Borough Market, London (2015)

From the intercession, the morning Holy Communion service, Holy Trinity Church:

Our prayers are for the police and special and intelligence forces as they seek to alert us to, and protect us from, danger. Bring the wicked and lawless to justice, and dismantle the apparatus of terrorism in this country. We remember those who are suffering, and the inconsolable grief of parents, families, and friends at the loss of loved ones in London last night and Manchester recently. Our platitudes and sentiments evaporate in the heat of such a dreadful providence. Bring succour through the agencies of counsellors, medical staff, and faith leaders. Heal in thy time. And quell the bitterness that could too soon fill their absence.

9.00 am: I looked unanswered emails in the typeface. Draft reports to consider, application appointments to be made, and queries to resolve. 10.30 am: Off to School (once Noah’s flood had abated) to continue with admin, now piling up in my pigeon hole. 12.00 am: A meeting with Professor Zwiggelaar and one of his students from Computer Science. The intent was to take stock of the work undertaken on the image to sound conversion algorithms. The results were encouraging. There was, now, an evident correspondence between what I saw and what I heard, and a number of ways in which the image could be interrogated.  The next step is to apply the system (which is elegantly simple) to translate text (printed words). Sample pages will be prepared in the coming weeks.

1.40 pm: Up the hill, in the rain, to welcome Mr Ruddock’s two external examiners outside his exhibition at the Arts Centre in my capacity as Postgraduate Co-ordinator. Because I’m his also his supervisor, the obligation was to remove myself pronto thereafter. Down the hill, in the rain:

2.30 pm: Adminy things — completing what had been begun this morning. A list of jobs for today and the morrow was drawn up. I assembled the various versions of the drill core sound piece that I’d made with Mr Ruddock for his 2A work. After his show is over, these will be made available on my Sound website.

7.30 pm: An evening of observation, looking at videos of abstract turntablism in performance. Otomo Yoshihide is exemplary. An artist of my own generation. But I’d ditch the hat. What was I looking for?:

How does the artist walk onto the stage and approach their equipment?
Do they acknowledge the audience?
How is the equipment arranged and what is it set upon?
To what purpose?
Is there anything about this arrangement that distracts?
How does the artist leave their equipment and walk off the stage?
Do they acknowledge the audience?