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Clay Gold Distortion 6

The piece requires two good quality full-range loudspeakers, a fuzzbox and a means with which to play the source material. This is a dual-mono, acousmatic piece, and each loudspeaker might feasibly be placed in a separate room, or they might be facing away from each other, depending upon the space. I can provide all the necessary equipment. Sounds that are produced in nature are not necessarily perceived accurately by humans, and they are not always interpreted with any great precision either. Music provides a cultural analogy for this, in that different styles provoke different responses, or interpretations, from people. Under pressure from the world with which we are interfacing all of the time, we primarily reveal spontaneous reactions to stimulus which we later develop into solid responses, which ultimately define us as individuals. The temptation to push information rapidly to its limits is strong when we are under duress. We may distort information and later feel obliged to retract the distortion; or, alternatively, persevere with it. The urge to be heard is stronger than the desire to be understood. Nature, defined as 'The material world, especially as surrounding humankind and existing independently of human activities' (Dictionary.com, n.d) operates a system of connectivity, an ecology, a unity of operations which is consistent the world over. While according to Texas A&M University: 'Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving' (tamu.edu, n.d). Culture will be as utterly diverse as the historical or geographical references of the human beings contributing to it. If distortion is 'to twist out of a proper or natural relation of parts' or to 'misrepresent information' (thefreedictionary.com, n.d), then the mind distorts incoming signal at both the input and processing stages of the body before producing results via the output of the mouth or the body in the form of speaking, writing or signalling. Sound carries meaning, and meaning captures our attention. Language carries two meanings, those of content and tone, and is therefore doubly attention-grabbing. In a sense, distortion is a series of assumptions made almost instantaneously about the environment. This could even be a further definition of Culture. The trait of manipulating truth or Nature into new information which benefits us temporarily is extremely useful and has been inherited successfully and will continue to be transmitted. Culture = human distortion of Nature

By way of demonstrating this, the piece 'Distortion 6' requires that the left, or first loudspeaker will diffuse several clean, mono recordings of natural soundscapes, with no audible man-made sounds. In the right, or second loudspeaker, will be heard a simultaneous, distorted copy of the same recording. Clay Gold, Canterbury 2013 claygold@post.com

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Clay Gold

Clay Gold, from Canterbury, Kent, is a British sound recording artist with an interest in social cybernetics. In November 2013 his piece 'The Opposite of Wilderness' will be installed as part of GV Art's 'NOISE and whispers' sound art exhibition in Marylebone, London. In March 2011 Clay Gold's 5.1 piece - 'Airtight Orange Plastic Coffin' - a filmless Horror soundtrack, was presented in a completely dark cinema environment at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, as part of 'UNSOUND', a festival of experimental music and sound art. The piece continues to tour as part of ((audience2)) in the U.S. Clay Gold's multi-channel sound pieces use location recording, synthesis, Foley and worldizing as part of an exploration into actively suppressed and promoted opinion; or censorship and propaganda. www.claygold.co.uk
claygold@post.com