Sounds of an Old Man

Sounds of an Old Man, 2012

How does an individual prepare himself for a creative task? He takes a deep breath, stretches his neck, inverts his fingers in a reverse grip, and cracks sections of his vertebrae. All of these mannerisms arrange themselves into a subconscious sequence, creating a ritual, an arrangement of motions. By the end of this, the creator is ready to dive into the work. 

My piece employs sound with this theme in mind. A set of headphones is plugged into a book-filled bookshelf; playing a recording of various body cracks. These twitchy, staccato releases of tension convey the idea of the old library as an elderly man. This man, inactive and dysfunctional since 2006, starts to move body joints as the students of Material Poetics replenish his system with life and creativity. Pleased by the warmth and stimulating presences, the old man cracks every bone in his body to ensure that his new found purpose proves successful. The internal voice of the body communicates through the aged grains of the wood, the pulp of the book, and into the ear of the listener.