"Stars" -- eight minutes of expanded consciousness, made aural by Brian Eno (see The Audio File, left).
This piece from the Apollo: Spheres & Soundtracks album composed with Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno exemplifies the points Tamm makes about Eno's notion of ambient in Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Color of Sound: 1) the atmosphere is "colored" by a drone-like background layer; 2) the sonic density is fairly low, giving the impression of significant space between aural events; 3) there's a ton of signal processing, most notably echo and reverb in spite of the well-known vacuum of space that might be indicated by the title; 4) many events occur at levels barely above the threshold of conscious hearing; and 5) it's completely alive between your ears (147-148). And, though Tamm cites Eno's references to Marshall McLuhan's "gobal village" on several occasions, "Stars" is a perfect example of McLuhan's concept of cool.
For McLuhan, a hot medium is "one that extends one single sense in 'high definition.' High definition is the state of being well filled with data. A photograph is, visually, 'high definition.' A cartoon is 'low definition,' simply because very little visual information is provided. [...] Hot media are, therefore, low in participation, and cool media are high in participation or completion by the audience" (Understanding Media 39).
Eno's "Stars" certainly extends a single sense, but it does so in such low definition that it compels the listener to fill in the space, to travel the lightyears between stars, to become a voidsucker--one with the universe--to experience the consciousness of a god--that is, to be more fully human.
dj,
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm here...fiddling around trying to figure out just how to navigate thru this site. I remember what a time I had with the class site...technology isn't my forte...but I keep trying. I started a blog, not sure that I did it right, but at any rate, it's there. Is it ok if I were to invite my step-daughter to peek in? She's one of the few people that I can talk to about things 'beyond our senses'. I bubbled over with enthusiam after your "Science Fiction and the Supernatural" class, but no one to talk to about it...expand on it with. It was one of those "you would have had to been there" things. Without being 'aware' of it until the final hour, it seems that I upset Earthling 8's apple cart...could it have been because "I" (Flattery) had my finger on the red button? ;) I'm just no good at the 11th hour. I expressed this to the crew. But 11th hour it ended up to be...actually, it would be more accurate to say it was the 15th hour before we even met at Starbucks. But, as it was in the book, so it was in real life. And, to quote Bickel, "I think it was deliberate!" :) Can't wait to get started!
By all means, llee -- invite anyone you'd like!
ReplyDeletedj, thanks! I'm trying! But just as I stated in my last post, it's what piques our interest as to what we allow to start it's journey into our memory, and become part of the 'Loop'. I have invited her, and want to invite my son also, as I feel he would really enjoy this experience. He was suprised that I was attending an online Science Fiction class, just as I was suprised that he wasn't! Priorities must also play their part in that loop, huh?
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