Check out my previous posts, On Community Listening 1 and 2 for context.
The visual aesthetic of the web environment is minimal because I want listeners to focus on the sounds that the interface holds and not on the overstimulation of visual content. Think Sol Lewitt. This is my favorite series by Mr. Lewitt.
The form of the interface is inspired by Alexander Calder’s kinetic sculptures and Earl Brown’s “Open Form” works. I like these structures because the art is composed of a network of reconfigurable vignettes that can be perceived from many different perspectives. Calder’s sculptures are reconfigured by environmental factors like the wind and light. The conductor and/or the musicians reconfigure most of Brown’s music.
The web interface for “Community Listening” will be different from these two types of works. The form will allow listeners the ability to directly reconfigure and interact with the ethnographic composition. In a sense, the listeners will also become the “conductor” of the work. This type of user flexibility confronts issues of access. The form of digital scholarship can “speak” to many different people from many backgrounds. Right?
Unrelated: