Gruenrekorder, CD, audio DVD, DVD-ROM, Book, English, 2014, Germany

At first glance a black sleeve containing a thick book, CD, DVD and DVD-ROM might seem like the release of a megalomaniac, using any possible medium to impress his audience. But this is a comprehensive catalogue of an exhibition resulting from the two weeks Schoer spent living with and recording the traditions of the Kwakwaka’wakw, a First Nations community situated at the northern end of Vancouver Island, in Canada. Building on an initial release dating back to 2010, “Two Weeks in Alert Bay”, it now includes more than thirty-five hours of recorded material, beyond the already available forty-two minute track “One Day in the Life of Raven,” which remains central. This “sound portrait” is attentively articulated through different media, as in the surround-sound possibilities of the audio DVD, or in the multimedia content (maps, photographs and videos) stored on the DVD-ROM. Furthermore the ample repository of the printed book details the theory and practice of the author’s concept of a “Sounding Museum.” His basic question: “How do I make a good cultural soundscape composition for museum-didactic purposes?” is answered through the rendering of a travelogue articulated in anthropology, acoustic ecology and musical composition in a media-rich environment. Schoer defines the concept of ‘soundscape’ in an extensive way, surrounding listeners with meanings that emerge from sensorial data.

 

Gruenrekorder – The Sounding Museum: Box of Treasures | Hein Schoe