auralegium

The more we learn about time, the more we realize it to be an idiosyncrasy of place; the specific well of gravity we happen to be residing in. No two nows are the same. Each is hyperlocal.

In Auralegium, multiple recording devices are placed throughout a location such as a wilderness, a factory, a park, or a city street.  Recording devices will vary by format (analog/digital) and quality (old microcassettes, high end field recorders). Devices may be placed in water, earth, resting upon the ground, in trees etc. and are arrayed in such a way to capture a variety of points across a bounded terrain. I often work with groups of up to 25 to establish a recording plan and conduct the recordings together.

All recordings are then synchronized and played back in a multi-channel audio experience. I compose a piece of music that is often performed live as accompaniment.

Poet’s Hill, New York. Eight recording devices set in trees, earth, below a running stream capture the height of spring.

The name “Auralegium” is adapted from florilegium - which originally were botanical drawings documenting the flora of a local place such as an estate or park. The term florilegium later came to signify any collection or anthology of writings.