Paul Catanese | Collective Geology of the Erased Space

COLLECTIVE GEOLOGY OF THE ERASED SPACE

2004 | Online, Browser-Based Artwork

Regrettably, this Project Is Not Functioning; it relies on a browser plugin (Director Shockwave) that was discontinued by Adobe Software. Please note that I have the project backed up offline, and I am in the process of documenting / capturing screen recordings of a walkthrough of the artwork on a vintage computer that has the requirements.

Collective Geology of the Erased Space is a 2004 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (a.k.a. Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence.org web site. It was made possible with funding from a generous grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Important Note: Viewing this artwork relies on the Adobe Shockwave for Director Plugin; Sadly, as of 2017, this software package may not be readily available on modern browsers at the current moment. While a more archival solution is devised, Turbulence is providing a video screen capture of the original artwork available via the Launch Project link above.


About this work
Viewers are presented with an imaginary geological strata imbued with many sounds: fragments of conversations, recollections, errant noises and pregnant silences presented as if the memory of communication had been imparted on the strata in some way. Stretched thin like the surface of a balloon underneath the razor sharp cursor, the sounds whistle like a fingernail across the surface of a drum-head. Over a period of several years, I began collecting the sounds that you will find imbued within this work. Aside from the background score, all of the sounds that you hear in this piece were found on analog cassette tapes in assorted thrift stores, resale shops and junkyards. Recordings of eulogies, hospital to ambulance relay		tapes, phone conversations, retirement parties as well as recordings made by individuals left stranded in nursing homes are among the many disparate sources. As users “scrub” their mouse across the surface of the strata, sounds are revealed. That is, the speed and direction at which the user moves the mouse affect how the sound will play: fast, slow, normal, forward, backwards, etc. Because it requires a constant steady hand, the work choreographs the user into repeatedly scrubbing the strata in order to catch fleeting moments of sound. Only by repeated scrubbing does one slowly build an impression of the original communication as if reconstructing messages from the sonic rubble.

General Note: It is recommended that you use a trackpad, rather than a mouse to interact with this piece if one is available. I mention this because using a trackpad enhances the intimacy and pacing in a way which more accurately communicates my intentions for your experience with this piece.