January 20, 2016

9.00 am. A little module admin, as replies to yesterday’s out going correspondence drip into my inbox. An elevating light seeps through the window’s condensation. (I prayed for the metaphorical equivalent permeate my mind.) On with the conspectus, with Gavin Bryars’ On Photography (2005), dedicated to the memory of Susan Sontag, playing in the background:

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My penny’s worth towards the Change.org protest against the progressive downgrading a very significant role in the operations of the Arts Centre:

This is a curatorial position, one that requires the exercise of creative intelligence and judgement, an informed awareness of the contemporary art scene, and the ability to network and negotiate with artists from all over the world. The concept of ‘technician’ undermines all those attributes; a lower salary devalues both the profession and the post.

In small ways, bit by bit, it’s possible to relinquish everything. Which is why we need to fight the many minor battles, one by one. I experienced a slower rate of progress on the conspectus, which was to be expected: the more ideas one objectifies, the fewer remain to be conceived. (The have to be eked out the mind like seafood from the shell.)

11.45 am. I made a trip to the School, in the brittle and invigorating air, to finalise mark submissions, retrieve papers, discuss student attainment, and check mail:

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1.40 pm. A little postgraduate module admin, a little re-routing of cables and switching boxes, a little equipment review and sourcing, before cranking up the sound studio for an afternoon on ‘Image and Inscription’, section 5. But, first, I reviewed the previous four sections. This was the equivalent of stepping back from the canvas to see the whole before addressing the part. Small adjustments to homogenise the overall loudness of the quartet were made. Section 5 begins in silence, and then, perhaps, with the sound of static electricity in the air once again. Time and ear will tell. The schematic of the composition was updated to the reflect my current position in the narrative:

IMG

6.15 pm. Practise session 1. 7.15 pm. I cleared incoming emails and returned to section 5 and the sound of electricity in the air. This section (Exod. 19.14-15) provides a short interlude —  of calm, reflection, and preparation — before the tumultuousness of section 6, which the core of the composition — when all heaven breaks loose. The scene in these two verses is about sanctification and purification, principally. At the close of the evening, I read further into Exodus, from Chapters 20 through to 22.

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