TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

VIEWING ALL POSTS FOR: APRIL 2003

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

11:54 AM
Posted by jodi rose

king st, newtown
it's another world.
indeed, everything has changed since I lived here, writing this in an internet cafe which certainly didn't exist, down the road from a backpacker place, surrounded by german and american tourists. bizarre. being on holiday in sydney has me in a strangely nostalgic mood, also sad that it is no longer the place I grew up in.
But hey, that's progress. great to see old friends and hang out, went swimming at bronte in the ocean pool yesterday, rejuvenating and invigorating. now meeting jess and youcef for lunch, and out for dinner tonight as it's julaine's birthday.
have received my first bridge remix from sciss in berlin, he's getting the other dienst bar noise boys on the case and they're sending me some more too. very exciting. can't wait to put the compilation cd together - it's going to be fantastic! maybe I'll just keep mine raw, and give people to chance to hear all the inherent rhythms and texture of the bridges before they get cut and mixed up into funkier tunes.

Thursday, April 17, 2003

9:57 AM
Posted by jodi rose

writing chapter on the context of my bridge project. from the ancient Greeks aeolian harps, through the Futurists valorisation of industry, technology and the art of noise, (shame about the fascism) to of course Pierre Schaeffer and musique concrete, Stokhausen, Piere Boulez, John Cage and his exploration of indeterminacy and chance, opening up the audience's ears to hear the sounds of the environment as musical composition, leading on to steve reich, edgard varese with his out there radio compositions. Contemporary artists alan lamb (who records and composes with telegraph wires), jon rose (fence wires) and various other sound art practitioners. The new model of writing 3-4,000 words a month seems to be working, I've done 1,500 so far and it's the 17th, so we're on track.

Of course, the next 11 days will be in sydney, and may not get that much work done - but at least my friends have got back to me, had to stop wallowing in self pity. The greater existential issue underlying all this is that I don't have a strong sense of belonging, or 'home' in any particular location or with a single group. This is, no doubt, the post-modern nomadic state - and as Heidegger wrote, in 1947 "homelessness is coming to be the destiny of the world." My friend Bianca in berlin told me "you have to belong to yourself, before you can belong anywhere or with anyone else." Maybe it is better to have many homes and belong to many groups - not that I own any real estate. Failing on that manifestation of the great australian dream; having traded in my chance at an investment flat for this insane dream of recording bridges around the world. not that I regret it at all - just have to work harder to manifest some results, get that cd out there, make some postcards - my mind is on merchandising this week. Plenty of people said they'd buy a cd at my exhibition - except I want to edit and compose the sound before releasing it publicly, and as noted below, have got kind of stuck with that process.

Part of the trouble is I really don't like working on computers - when I learnt to sound edit, it was on 16mm film, and in radio studios - and I still love the physicality of the sound in those mediums. It seems to somehow disappear once you feed it into the computer, and becomes just 0101010 or whatever the code is. Lingering Luddite inclinations, although I have to use technology, I am deeply ambivalent about it.
Enough of this ranting, must go and get some work done, and maybe knit a few more rows.

Monday, April 14, 2003

10:12 AM
Posted by jodi rose

I've taken up knitting. And naturally have become obsessed. It's very satisfying and makes watching tv a lot more productive. Using a gorgeous wool called feathers, which looks like purple eyelashes fluttering on the needle as you knit. Also a fuschia loopy mohair, and for a separate scarf, another very lush mohair that changes colour every few rows.
Still struggling with depression, sense of isolation and not really getting anywhere. Working on it with yoga, taking action and lots of bicycle riding. Started following up all the bridge remix people, to make that compilation cd come together. Need to find a brilliant sound engineer, composer, mixer to strip the original material back and create minimal compositions. A few people floating around, but no-one really seems to have the time. Working on it myself, but I get overwhelmed so quickly by the sheer volume of sound (!) and my
technical ineptness.
Going to sydney over easter to see family and friends, spend some time by the ocean - hopefully that will be rejuvenating and fulfilling. If any of my friends there ever bother to return my calls. They're great when you're in front of them, but long distance communication doesn't seem to be a forte. At least I have time with my cousin and sister lined up - very excited about hanging out with jess and youcef, he's my first nephew.


Anyway, time to get to the office and create another chapter of this masterpiece I'm working on.

Thursday, April 03, 2003

10:10 AM
Posted by jodi rose

Hello, greetings, good morning.
I hope you're all having a wonderful time. Whatever you're doing, make it count!

There's a photo of bronte rock pool which I keep on my noticeboard, the ocean is an incredible transparent aquamarine, a white crested wave is frozen in time on its way to break over the side of the pool, it makes me feel happy and peaceful. I wish I was there right now, I could dive in and lose myself, the salty water washing away all concerns, doubts and anxiety, as I float looking up at the sandstone cliffs and changing patterns of cloud in the sky.

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

10:58 PM
Posted by jodi rose

collingwood swamp
no really, that's a geographical fact, not a state of mind!
I've almost recovered some fragments of equilibrium, that hadn't been completely dissolved in my inner turmoil of the past few weeks. Thanks to Lisa for a fabulously decadent weekend, providing entertainment for members of my family who came to visit - from Love TV opening night at Duckboard Place, with the interactive tent and some cutting edge discussion of sex and romance, everyone from c-grade celebrities, to a bondage mistress and the cute camera boy (hi!); followed by a day at the races in cranbourne, visiting the horses in their stables first, then watching from the members lounge. very zhooshy. my mother has now decided that gambling is a good way to supplement her income - anyone with the gamblers hotline, please pass it on!!

Am also much closer to resolving my conflict between consolidating my creative practice, and making a coherent logical argument to support said process - realised I just need to separate myself into two different streams. Kind of like developing a mental disorder, I guess. No, really, it's going to be fine.
When I was trying to tell Julian exactly what my problem was, suddenly recognised that it was largely being contrary by nature, and not liking having people tell me what to do. Even when it's for my own good.

And I have been very cheered to receive some feedback from a couple of you lovely readers out there, some of which I would like to share. The first is from someone I haven't met but who has been in contact over the last year and the second from one of the most diverting writers I am fortunate enough to correspond with (although I do nothing but give him a hard time, at least he replies!).

"I read your diary entry and would like to offer you some love and encouragement as it seems you could use it . please accept it . i give it with smiles and admiration... naturally things migrate to and fro ... ride the waves and don't forget to have fun."

Indeed and fun is exactly what I'm going to have. Goddammit!

"I caution you against covering your writings with too much dry dust, because it makes your words all the more difficult to read. and some people have allergies. we live in a litigious era, so I recommend you safeguard your writings by covering them with a clear contact [or equivalent] layer, thus enabling a dry dusty effect without the deep lung penetration that fine particles are renowned for. And contact looks glossy in certain lights, which is what a section of the population - for instance, those in the waiting room of the local doctors surgery - are searching most earnestly for."

Absolutely, I could do with some more gloss, I wonder can you have your life airbrushed into perfection? For now though it's all serious, quantifiable, contextual facts. None of this spurious philosophising and emotion - well at least not in my academic writing. Which means you'll be getting a lot more of it here!