Being–or remaining? by Alastair Gavin (2017)

I explored the notion of 'authenticity' of sound in performance.

My starting point here was a re-imagining of Samual Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, leading to an exploration of the liminal spaces at the beginning or end of personal events from my past recorded on cassette tapes. These sound fragments became loops which could be repeated and layered to become new events.

In an open studio space I also exhibited plaster casts of a cassette and cassette player in which I had drilled holes and installed a vintage tie clip microphone. This was connected to sound processing software, which amplified any sound picked up by the microphone through a hidden multi-speaker setup surrounding the exhibit, also adding an infinitely reverberating cavernous effect. The stone objects became crypts gathering and infinitely regenerating live sound in the surrounding space.

On the right is a simple film of the exhibit and also a link to view my submitted portfolio which explores in more depth the processes and theories of my practice, and introduces the fascinating sound artists and composers I discovered in my research.

MA project