Good Afternoon

good afternoon this thesis takes the form of a cloud captured, boxed, bundled and downloaded, to spring open and gather you in . it comprises a collection of sounds on iPod and a collection of words on paper. the iPod contains three 70 minute tracks, each of which is a remix of the same group of samples . i will explain in the body of the work why there are three 70 minute tracks, how and where the samples were gathered, and what i hope they will do . you don’t need to listen to them all . don’t be alarmed by distortion, gaps, squeaks or repetitions . don’t be dismayed if you get lost in the material, or concerned that you might miss something . each mix is a saturation, none is definitive. the words are printed on unbound pages . this decision will be explained . pages are numbered “in order”, but section numbers are derived from the collingwood football club player list, 2007 . accordingly, these “jump around” and this, as you will read and hear, is a dynamic we encourage . the “methodology” and “endnotes” sections are printed on different coloured papers . these two sections provide context for the other materials, and are distinguished in order to assist in your reading and listening . the endnotes are extensive 21,000 words and provide more than just references; some operate as small essays providing context and provocation . you may interpose your perusal of the other materials with these or read them as stand-alone sections . who knows? how you proceed through the sounds and words, and the extent to which you do is, of course . in . your . hands. i have chosen to use a font called “Handwriting – Dakota” . i hope thereby to encourage a flowing, interconnected and paradoxically difficult reading . however, i will put quotations in a different font (Candara), largely to rest your eyes . i also adopt the use of “double” quotation marks, in the american style . i hope this will not distract . i do this because in this font the ‘single’ quotation marks look confusingly like apostrophes . please note: for the most part i do not use MAJASCULE a.k.a. uppercase or capital letters . i believe they impede the flow and possibilities of language as it is read, over-emphasising individual identities at the expense of inter-connectedness . this, you will come to understand, is an important concern for this project . occasionally i use them in EMPHASIS . indeed, you will also note that, in deference to those who have produced them, book titles, artworks, quotations, the names of authors and artists are capitalised in the ways that i have found them in the world . furthermore the names of football codes, nations, cities, universities and the Australian Football League will be capitalised, in view of their devotion to formality, rules and law, but, in recognition of their tendency towards inclusivity and participation, and their collective operation by and through members (and in culture more generally), the names of football clubs and football grounds 2 will not be . neither will the names of football players, since in play their “identities” become complicated . this will be discussed in the thesis . you will also note that i take some liberties with punctuation, especially full-stops . for instance i prefer to leave a gap between the final word of a sentence and its full-stop . mostly, this is to aid your eye in reading; sometimes, it is to accent or to encourage a more rhythmic reading when i leave the commas out of lists, it is because the things in the list did not wish to have commas included in their party. throughout the writing you will notice phrases in bold type, like this, “he looked to be in great nick “. despite their being in quotation marks these are not referenced . they are “utterances”, and are lifted willy-nilly from where they circulate in conversation, barracking, footy-media . they are idiom . they pop up here and there . they are, in addition to being the bearer of messages, a crackling auditory contagion . it is in this spirit they are scattered through the writing: passages in football’s play . a texture . a sound . you will hear that many of them are uttered in the recordings as well. it may seem that i adopt “the royal we” . it is not royal . it is that “we” players use to describe the fortunes of their teams, as in: “gee, we played well on saturday!” this is not mere identification, it indicates how “we” play too . this use of “we” underscores the style of my 3 engagement in the material, my refusal to stand outside it, and study it . but instead to play . in this i do also attempt to bundle you up and draw you into my teem . recognition . invitation . you can, of course, resist . i hope that you will! just ‘cause “we” are “we” doesn’t mean all are in agreement, often screamingly notso! you will have to contest . take your opportunities . make your own luck! perhaps we will make some together. finally, do not be disturbed if i address you (or refer to others) as my fellow . i do not intend this as a gendered term . with this address i offer my collegial affection . and similarly, if i use the term “she” in a moment when we might reasonably expect men to be present as well, understand that i include men also . indeed . if i may borrow from the Laws of Australian Football: “words importing any gender shall be deemed to include the other gender” (AFL 2008, 14). very well . good hunting, and with bells. margaret trail footscray, march 2009 4 “there’s the siren!” aurality and representation of the sounds of (Australian) football margaret trail submission for the degree: Doctor of Philosophy 2009 School of Communication and the Arts Victoria University abstract The aim of this research project in performance studies is to consider the aurality of (Australian) football: the sounds that are heard and produced by those who play (considering all participants to be players). In so doing it addresses problems that arise when sound is approached as the object of understanding, and experiments with ways to re/present sound without distorting or reducing it within conventional textual, visual or musical modes of representation. The thesis adopts Brian Massumi’s view of football as an unformalised proto‐sport that is retrospectively framed by codes and rules, and develops a perspective on this sport’s essential form, proposing it to be a hard cloud, that moves through the articulation of tension/s; manifesting, for instance, in collision, trickery and wit. The operation of a set of dynamic forces is proposed, that animates this hard cloud and enables its movement through various constellations (such as bodies, groups of friends, teams, clubs and families). This set of forces is given a name: the Body in Football. An attempt is made to stage the Body in Football in the thesis, such that it may be felt in the body of the listener/reader, thus to produce a style of research where the topic under consideration is sensed (as thoroughly) as it is understood. The project comprises both a sonic and a written component. The sonic, drawing on techniques developed in radiophonic art, turntablism and noise musics, comprises three 70 minutes tracks, that are re‐mixes of the same group of (gathered, layered, swarming) samples. This is presented on iPod. The written component is a collection of passages presented on unbound pages, that proceed, following Nietzsche, Canetti, Deleuze and Guattari, by logics of assemblage as well as extensive notes that contextualise those approaches to knowledge that are pursued in the project. i student declaration I, Margaret Trail, declare that the PhD thesis entitled “there’s the siren!”: aurality and representation of the sounds of (Australian) football, is no more than 100,000 words in length including quotes and exclusive of bibliography, references and endnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work. Margaret Trail 20th December, 2009 ii acknowledgments sincere thanks to my supervisor, professor mark minchinton, whose vast knowledge of football combined with his tendency to become denis pagan when discussing it, has contributed considerably to this endeavour . to VU colleagues: christine babinskas, dr. elizabeth dempster, jude walton, dr. rob hess, dr. dennis hemphill, professor terence roberts, professor elaine martin, associate professor michele grossman, grace schirripa, and the late associate professor precilla choi . respect to my students for their generosity in sharing many insights and good football stories . also thanks to my excellent, patient, family and friends, many of whose voices (and ideas) feature: david, vivian, jim trail, mikaela brown, indigo and sasha trail, steve duffin, carolyn connors, clare debruin, nathan nicholson, charles livingstone, linda sproul, nancy lang, peter abraham, andrew marlton, eddie crupi, charlz chan, spiro karopoulos, julie robson, jason “keatsy” keats . thanks to matthew drain for allowing me to record the western bulldogs training, and to Cordell Jigsaw productions for permission to sample parts of their fine documentary Year of the Dogs . special thanks to paul stack for company immanent and eloquent generously shared throughout hundreds and hundreds of football games. mt march, 2009 iii contents good afternoon . abstract i student declaration ii acknowledgments iii contents iv passages viii 9. football is [a] life… 1 16. to begin with 6 40. aurality 11 5. representing football’s play 13 17. a discourse in particular 17 43. hanging over the fence 21 46. the hard cloud 22 32.

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