Posts archived in Artworks
Sepak Takraw is a Southeast Asian sport that appears too hard for me to play. A rattan ball is volleyed over a raised net using any part of the body except the hands and arms. The name “Sepak Takraw” splits the difference between how Malaysians and Thais refer to the game.
The recording doesn’t sound like much on computer speakers, but with stereo separation (such as on headphones) the lateral motion of the volley is strongly pronounced. And the ball makes a cool noise when it rolls.
Last week, PD and I went to a carnival near Din Daeng. The main attraction was an outdoor Lam Sing performance starring จีรพันธ์ แว่นระเว่ and วัชราภรณ์สมสุข, which was just getting good when a heavy rainfall ended the night prematurely. Here is a snippet of the show, complete with a dramatic build-up and some positive mid-song adjustments to the mix:
Thailand’s rainy season is May to October. During these months, a handful of intense monsoon storms make the rice grow. Then from November to February, farmers reap their crops.
The (long-delayed; sorry) second episode of “Bangkok is Ringing,” a podcast series about the politics of sound in Bangkok, is now up here at the excellent Triple Canopy. Future episodes will air ~monthly.
Enjoy!
This recording was made walking counterclockwise around the grounds of Wat Phrathat Hariphunchai, a Thai Buddhist temple built in the late 9th century. The temple is in the city of Lamphun, not too far from Chiang Mai. Its highlights are a giant golden umbrella and a purported relic of the Buddha’s hair. (One strand.)
From the beginning of the piece, a man speaks into a microphone. He repeats a short script with an insistent cadence that becomes musical after a while.
Around 1:10, I reach some candles burning at the rear of the chedi, placed in a trough and lit by worshippers. The candles must have been made out of some kind of fat; they sizzled loudly for a long time.
Phoenix neighbors of Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo hold a banner as he bats. The first “O” in “Choo” is a symbol from the Korean flag, the second is the Cleveland mascot.
No sentiment describes spring training better than optimism; everyone imagines their team could be competitive, or at least not depressing to follow.
Today is the debut of Bangkok is Ringing, a monthly podcast I’m producing for the online magazine Triple Canopy. Check it!
Image by Seth Denizen
Max Neuhaus: Times Square, Time Piece Beacon
Lynne Cooke, Karen Kelly, and Barbara Schröder, editors
Dia Art Foundation, 2009
140 pps., $35 ($21.75 on Abe Books)
Journalist/critic Virginia Heffernan wrote a thoughtful summary essay in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine about the 2010 Academy Award nominees for best sound-design.
Gossip: I have an artwork premiering at next month’s Ncounters conference at the University of Alberta.
The piece is titled “This is Sound,” and it is an 11-minute lecture/journey about the effects of sound on the human body. It was produced, loosely, in the style of NOVA.
Sound in Bangkok
