – 13 December, The Cello Factory


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