Earth Sound Earth Signal
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AHMANSON ·MURPHY fiNE ARTS IMPRINT THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION has endowed this imprint to honor the memory of FRANKLIN MURPHY who for half a century served arts and letters, beauty and learning, in equal measure by shaping with a brilliant devotion those institutions upon which they rely. 9780520257801_PRINT.indd a 27/07/13 9:46 AM The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Art Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Foundation, which was established by a major gift from the Ahmanson Foundation. 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd b 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM EARTH SOUND EARTH SIGNAL 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd i 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd iiii 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM Earth Sound Earth Signal Energies and Earth Magnitude in the Arts DOUGLAS KAHN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd iiiiii 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2013 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kahn, Douglas, 1951–. Earth sound earth signal : energies and earth magnitude in the arts / Douglas Kahn. — 1 [edition]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-25780-1 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-520-25755-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-520-95683-4 (ebook) 1. Sound in art. 2. Radio noise. I. Title. NX650.S68K24 2013 700.1′08—dc23 2013014804 Manufactured in the United States of America 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures Natural, a fiber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd iviv 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Thomas Watson: Natural Radio, Natural Theology 25 2. Microphonic Imagination 34 3. The Aeolian and Henry David Thoreau’s Sphere Music 41 4. The Aelectrosonic and Energetic Environments 53 5. Inductive Radio and Whistling Currents 69 6. Alvin Lucier: Brainwaves 83 7. Edmond Dewan and Cybernetic Hi-Fi 93 8. Alvin Lucier: Whistlers 106 9. From Brainwaves to Outer Space: John Cage and Karl Jansky 115 10. For More New Signals 122 11. Sound of the Underground: Earthquakes, Nuclear Weaponry, and Music 133 12. Long Sounds and Transperception 162 13. Pauline Oliveros: Sonosphere 174 14. Thomas Ashcraft: Electroreceptor 187 15. Black Sun, Black Rain 193 16. Star-Studded Cinema 205 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd v 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM vi / CONTENTS 17. Robert Barry: Conceptualism and Energy 218 18. Collaborating Objects Radiating Environments 227 19. Joyce Hinterding: Drawing Energy 237 20. Earth-in-Circuit 255 Notes 259 Index 317 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd vivi 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM Illustrations 1. Trajectory of a lightning-generated whistler through the magnetosphere 15 2. Sonnblick Observatory 29 3. Charles Burchfield, Telegraph Music 49 4. Idealized whistler event structure: noise, silence, glissando 81 5. Alvin Lucier, graphic score for Music for Solo Performer 87 6. Alvin Lucier practicing brainwave control in the Brandeis Electronic Music Studio 91 7. Edmond Dewan at his brainwave control device 96 8. Seismogram of Tokyo earthquake recorded in Potsdam by Ernst von Rebeur-Paschwitz 138 9. Seismograms of the Trinity atomic bomb test recorded at Pierce Ferry (740 km away) and Tucson (437 km away), Arizona 140 10. Tribute to Victory celebration 143 1 1 a. Hugo Benioff with his electric cello 147 1 1 b. Hugo Benioff’s loudspeakers 148 12. Seismograph stations arrayed across the United States during Operation HARDTACK underground nuclear tests 150 13. Alice Neel, Sherry Speeth 152 14. Gordon Mumma, Medium Size Mograph 1963 160 vii 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd viivii 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM VIIIviii // ILLUSTRATIONS 15. Earth-Moon-Earth (Moonlight Sonata Reflected from the Surface of the Moon), installation view 183 1 6 . Katie Paterson, Earth-Moon-Earth (Moonlight Sonata Reflected from the Surface of the Moon) 184 1 7 . Thomas Ashcraft, Bacteriophage Coin 188 1 8 . Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt), Black Rain 197 1 9 . Sun to earth: memory of Ojiri Tsutomu, Hiroshima 200 2 0 . Sun to earth: atomic fireball as seen from the air during Bikini Able test 201 2 1 . Paul DeMarinis, detail, Rome to Tripoli 203 2 2 . Rebecca Cummins, Shadow Locomotion: 128 Years After Muybridge, The Red Barn, Palo Alto . 11am–5pm, February 28, 2004 206 2 3 . Alexander Graham Bell, photophone 207 2 4 . Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Tonsure 210 25. Anthony McCall, Line Describing a Cone 212 26. Robert Barry, 88 mc Carrier Wave (FM) and 1600 kc Carrier Wave (AM) 228 27. Peter Blamey, Forage 239 28. Joyce Hinterding, Electrical Storms 245 29. Joyce Hinterding, Aeriology 247 30. Joyce Hinterding, The Oscillators 251 31. Joyce Hinterding, Large Ulam VLF Loop 253 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd viiiviii 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM Acknowledgments The support of friends, colleagues, correspondents, and institutions has made this book possible. A 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship provided dedi- cated time to research the historical discovery of natural radio; a 2008 Arts Writers Grant from Creative Capital | Warhol Foundation supported work on the book overall; and Vice President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research Les Field at the University of New South Wales enabled me to take up my position at the National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA), affording time to complete the book. A grant from the College of Fine Arts, UNSW, provided assistance with manuscript preparation and image rights. Interviewees, associates, families, and archivists are acknowledged in the book’s footnotes for their kind assistance. The book’s foundations were laid years ago at Wesleyan University, with my teachers Alvin Lucier and Ron Kuivila, and more recently through interactions with Peter Blamey, Robert Brain, Paul DeMarinis, Frances Dyson, David Haines, Stefan Helmreich, Linda Henderson, Hannah Higgins, Joyce Hinterding, Zita Joyce, Timothy Morton, Gordon Mumma, Hillel Schwartz, Blake Stimson, David Suisman, and James Tenney. Edmond Dewan was very informative and for me trans- formative. He passed away after a long and productive life, while I was finishing the book; I thank his son Brian Dewan for all his assistance. Jill Bennett and Ross Harley at the NIEA helped me think through many of the late stages of the project. My thanks also go to the readers who made helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript and to Mary Francis, Kim Hogeland, Julie Van Pelt, and Chalon Emmons at the University of California Press for their patience and expertise. Particularly helpful were University of California at Davis physics pro- fessor Tony Tyson for his own experience as a telegrapher and for the Karl Jansky material he rescued; Oliver Staadt for physics and electronics ix 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd ixix 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM x / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS lessons on country roads at 20 miles per hour; Jesper Olsson’s assistance with locating and translating Karl-Birger Blomdahl materials; Margaret Fisher for her work on Pino Masnata and Italian Futurist radio; Ken Sitz’s expert guidance through atomic culture; Thomas Patteson’s insights into early electronic music; Chris Schiff’s encyclopedic knowledge and blood- hound skills for obscure documents; Ben Holtzman for checking my foot- ing in the seismological; and Manfred Kerchoff and other members of the Yahoo Natural Radio VLF Discussion Group. And thanks also to Larry Austin, Luciano Chessa, Sean Cubitt, Bruce Clarke, David Dunn, Dieter Daniels, Raviv Ganchrow, Daniel Gethmann, Oliver Grau, Heidi Grundmann, Erkki Huhtamo, Chris Kubick, Julia Kursell, Adam Lucas, Roger Malina, Stephen McGreevy, Margaret Morse, Marko Peljhan, Simon Sadler, Fred Turner, and Elizabeth Zimmermann, who may or may not have known they were helping me with this project. The ideas in the book have been developed and tested in classrooms and academic events, but mostly at media arts, experimental music, and eco-arts festivals and events organized by individuals who create crucial opportuni- ties for and contribute to dialogue among practitioners, audiences, and writ- ers. To Arie Altena, Lucas van der Velden, and others at Sonic Acts in Amsterdam; Armin Medosch, Rasa Šmite, Raitis Šmits, and others at RIXC in Riga; Honor Harger in her capacity at the A/V Festival and then at the Lighthouse in Brighton; Sarah Last and the Australian Network of Art and Technology; Su Ballard, Julian Priest, and others at the Aotearoa Digital Arts Network; Sophie Jerram and others at Now Futures in New Zealand; Holly Herndon and others at Gray Area Foundation of the Arts in San Francisco; and Pia van Gelder and others at Serial Space in Sydney—this book is indebted to the energies at the grassroots. 99780520257801_PRINT.indd780520257801_PRINT.indd x 227/07/137/07/13 99:46:46 AAMM Introduction RADIO WAS HEARD BEFORE IT WAS INVENTED Radio was heard before it was invented. It was heard before anyone knew it existed. It was heard in the first wireless technology: the telephone.