Two notebook pages, the first being from the day before the initial exhibition visit, the second being from the day of the exhibition. The first page discusses concepts and methods of interactivity: I was thinking about reading excerpts from my past notebooks which go back maybe as much as 7 or 8 years. This concept would be exploring memory and how much we forget, and also putting an intimate (yet curated) part of myself on display. Another thought was continuing my exploration of sounds I like (a concept from one of the two assignments so far this year), by bringing objects into the gallery space and exciting them using actuators. In essence, moving my comforting and familiar sounds into an unfamiliar and alien environment to be displayed.

This is all valuable stuff, but I reckon the second page is more intriguing.

I had a mental image, whilst standing in one of the rooms, of walking in on a small model railway quietly running away on its own. This immediately captured my attention, and I thought about the implications of such an idea, the logistics, the potential artistic meaning and sentiment behind the idea. Also, how to involve sound in the concept. My first conceptual thoughts were about memory; the railway is an icon of ones childhood, and thoughts came to mind of how memories can be thrust upon the unsuspecting individual by specific, intimately familiar external phenomenon. Smells, tastes, sounds, the works.

I thought about audio playback. What audio was going to be sounding in the room? How do I represent memories? Pings or clicks may be nice, as memories can be so transient. But maybe swelling oscillators, creating a slowly fading, blissful, patchwork drone; memories can be so warming. I could wire things up to my MS-20 to create envelopes; it has an audio input on the front panel.

But I would firmly like to be DIY with this project. This will be talked about in another post.

The railway is pictured on a semicircular track, I had envisioned it going from right to left and then back again, pinging and ponging away. Each time it reaches the end buffer, it triggers audio through a speaker (logistically this would be achieved with contacts, perhaps a battery on the train itself connecting the circuit to create a CV ‘ping’ whenever the train contacts touch at each end) which could relate to either a memory remembered or the trigger which caused that memory to resurface. Ideally the train would move at variable speed, creating a variable rhythm of ‘memories triggered’.

Either the train speed could be modulated, or there could be a visitor-controlled potentiometer that encourages playfulness in a childish manner. I was also musing on having tape loops around the room on multichannel cassette machines (I have a few available for such a purpose) enabling people to mess with the balance and tonality of each 4 channel loop. Also thought about (idea triggered by Inaki) having a few machines with self contained loops (i.e loops within the tape shell) that people could swap out at will.