The Son 05
©1989 Craig Ashby
4.25″ x 8″
Pen and Ink

The Son by Rochelle Ratner

She didn’t walk, but sort of
slid into the water.
And then it covered her,
not even bubbles reached
the surface to let me know
if she was alright.

The Son 05 is a good one. I can clearly see this piece being redone in Photoshop and Illustrator. The lines of night sky and waves of water coming to perfection.

Maybe perfection is what I am avoiding. The perfection of digital is something that bothers me in both art and music. In art I have lessened its sway by pulling parts of the pieces into reality. Adding elements of decay and preserving the line of my hand to mitigate the robotic precision.

In music it has been harder. I have tried my hand at field recording and using the audio in pieces but it never works right. I have thought about doing works where certain elements are broadcast into the space behind my apartment and recording the actual reverb and sound.

This would avoid the digital trickery of impulse reverb altogether. But I have yet to try this simple idea. Mainly due to not having a set of portable speakers that would facilitate the process.

I should check into getting a pair or finding a way to use those old iMac speakers. I should try it in the Document 13 project. Next step is to find a mini jack adapter and buy a handheld recorder.