Jeff Talman – Under The Sun (2018)

jeff-talman-under-the-sun-2018

CD – New Domain

According to Science, sound waves cannot transmit in a vacuum. Even the sun’s auditory emissions cannot reach us because of the absence of vibrational phenomena. In this project the multimedia artist Jeff Talman collaborated with Dr. Daniel Huber, an astrophysicist at Hawaii University and member of the Kepler Mission run by NASA on 2013-2014. Talman tries to go beyond these limitations: from a careful analysis of the sun’s oscillation, he develops a possible reproduction of the audio emissions of our solar system’s parent star. However, we don’t know how these sounds were modeled and adapted to the range of the human ear and to the specific acoustics of St Peter’s Church in New York, the space where the project was presented for the first time. An ethereal engagement is guaranteed, thanks to the refined and rarefied passages and to the activation of an ideal tuning that aspires to superior and intelligible harmonies. The compositions Jeff Talman usually produces are related to the buzz of Earth, the sounds coming from the depths of the deepest oceans and the symphonies of the stars, and they mostly take place in partnership with scientists and in public events. This can be considered the real benchmark of the versatile American musician-artist, a sort of celebration of archetypal forces which takes place with the blessing of science and in this case with the use of extremely precise measures of optical interferometry. The qualities of these sounds stand out as in a symphonic composition. The location of the show becomes a gigantic device in communion and in tune with the sun. Talman is a graduate of music composition and used to teach and conduct orchestra at New York City College and at Columbia University. He is a pioneer of ambient sound composition and techniques of resonance and feedback. His installations often include sculptural elements, video projections and other visual objects. On these premises the result cannot be anything but brilliant: the control of every single ring of the chain is perfect, there are no flaws, even if the quiet weaves lead us to think that the power of what lights us is not so vital and fierce.

 

Jeff Talman – Under The Sun (2018)