sa Sound Arts vol.4

XEBEC SoundCulture Membership Magazine

artist's view

SA on Artists' Viewpoints and Aesthetics

Kukan Archive
Body of GAKKI
ONGAKU
Organs of Architecture

Kukan Archive is a London-based art unit composed of the architect NAKATANI Masahiro, Harvinder GABHARI, and the sound artist, Max EASTLEY. Unrestrained by the consumer structure of capitalist society, the group pursues and develops artistic activities that transcend modern forms and art genres. This article,explaining their work for SA, also includes their own unique graphic design. Whale Song, one of the projects mentioned below, was to have been held at Xebec this summer, but was forced to be canceled as a result of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.


[Nakatani Image]

IMAGE:
NAKATANI Masahiro

* Accidents of Science
The idea of sound as an object , detached from where it was made, is a by-product of the science of recording. In past times sound was perceived as a happening somewhere, of a place and time: a forest, beside a fire , in a cave, a stone amphitheatre, a cathedral.--- We seek to explore and relocate sound back into a place in our environment in the way that SATIE and CAGE created music that showed signs of life, changing and mutating with its surroundings. Recorded music has become part of the apparatus of detachment. By using the concept of Ongaku we seek to form , redefine and focus our perception of space and 'volume.'

* Ongaku in Kukan -- Architecture of Space
Sound is a moment in time.
A recorded moment becomes a place in time.
Through sound we can evoke memory or create a new landscape.
Memory theatre.
Our senses perceive space and time through many media, through the use of sound and light it is possible to evoke a sense of space and volume, this is our fascination.
Our view of Architecture is evolving, it is not just the envelope of a building -- but the ambience of a moment.
Through these concepts and our projects : the idea that Architecture ( the sensation of space, time and volume) can be conveyed through sound creates the link between sound and space. The sound carries the memory of space with it.
From this we find a unique form of Architecture, one which explores ambient / subliminal space.
It is human nature to cross boundaries. To explore and experiment - all of these we direct to achieve a greater understanding of ourselves. To create, first is to mimic and then to go beyond natural creation is often an attempt to surpass or understand our own sense of being. In our collaborative work we are attempting to explore further what was Architecture and its future in a society dominated by multi media and sensory stimulus.
[Gabhari Image]

Image: Harvinder GABHARI

* eQUILIBRIUM aND bALANCE
 Between space form and sound Art as archive of mankind
Architecture of music Subjective listening -- the whole eAR
sensory distance across URBAN TISSUE Still movement -- GAKKI
Fromthisfollowstheconceptof Soundscape.
- Visual images created by sound installations.
A sound is a moment, a moment +1week=Installation,+20years=
Architecture,+infinity=archive


* Design For Life Not Lifestyle:
Consumption --
Our aim is to create a common understanding > as Design becomes the simple manipulation of information- DATA.
: the energy of electronic media becomes reality.

Our perception of reality and fiction = sound bites
sound sketch = creator observer

Using Architecture as the point where Science embraces Art. A number of our projects have been involved with and explored:

Seedlings : the idea that change can be instigated by a fragment of the whole. Each one the beginning of change.
By placing sound installations in ordinary places a 'wave' of change is created. The space as a whole is elevated.

Nature Station : the creation of a unique space on a mountain landscape site in Japan. Explored our role in nature, as modern man becomes ever more distant and de-sensitized to the composition of natural sound, landscape and space.

Whale Song : the idea of space and sound. The whale song is a space captured in wave form. Its unique and powerful resonance carries in this wave form a strong sense of emotional stimulus.

Memorial : symbol of awareness and memory. A project that involved the use of memory and space in a landscape of natural instruments i.e., tower ' wind harp' etc. and womb-like objects which float among the elements of wind, light, and sea.
Within this 'vessel' a series of spaces and elements were used to create a landscape of equilibrium and balance.

* Kukan Archive
The Kukan Archive is an active international group of Architects, Artists and Designers who collaborate across a wide field of other professions. Based in London and established as a focal point for discussion and innovation we are able to develop, from this multi-disciplinary background , a fresh and often unexpected approach to design issues. Drawing on the resources and experience of each member we have created a unique synergy.


* Interactive installations exploring Sound Art Design, Architecture and future technology.

KUKAN ARCHIVE © 1995 NAKATANI Masahiro * Harvinder GABHARI * Max EASTLEY
Art is the Archive of Mankind -- KUKAN ARCHIVE © 1995

It is the archive of a moment, a memory, a dream, the thoughts and process, the vision, the future ΕΡΕΡ

WE ARE ALL JUST DATA.



SoundArts 4
Overview
Credits		 The Door FUJISHIMA:
European Electro-Acoustic Music and The Use of Electronics as Anti-Modernism		 Bosch and Simons:
Interview		 TAKAHASHI Y:
Talk-Session 		Kukan Archive
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