JACQUES SODDELL
sound art | video art
performance | installation
sound design
New Histories, Bendigo Art Gallery, April 13-July 29, 2018
More info about New Histories here
even so, some people are of the view
Jacques Soddell
born France 1946, arrived Australia 1951
multi-speaker sound installation (14 minutes)
Download Lecture Notes for Exhibiting Culture / New Histories
Thomas Wright’s Sandhurst in 1862 (below) is a view from McIvor Hill of Bendigo 11 years after the beginning of the gold rush which was the impetus for the city. I see water, people, animals, buildings, churches, and the beginnings of industry. I see no evidence of the fouling of the waterways by the miners (there had already been a Royal Commission in 1858/9 into pollution of Bendigo Creek). There’s no indication of the Chinese population which made up about 25% of the population. There’s no evidence of the indigenous owners. Painted the month rail came to Bendigo, some people see evidence of a train in the painting. David Thomas, Bendigo Art Gallery director at the time of the restoration of Sandhurst in 1862, wrote in 1988 “Even so, some people are of the view that one can be seen in the background”, but I don’t see it.
These invisible elements fit well with my use of sounds that are not normally noticed or recognised eg those captured by means of special microphones like hydrophones, induction microphones or contact microphones, and sounds processed digitally beyond recognition to create new sounds and textures. My piece is a meditation on Bendigo featuring such invisible/abstracted sounds as well as occasional recognisable sounds of Bendigo and its people. So it is a musique concrète using digital manipulation of field recordings of Bendigo as well as unprocessed natural environmental/ambient sounds. Wander around the multiple speakers or sit down and listen. Create your own story. Cinema for the Ears.
Within this semi-abstract work there are a couple of issues I wanted to address using ”hidden” speakers in the wall hanging Wright’s painting. I was astonished to find that even before Wright arrived in Bendigo there had already been a Royal Commission into pollution of Bendigo Creek. 150 years later we still haven’t solved the problem of damage to Bendigo’s water, with regular enquiries addressing the problem. Bendigo is not unique. Assurances about environmental damage have proved worthless in many cases in Australian and overseas mines. What about future mining ventures like Adani? Also, as a refugee from Europe after the second world war (I came on a boat), I remember some of the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic feeling in 1950s Australia. When I arrived in Bendigo in the 1970s I was surprised by the strongly white, Anglo-Saxon community compared to my previous residence in inner Sydney. This has changed and Bendigo appears to have embraced diversity, so I was appalled by recent anti-mosque demonstrations here and recordings from these form part of the work.
Artistic background
I am an Australian sound artist (French-born, Polish parents), based in regional city of Bendigo, producing computer-based electroacoustic music/art, with a particular interest in deconstructing natural sounds (field recordings) to create new sounds & textures. I produce sound & video for theatre, dance, live performance and installation. Although experimenting with sounds since the early 80s, I have pursued sound art more seriously since 1998, with my first live performances in 2000. I also create experimental video. With my wife, Fran, I investigated music based on models of fungal growth (autonomousAudio, Artspace 2000) and also set up sound art label cajid media. Recent highlights include sound design for Megan Beckwith’s 3D animation & choreography Parallax, sound design for Chi Vu’s The Dead Twin (Georgetown Festival, Penang, 2017), sound and video for Big Walk to Golden Mountain (Castlemaine State Festival/Asia Topa 2017), live video for Klare Lanson’s #wanderingcloud (Brisbane Poetry Festival 2015), and a sound piece in Now Hear This (part of Melbourne Now, NGV 2013). I am also passionate about promoting experimental art, hence my past involvement with the film society movement (Bendigo Film Group (1976-1988)), co-editing Arts on Fire, a monthly mag for the Old Fire Station Arts Coop (1986-88), serving on the committee of Allan’s Walk Artist Run Space (2010-11), involvement in live arts group Punctum (2004-present), promotion of experimental music in the local community through radio program possible musics (1983-2013) and the undue noise concert series (2002-present),. I was an environmental microbiologist in a former life, but left this field in 2004 to concentrate on sound art.
Sound sources
Recording locations (using hydrophones, contact microphones, induction microphones as well as more conventional mics) include: Bendigo Creek, Back Creek, Lake Weeroona, Kennington Reservoir, Chinese Lion team, Karen New Year celebration, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Stupa prayer wheel, Smoking Ceremony (Bec Phillips), Bendigo station, Steam train in Golden Square, Tram depot, Woollen Mill, Commonwealth Games Torch relay, Dispensary Walk, Pall Mall, Rosalind Park, Hargreaves Mall, Athletics Centre, Queen St roundabout, crows, magpies, dogs, crickets, ants, Dan Andrews apology to Chinese, unknown anti-mosque protesters, unknown anti-fascist speaker, unknown policeman, IJO horns, news broadcasts, clay chimes, my voice. Some may not be recognised due to sonic processing. Composed using Reaper DAW. Sonic manipulations include GRM Tools, Uhbik, Molekular, NI Spectral Delay, Paul Stretch, Wormhole, Travellizer, M4L Pluggo.