Essay exert

Generate No Encore is a generative minimalist  installation in which I try to encourage visitors to experience the artwork with their sense of hearing to the maximum extent. This sound work consists of six “boombox” stereos placed on five identical seating stools spray painted matt black, one on a different model black stool, and finally a “boombox” connected to a bass amp on the floor.

The work is a generative minimalist installation at The Anteroom in Port Chalmers with seven CD ‘boomboxes’ raised to near average ear level. I placed them on spray painted black stools. Each ‘boombox’ plays a repeated single track. Each track is out of phase with the others. One ‘boombox’ playing the low E on an electric bass guitar is ‘lined-out’ into a bass amplifier on the floor. This allows the resonance of the building to be utilised for the bass track. Each track is of variable length and split between the left and right channels of the stereo. The tracks being out of phase causes nearly infinitely variable sound combinations. The ‘boomboxes’ have been placed around The Anteroom creating an immersive field of sound so that visitors can explore the sonic qualities of the work. Each track gradually crescendos from barely audible to loud throughout its entire length. This creates gradually changing variations in volume around and during the installation.

Generate No Encore builds on the tradition of American minimalist Tony Conrad. The influence of John Cage and Henry Flynt in the development of American culture in the 1960s is also vital to discussion of the emergence of sound art. The installation Dream House by La Monte Young is of particular relevance to my practice as it involves continuous tones. The experience of the listener depends on their location within the sonic field of the work. Although there are many sound artists relevant to my project, I will focus on three who have a specific relationship to my practice, Tony Conrad and to a lesser extent Éliane Radigue and Glenn Branca. I am particularly interested in applying some of the sonic approaches of Branca, Conrad and Radigue within my own practice.

Generate No Encore (Zoom Recording Anteroom 9 November 2019)

Field recording of early version of "Generate No Encore". Generate No Encore researches ambient sound tension. 

The six strings of an E chord on electric guitar plus a low bass E are exploded across seven sound sources arranged in a space. Each sound source plays a repeated loop which is out of phase with the other sound sources.

Chris Wilson is a sound artist who moved to Dunedin in September 2018, after 17 years living in Wellington. Wilson is from the Wellington based Electropop band Gold Medal Famous and one half of experimental improvising electronic research music duo Selective Yellow. Chris performs solo "theatrical noise" as Chris Hesitation.

Field recording of "Generate No Encore" 8 August 2019 Mid Morning Kitchen Dining Area

Chris Wilson, Sound Artist

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