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Corrupting Audio Files

Our group did a voice recording reading an excerpt from Camus’ The Stranger and corrupted using the same WordPad method- original recording:

https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-687725287/ste-006/s-lTNX2

Corrupted audio:

https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-687725287/ste-006-online-audio-convertercom/s-4Wdmy

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Initial Experiments w/ Glitching

-Using corrupt and repair method: open the .avi file in WordPad, saving corrupted file, then converting (repairing).

Original video: 

First corruption:

Second corruption: (changed a letter in the code when converting in WordPad)

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Feedback class activity week 10

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Documentation of final work

Channel 1: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/channel-1/s-0BtWg

Channel 2: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/channel-2/s-8oiPY

Channel 3: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/channel-3/s-uKZnX

Channel 4: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/channel-4/s-s5cwp

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CONCEPT STATEMENT- ASSESSMENT 2

Can creative acts be rebellious when rebellion has become canonised in art, design and media histories? What would a contemporary creative rebellion look like?

‘Snacks’ is a 4-channel immersive audio installation consisting of a conversation from a Facebook group chat that has been entirely processed via text-to-speech. The key argument presented in the conversation is trivial: does peanut butter go well with celery and carrots? Inspired by Janet Cardiff’s Forty Part Motet (2001), each participant’s voice is their own audio channel—it seems as if the audience had physically disrupted their chaotic, verbose and oddly paced discussion. Immersion is crucial for the audience—they must feel as if they are an inherent part of this meaningless trivial discussion, similar to how Cardiff’s work ‘cuts through the air… [where the audience lets] the sound wash over them’ (Berwick 2006). However, instead of an angelic choir, it is a strange and nonsensical chaos that the audience is immersed in.

Proceeding from assessment 1, it was evident that creative acts can remain rebellious given that it is self-aware and positioned within a micro-political environment despite its canonisation in contemporary art, design and media. The new interpretation of a contemporary creative rebellion as presented in ‘Snacks’ revolves around challenging the notions of high art in centring trivial millennial conversations as the art object, and also questioning what is presented as reality and identity in both the physical and digital realm.

It is often overlooked that there are politics involved within a Facebook group chat—group chats often involve rambling voice messages, informal and crude language, internet culture references etc. The notion of high art is then challenged in allowing a conversation from a group chat to be the central element of the piece. The verbose and chaotic conversation regarding putting peanut butter on celery is juvenile. Although my starting point was the cliched perspective of teenage rebellion, it has evidently manifested into a self-aware, simple conversation on the internet—bringing new meaning to what a creative rebellion can be.

It is apparent that ‘Snacks’ is similar to ‘A Comprehensive Guide to the Mass Transit Railway’ as both works contrast the notion of canonical rebellion against large institutions and dominant political issues, such as Ai WeiWei’s Study of Perspective—Tianmen Square (1995-2003) which challenges the authoritarian state of China. The politics within a Facebook group chat are without a doubt miniscule and mundane: “yes, carrot goes well with peanut butter”; “no, that’s some white people bullshit”—however, ‘Snacks’ would declare that although the argument may be petty, it can unquestionably be an art object.

‘Snacks’ further embodies a contemporary creative rebellion in its distortion of reality—where the confines of the physical and digital body are questioned via speech and language. With Jon Rafman as the predominant inspiration for ‘Snacks’, his ideas regarding how a pure physical self does not exist as all aspects of the self are socially and culturally mediated (Rafman 2010) are fundamental to the development of the work.

Online messages are crucial in considering separate identities: when an individual composes a Facebook text message, they often have a “voice” and identity—whether it be sentences without punctuation, misspelled words on purpose, or sentences segmented into separate messages. Voice messages however, record an individual speaking. It is sent without any form of editing and processing—enunciation, accents and tones of surprise, disdain, happiness etc. remain, giving hints to what the individual is like in a different manner compared to texts. Both forms of messages are highly culturally mediated.

These messages overlap one another in a group setting, where it may be impossible to read chronologically without knowing the identity of its composer. In removing all visual cues (i.e. screenshots) of the conversation and processing the messages through text-to-speech, the monotonous tone ultimately removes any sign of humanity and personality, distorting reality and confusing the physical and digital sense of self. Ultimately, ‘Snacks’ refuses to exist with the confines of ‘fragmented and multiple selves’ (Rafman 2010) that already exist.

Lastly, the lack of order in ‘Snacks’ resonates with Rafman’s sentiments of how ‘…the energy that once motivated revolution or critique gets redirected into strange and sometimes disturbing expressions’ (Rafman 2014). Through critiquing and challenging how a contemporary creative rebellion may manifest, the result can be considered as extremely odd, chaotic and fever-dream-like. The loud monotonous voice bounces from corner to corner in the installation space, with strange pacing and out-of-place responses to the discussion, the purpose of ‘Snacks’ is to overwhelm, confuse, and perhaps, make the audience laugh through its lens of what a contemporary creative rebellion looks like from its canonisation in art, design and media.

REFERENCES

Ai, W. (1995-2003) Study of Perspective—Tianmen Square [gelatin silver print] New York: Museum of Modern Art.

Berwick, C. (2006) Forty Harmonious Voices Drown Out Your Woes: Cardiff at MoMA, Bloomberg. 10 January 2006, available at https://www.cardiffmiller.com/press/texts/bloomberg01.01.pdf (accessed 17 September 2018)

Cardiff, J. (2001) Forty-Part Motet: A Reworking of `Spem in Alium’ by Thomas Tallis [40 loud speakers mounted on stands, placed in an oval, amplifiers, playback computer].

Howard, L. (2010) Revealing Jon Rafman, BOMB. 8 July 2010, available at https://bombmagazine.org/articles/revealing-jon-rafman/ (accessed 17 September 2018).

Sanchez, H. (2014) Jon Rafman interview, Artforum. 3 July 2014, available at https://www.artforum.com/interviews/jon-rafman-discusses-his-show-at-the-contemporary-art-museum-st-louis-47380 (accessed 17 September 2018).

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Removed voice messaged and inserted transcribed messages in text-to-speech, however I left in punctuation and hesitations (i.e. um, uh).

Points to reflect on: Ability to still infer personality from the transcribed voice messages? Removal of identity of participants? Fully monotonous voice replicating human conversations- rebelling against human conditions/ the self? Re: Rafman, ‘the most fundamental aspects of self are mediated through the lens of culture’- direct removal of the culture, however, still evident in text messages and vocabulary chosen. 

Transcript of voice messages:

Excuse me, um, I dare you right now to get a carrot stick or  something, dip it in some peanut butter and tell me that does not go together.

So, there is no peanut butter in this house, the only thing we have  is fake peanut butter? And something called cashew butter? I don’t fucking  know

-butter could also work but also like peanut butter like the um store-bought,  uh or actually any peanut butter cos I had natural peanut butter before in  the Philippines and it’s like literally peanuts being ground up and it still  fucking slaps like you take a fuckin slice of carrot, dip it in some peanut  butter, it’s the fuckin goat honestly, it’s good as hell.

Cashew probably be a lot more subtle honestly but still the goat, I think,  maybe, this is me projecting.

Well like, sesame carrot, uh sorry, sesame, peanut butter, cashew  butter, almond butter, they all have that distinct nuttiness? So the  nuttiness also like goes well with like, the subtle sweetness of the carrot.  It makes a whole lot of sense. Like yeah, you can fill up part of it like  celery stick with some peanut butter or some hummus or something. It’s  whatever. But the carrot, I’m telling you, it’s the goat.

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EXPERIMENT 4- 4-CHANNEL CONVERSATION

LINK: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/adadconvo/s-fyZBy

After experimenting with all channels overlapping, I began considering perhaps reconstructing a conversation via text-to-speech, including the voice messages sent. A confusion is created if the screenshots of the conversation isn’t seen as the participants’ identity and personality is stripped via text-to-speech, whilst the voice messages highlight the lost characteristics.

In presenting this, the actual text conversation would not be seen. I would set up 4 sets of speakers surrounding the audience- one for my line of texts, one for Ines’ (micromeat), one for Ket’s (Hypebeast andy milonakis) and one for all the unmodified voice messages.

Questioning digital identity vs physical manifestations of our bodies? Challenging micro-politics within the group chat about the superficial topic of vegetable sticks with peanut butter leading to the overall rebellion against high art? 

However, I didn’t like the way the voice messages incorporated- it seemed out of place.

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- Separate conversations merged into one audio file, repeated process of overlaying

-Chaotic in the sense of different conversations from different times occurring at once. No structure? Could do more.

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Text-to-Speech: Transcript 4

Link: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/adad6/s-gJYoV

3 SEPTEMBER 17:02 What are our thoughts on knife/dagger/sword tattoos Im Undecided Overdone and tacky but im probably gonna get a dagger tat 👍 1 Just a dagger or like Dagger avec _____ poignard avec des fleurs et du serpent C’est bonne Drea wants to get a snake tat w me as well but if it's like And I’m like Hm Gucci snake 😆 1 stephen 😠 1 On my face Oh Ew With his fucking daggers on his collarbones then no LMFAO TRUE I’m thinking of how to cover up my stick n poke Issa knife Lmao tru big same O i kno someone who has daggers where his sideburns are 😆 2 Stop I know a chef who has a knife tat Babish? Doesn’t he have like The pasta fork Tatted I BANGED MULTIPLE CHEF W KNIFE TATS AND FOOD TATS But I want a tat of a ginger root lol Did u know Their name chef Hm I don’t know abt ginger tats naw not babish Woah! Chef! but yeah lmao Cos they just look like bulbous They’re cute Things If done badly You gotta find the right Root Farmer wants a root 😠 1 The thicc turnip Like the lomg omes Good Ginger Boiz Ginseng strip I’m gonna have a fucking domestic themed half led sleeve *leg Bet Toilet plumber I BOUGHT TOILET CLEANING SUPPLIES TODAY And just cleaned my loo I’m so intimidated by Drain cleaners I still want My Daisies 😮 1 YIFF I’m getting yiff tattooed on my neck Do it In old English don’t Font* Prison tat On my stomach Idea i get .jpeg tattooed on me Like how u see ppl with “crybaby” Above ur eyebrow like peep 😆 1 Gag hadid No lil peep He is a cursed man Rly Gag hadid has crybaby Does she My pal Kim has crybaby on her collarbone O No I was asking lol Oh I can’t believe ur mum has crybaby Idk :^) I just say gag hadid in place of gag LMAO My mum wants a tat I’ll probs go w her when I come back O Cute What does she want I Don’t remember

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Text-to-Speech: Transcript 3

Link: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/adad4/s-pIcbf

SUN 13:06 @Drea @Inés good luck in the typhoon 👍 2 Its fucked Like this is the worst one I've been in since I moved back I'm genuinely terrified Thank you though bb good luck guys!!!! pls stay safe y'all JESUS Who’s house???? not mine the whatsapp viral vids are going around Oh good But also not good Mother Nature is so fed up with our shit 100+ cases of broken windows in Metro City Tseung Kwan O Jeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzz Heng Fa Tsuen in east hk island  is 100% fucked Jesus Christ YOOOOOOOO WHAT THE FUCKKKKK THAT'S HUNG HOM KAIT IS YOUR FAM SAFE WHAT THE FUCK Mums been messaging me Their building is older and lower to the ground They’re not experiencing too much trauma ok good Cynth is ur fam good The typhoon is hitting our side of the city more She’s doing a big Yeet i need to physically bar peanut from going near our glass door Ye I just FaceTimed them It seems p calm i'm 100% fucked here like i can't be in my room rn bc it's rattling Do the crosses on the window LOL Oh wow Yikes Take care please my front door is also about to like snap my house is windy Tai Kok Tsui Sai Kung Guys All yhr lights jsut wnet out Holy shit Is there somewhere safe you can go? no my house is the safest we can't leave Yeah true oh my fucking god my heart rate is at like unnatural speeds im so fucking stressed

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Text-to-Speech: Transcript 2

Link: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/adad3/s-g7ehF

Update I’m drinking beer 👍 1 UPDATE MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND GOT ENGAGED 😮 1 WGAT THE FUCK IM OFICIALLY AT THE AGE WHERE PPL I KNOW GET ENGAGED AAAAAAA Omg Yeah I’m dude same i saw another engagement post today Loosing my mind WTF marriage szn wild CUFFING SEASON IS REAL I'm feeling some big type of way About being called fake/ being put in a box How do? *so Expound (only if you want) (I’m here for support) like... I've accepted that I can't control how other people view me right Yep but Mood Here’s the thing; from my observations, I think ppl might be harsh on you bc you’re very attractive and also very real You’re very candid w a lot of people 1) apparently I'm "fake" because I know how to switch myself on and off when I'm out socializing - that's not being fake it's called work 👍 1 You’re candid in the sense of like you use certain part of your personality to get what you want and need out of an interaction 👍 2 That’s networking Yeah exactly I'm a social butterfly BUT ALSO A CHAMELEON But bc you’re an attractive woman, ppl will judge you 😢 👍 2 YEP And like Physical appearance aside Like being pretty gets you place, but regular ppl are like both infatuated and hyper critical of attractive ppl That’s just t It’s bc capitalism does this But like you’re just living life It frustrates me to no end that because sometimes I only show facets or variations of how I am (ie my true personality) and that's how people typecast me You can’t do anything bout this and you don’t let it get to your head Ppl be like Judge mental af Pretty privilege is real but it’s like that Venus flytrap ting It’s something you gotta live w for example i'm usually a messy emotional bih but when the situation calls for it i can be levelheaded and logical too but because people think i'm just wack and illogical they'll refuse to come to me with issues that could be solved simply by speaking to me 👍 1 for fear of "making me upset" Yep Well that’s also because you’re a femme presenting woman That’s another factor “Hysteria” Just, assumptions and then people just say that I'm "not real" Idk if ppl expect multifacetedness from attractive people Or people they assume have an “easy life” If that makes sense? and "not being true to myself" just because i can show different parts of myself at different times like i don't owe anyone my true self lmao Ugh yeah that makes sense That’s the truth!! Tea!! Idk I’ve noticed that the space I have I australia has changed How so I’ve lost eight and people check me out now *weight And I’m like I’m starting to see how I can capitalize on some random finding me attractive enough o make my life a bit easier 👍 1 I’m by no means attractive to the common mean But I can tell now that things have changed a bit for me And I’m like “Do I take advantage of this?” But it's not even like Purposefully doing it No that’s true Yeah I’ve just noticed it Being like, Unaccustomed Yknow Yeah Like I know I’m overweight af But culturally it’s changed a bit for me no i meant the And I’m like Oh! "Do i take advantage of this" Yes that’s it sometimes its not even a conscious decision Yes I know Like there’s a stark difference Western and Eastern perspectives etc Like I had a date with a fashion bro this weekend and I know that I wouldn’t have the safe experience in hk If you get me?? Like it extends more out of dating etc But yeah you’re generally treated better if you’re not Overweight YEAAAAAA Fatphobia be like!! It’s anxiety and diet change that’s made me more likeable And idk I’m not mad But I’m also like Eh If I have an easy time adjusting I’m not complaining Yeet I’m meeting up with another old brivbane friend on Tuesday 👍 1 And I have a date on Sunday 😮 1 AAAAAAA

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Text-to-Speech: Transcript 1

Link: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/adad5/s-Z9GdZ

The girl In my film class Is telling my friend abt Her pyramid scheme LMFAO WHAT I’m dying “Yes so we get testimonies and you add people to the Facebook groups and promote the products” 😆 2 “I get a commission depending on how much I sell” 😆 1 I’m crying Why am I here chaotic 😢 1 Just sprinkled geranium oil around my room 😍 1 Namaste I want some crystals get a salt lamp join the club fuck good idea resistthe urgeto lick the salt lamp I WANNA LICK THE SALT LAMP 😍 1 If i get one, I'll put it in my bathroom oh i forgot to tell you @Inés Fung my salt lamp is saltier than urs 😆 1 i hate that i know this HAHHAAHAHAHA How do you mean idk my lamp was way saltier LOL cos urs was a dulled salty taste but i think its cos mine's new Omg Did you Lic my lamp lmao ....yes u were in the room LOL HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHA LMAO I am shaming you 😆 1 Lick lick SHA/ME!!!!!!A

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ARTIST RESEARCH 2

I finally saw a Jon Rafman video piece in person recently at The Public Body .03 at Artspace, and I was taken aback by how chaotic Dream Journal 2016-2017 is when presented in a gallery space compared to his works that were uploaded onto Youtube. re: KOOL-AID MAN IN SECOND LIFE, 2010 (below)

I began looking into Rafman’s work as I realised that what I am trying to achieve in assessment 2 correlates with his works as I explore digital relationships (and in turn, the rebellion against the traditional means of speech) between my peers. A key thing I was looking into with my poster was distortion, and the plaque next to the work in the gallery space reminded me of the processes of transformation.

‘What concerns me in the general sense of entrapment and isolation felt by many as social and political life becomes increasingly abstracted and experience materialized. There is no viable or compelling avenue for effecting change or emancipating consciousness, so the energy that once motivated revolution or critique gets redirected into strange and sometimes disturbing expressions.’ (Rafman 2014)

It also said on the plaque that Rafman’s works explore the ‘shifting relationships between human and digital realms, [and he questions how] engagement with technologies can alter our neural coding, sense of self, and relationships with others... fusing the mundane with the nightmarish.’ (2018)

Exploration and subversion of identity in a digital space? Use of voice messages in my work and the representation of the individual as presented online vs. physically vs. an art object via the use of language, speech and text? re:

‘...there is no such thing as a pure physical self. What we take as the most fundamental aspects of self are mediated through the lens of culture. I don’t think identity is bound to our physical composition. How we feel and perceive ourselves, the roles we play are all socially mediated... What we choose reveals many ways in which our physical or ‘real’ self is constructed. So perhaps choosing an avatar makes manifest our fragmented and multiple selves.’ (Rafman 2010) 

The ‘nightmarish’ chaos behind Dream Journal 2016-2017 had inspired me as it seemed almost like a fever dream (part of the intention of the piece??)- I think this is something I want to investigate further for assessment 2 in overwhelming my audience via the explorations between the digital and the physical. Rafman’s ideas regarding both the abstraction and materialization of reality and experience, along with works that ‘allude to symptoms of information overload’ (2018) heavily resonate with me in considering what a “contemporary creative rebellion” looks like.

REFERENCES

Howard, L. (2010) Revealing Jon Rafman, BOMB. 8 July 2010, available at https://bombmagazine.org/articles/revealing-jon-rafman/ (accessed 17 September 2018).

Rafman, J. (2016) Dream Journals 2016-2017 [single-channel video].

Sanchez, H. (2014) Jon Rafman interview, Artforum. 3 July 2014, available at https://www.artforum.com/interviews/jon-rafman-discusses-his-show-at-the-contemporary-art-museum-st-louis-47380 (accessed 17 September 2018).

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ARTIST RESEARCH 1

Forty-Part Motet consists of 40 separately recorded voices being played back by 40 speakers placed at ear-height, ‘depending on when you enter the installation, you will hear nothing, muffled coughs or the slow-building contrapuntal voices of what seem to be angels on earth.’ (Berwick 2006)

This has helped me consider the placement of my work and where the sound sources should be- definitely consider placing the speakers in a circle to surround the audience for an immersive experience. As the nature of my materials (voice messages) are inherently chaotic to some extent as it often involves rambling and direct thoughts, what atmosphere do I want to achieve? Purpose of overwhelming the audience?

REFERENCES

Berwick, C. (2006)  Forty Harmonious Voices Drown Out Your Woes: Cardiff at MoMA, Bloomberg. 10 January 2006, available at https://www.cardiffmiller.com/press/texts/bloomberg01.01.pdf (accessed 17 September 2018)

Cardiff, J. (2001)  Forty-Part Motet: A Reworking of `Spem in Alium' by Thomas Tallis [40 loud speakers mounted on stands, placed in an oval, amplifiers, playback computer].

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I am pleased with the outcome of the voice messages distorted, however, I wanted to push it a little further in thinking about the confines of speech and how to challenge it- next step is to transcribe some of the Facebook messages from these chats and put it through text-to-speech? Potential new meanings regarding a homogenised physical and digital identity?

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First experiment with minimal editing, just overlaying the messages- maybe slow down or speed up the different layers?

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INITIAL SOURCE MATERIALS

LINK: https://soundcloud.com/cynthia-loh-76299221/origadad/s-XCA2N

Working with the idea of a creative rebellion manifesting from trivial ‘adolescent rebellion’, I selected voice messages from Ines Fung (Jephph), Tasha Mathew (numa numa gay) and Ket Shirley (Dysphoria Aural Shitposter), aged between 19-22, originating from selected Facebook group chats- used with permission.

Covering a range of topics from politically charged, yet seemingly casual discussions of race and sexuality; to petty explanations of schoolwork and random thoughts.

Note: humorous group chat titles and nicknames.