Thursday 22 August 2013

Leaving our mark.


Leaving our mark.

Image retrieved from http://aboriginalart.asia/?p=548




There is something truly beautiful and poetic about music as narrative.  So much can be told through song, with or without words and can easily remain timeless.  A perfect example of this is described in the reading 'The Songlines' in the way of Aboriginal 'dreaming tracks', where words and musical notes are scattered along the long of footprints made by the walker and used as narrative and communication between tribes often miles apart (Chatwin, 1987, p.13).  You may wonder what 'dreaming tracks and Soundcloud have in common and the answer lies in the direct correlations they share in regard to narrative, networking and communication.

Being able to express ones self artistically, in this case musically and like Aboriginal 'dreaming', is an expression of identity completely inseparable from the self.  Virtual reality allows the self to be reflected in different ways that may not be easily expressed or perhaps unacceptable to be expressed in 'reality'.  Virtual networks, in this case Soundcloud, open up a whole world of expressive possibility where reality is blended with virtuality to create many and various reflections of ones self.  Where one can be or evolve into a virtual entity completely independent of the real world or as McNeill (2012) puts it, a 'cyborg'.  http://www.posthumanism.com/ 

While the virtual world is fantastic for artists for a means of expressions and exposure, just like the concept of Aboriginal land not existing until the Ancestors sang it, to exist however, is to be perceived (Chatwin, B. 1987, p.14).  This is true of the entire virtual world that lingers in cyberspace, essentially invisible until someone stumbles upon it.  Soundcloud is a network full of music but can only be realised if it's experienced. 

I believe that music is timeless and much more than orchestrated noise.  It's story, narrative, feelings and self-reflection.  A 'poetic key to reality' (Stanner, W.E.H. 1979, p.29).  The virtual pages we make and the tracks of music we leave can communicate our story to the entire world so long as there are people to listen. 


References:

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd.

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no 'I' in network: social networking sites & posthuman auto/biography.

Stanner, W.E.H. (1979). White man got no dreaming. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press.

aia web team (Artist). Myrtle Petyarr follows the dreaming track of the story of the Mountain Devil Lizard, near Mosquito Bore homeland.  Retrieved from http://aboriginalart.asia/?p=548

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space; Networks, Narrative & the making of Place, week 4 lecture slides. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_312_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_42849_1%26url%3D 
 

Over & out! 

Lunar (Vivian Davey)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Vivian

    Your blog this week demonstrated the link that music may be a narrative in both the physical and cyber worlds. As you have shown music provides a vehicle for expression, which enables us to communicate with others over time and space. Your virtual network of SoundCloud indeed allows creativity of individuals of all cultures to be shared with others. The idea that one should “tread lightly over the earth” Chatwin (1987) is illustrated well with the image you provided at the beginning of your blog. This illustrates the aboriginal view of travelling across the landscape taking only what is needed on the journey while carrying the stories of the ancestors in song. Your virtual network allows for music of all cultures to travel across the virtual landscape leaving a very light touch on its journey from the creator to the listener in another location. I have joined your virtual network and look forward to being able to walk through a new landscape of music that I may never have discovered on my own.

    Cheers,

    David.


    Reference: Chatwin, B. (1987) The Songlines. Jonathan Cape Ltd, London.

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