OUT FROM THE STRAITS Jeffrey Edelstein
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s_traits
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independently exploring what might be described as the “uploading” of human creativity to the was investigating how creativity could be codified and reanimated through artificially intelligent systems. A narrative history of the collaboration between Seaman and Supko captures how they wrote s_traits. Their work together began when Supko gave Seaman the electronic track from a discarded version of his percussion duo Straits second. These samples became the first entries in what would evolve into a database of source material for s_traits. Over the next two years, they added more than 110 hours of varied but complementary sounds to the database. The new material included field recordings, analog and digital noise, acoustic and electronic instruments, cassette recordings of Supko’s juvenilia, recordings of Seaman and Supko playing the piano (inside and out), and soundtracks from documentaries made in the 1960’s and 70‘s. As the source material began to expand, Seaman and Supko increasingly focused on the technical details of using the computer to compose music. The majority of the samples in the database were created with a series of software tools designed by Supko. This software was also able to generate new hybrid samples from the existing collection. It thus enabled both composers to remix–again and again–the work of the When the sample database reached its current proportions, Supko built a new software system that could navigate the many hours of music in the database, extract and recombine dozens of samples, and compose complete wrote after the poem Straits by Kenneth Koch, which had inspired Supko’s earlier percussion duo. untouched, the composers treated them as first drafts, which they developed into the tracks on the present CD. although Seaman and Supko do not identify who composed what. The two sets of 13 are interwoven so Every track begins with a text fragment, which also serves as a title. Seaman and Supko plan to write a track for each of the more than 300 remaining text fragments.
01 providing the mix
14 I had fallen for the delicacy
02 the clicking
15 flung overboard as poetic justice
03 the memory of a moment
16 the absence of spoken words
04 the doubled was doubled over
17 the legacy hardware was put in motion
05 against the volume of the sea
18 the angle of the lips
06 the drunken train strayed from the tracks
19 out from the straits
07 chance and change motioning
20 readymade for rrose
08 the drive is on the blink
21 the ambassador of light
09 and the ice appeared blue
22 in flight
10 acting as they do as substitutions
23 skyward across the horizon
11 coming to know the longing vocabulary
24 predictably arcane
12 chance fell across the doorway
25 the hiding place
13 a recording of the lie
26 at the end of the mouth
All music © 2014 by Bill Seaman & John Supko Produced by John Supko Mastered by Dan Nichols at Aphorism Studios
Text © 2012 Bill Seaman Liner notes © 2014 Jeffrey Edelstein Album design by John Supko
Jeffrey Edelstein is a critic and Director of New Music at Crane Arts in Philadephia.
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Seaman
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Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. Seaman holds degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute (PhD). For more information please visit www.billseaman.com. Called “spellbindingly beautiful” (Steve Smith, Time Out New York), the work of composer John Supko
Bill Seaman and John Supko wish to thank the following for their contributions to &/or support of this project: Srinivas Aravamudan, Marissa Bergmann, Jeffrey Edelstein, Duke University Department of Music, Duke University Media Arts+Sciences, Andrew McKenna Lee, Hans van Miegroet, Dan Nichols, Laurie Patton, Jane Hawkins Raimi, Craig Tattersall, Kyle Yamakawa
PASTE OFA TAG HERE
cotton goods
cottongoods-ap002
Supko has been developing generative software to navigate his vast archives of field recordings, sampled acoustic and digital instruments, noise, and voice recordings. He uses this software to find unexpected compositional possibilities as well as to create dynamic sonic environments that are integrated into live performance with human musicians. Supko has also been experimenting with new forms of documentation for his music. Works such as A Free Invention for George Pitcher exist solely as software that ‘performs’ a new version of itself each time it is activated. Currently the Hunt Family Assistant Professor of Music at Duke University, Supko holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (BM) and Princeton University (PhD). For more information please visit www.johnsupko.com.
bill seaman & john supko
Seaman
saw eciov etal eht • sdrocer dedoc no nips a gnittup • skaerb eht ni edoc a • noitulover lanoitceridib a • reviver • secnelis eht ni yas I yas I tahw • ton si ti ,si ti yas I tahw ••• stiart_s s’namow eht • gnidnatsrednusim gnisu • sevaw ynit htiw denil • lanac raluco eht • acirfa ot ti edam reven lessuor • eno ni srebmun fo moor a • detallicso yltneg taob eht • ni democlew I dnuos fo • gnisuoh yraropmet eht si siht • dehcterts dna dehctef emit • sdeeps tnereffid ta edoc eht nur • nur saw dna selbat eht denrut • elbatnrut eht fo elitxet a • nups saw nup ni nezorf ylgnimees • emit fo noziroh eht • doohrehtom fo rehtaf eht hguorht dezispac • edoc gnitirw-fles ,elcannip eht ,tniop eht • part dedoc a gnittes • esorr rof edamydaer • kees ot sdrow tsrif eht • yad eht fo ssenllits eht • gnillet llat eht fo gninnips eht • nworht ecnahc si • ynitsed fo noitpeced eht • seohs enillatsyrc • sporp tneilas ro ,enilas fo slatsyrc • spord elbats eht • sniar tnemhcated • stnemegagnesid eht gnivomer ni • srehpyc gnirevuenam • sdrow edoc fo yrotcejart eht • eciov gnihcuot ni eugnot eht • daerps spil tfos eht • tsac eb llef gnihton llit ,ecnatsid eht gnidees-er • yaced cinos fo emoh eht • ecnahc fo wodniw a hguorht • welf eciov eht • yalp ta seitilibaborp • yad eht ssorca no gninord • detallicso retfihs gnitca • llef yletaciled sdiuqil eht • sdrow fo rewohs tnelis a • scitsahcots ot tisiv gnilbmuts a • nekops saw gnihc-i eht • erutagil etihw tfos eht gnikcil • thgil wol eht ni gnihtab • ereht eht • rehtona no gnikat ,elbaplap • esnes nworht eht • ecnalbmeser ylimaf etamitigel eht • snoisacco raluco naht ssel no ,snoisavni ,snoisausrep eltneg • snoitutitsbus sa od yeht sa ti sa noos sa revo si elcyc eht • gnidlof dna dedlof • eugnot lausnes eht • niatruc hself eht • thgis gnitaolf eht • ecnatsid a ta noitca • wolf tneilas eht • thgil fo taorht eht • tuc gnikrof rehpyc tcniccus a sgnis dna deretsalp si knurd eht • derrab dna derob ,nekops era swodniw • llits gnivom dna gnivom era llits eht • dniw fo egnahc a ni • ecnahc fo htaerb eht • snigeb gnixaw • noisserpmi tcerid eht fo ecafrus eht ssorca gnilkcarc si eciov nekorb eht • knilb eht no si evird eht • edoc dlo eht otni efil gnihtaerb • noitom ni tup si erawdrah ycagel eht • • ytniatrecnu ni gnimmiws ecnetnes a • sloop fo pool a ,spool fo loop a • esuoh lluf a sdnif eno ,seugnot fo noitutitsbus a sa noitcudorper eht ni gnimmiws • citehtap gnixaw • citeop morf netsilg thgilf fo senil eht • ria eht ni era sthguoht • swollaws dna sllews fo devired erehpsomta eht • erar ,detaeper ,cimhtyhr si gnosdrib eht • ycanimretedni fo hcnarb gnitator eht degnellahcnu • sneercs dna slangis ekoms • noziroh eht ssorca drawyks • detsop era slobmys eht • ecnahc fo sdnah eht • espmilg a fo tnih eht ,tils thgils eht • lla erab taht selgna eht eht • eil eht fo gnidrocer a • hturt siht fo gninnips eht • eurt :edoc langis elgnis eht • sedoc yb detartenep saw llaw eht • gniwolf tub dedniw ,enil thgiarts a ni welf edoc lacisyhp eht • • maets ni dehcuot rorrim a no • sdrow deraems yb debircsed ,retaw no dniw fo saw gnitniap eht • eye s’regnis eht dna eciov s’retniap eht • hgis a fo esaeler eht • dnal eht fo yal a • yad eht no delims dna dehsiruolf • ecnahc fo htuom eht • tnemom a fo yromem eht • gnivaeh stsaerb eht ,txet eht fo htdaerb eht • htuom eht esopxe ot • noitnetni htiw desufnoc eht • yltnelis ,dils ecifide eht • yawa tnew gnirednaw hguoht ,gnidrow eht • thgilf ni • dnik ni dedrawer ,nekat llew esnes dedolpxe eht • sngis fo tserof a ssorca • yaws ni desaeler drow gnola gnilcric erew sdrocer eht • sraet fo tlas eht htiw dellif saw enil eht retal tub • ecnahc fo taorht eht ekil • nellows saw egnahc fo revir eht • gnitaolf taob a fo llaw eht • yartsa llef llaw eht denrut • cificeps ni gnipeels eht tpews • eciov a fo dniw eht • ylpmi ro etelped • erohs eht morf tnes • detpyrcne erew samaronap • delennahc erew seigrene dna • werc eht htiw • gnimit eht fo elgna eht • llews eht ,gnitnuhs eht ,ecnahc fo yrenihcam eht • llits stis ecneidua eht • won eht fo gnillaf eht • tnemom eht fo evol eht • maerd a fo enut eht ot eugnot eht • llet reh fo ssenteews eht • ycaciled eht rof nellaf dah I • llehs eht ot esahcrup evag • senot eht fo gnitfarg eht • ecnartne htiw dedocne • ecalp gnidih eht • llehs eht • gnikcilc eht tniop a • erew yeht sa dedoc • der erew senil eht • thgil fo sciteop eht gniknab • senil gnitfihs eht nopu stcelfer noziroh eht aes a no • taob a ekil neknurd • revo delbuod saw delbuod fo tsoc eht • thgilf ekat yletaciled • gnivom spil detniap eht • thgil eht fo ssol eht dna tsol evol eht lla retfa • thgin a hcus retfa gninruom saw yks eht • ssendas fo eulb eht ni • enif yrev a sah maerd eht • weksa gninnur • sgel evah sdrow eht • noitcelfni fo stiart eht ro stiarts eht fo etaf eht • ytpme revir eht • ecnelis fo edoc eht gnitpmet dna snoitalsnart • eugnot eht • nwonk llew stiarts eht • raelc era sgniraeb eht • gnus era sdrow eht • ykcits era sdrow eht • seugnot ruo rof yap ew tra ni sa evol ni • wenk egac neve sa lluf sa saw ecnelis eht • lraep gnieb fo rotca na sa • drow eht ni detsevni dnuos fo retniap eht • edoc dna srepsev ni ,srepsihw ni nekops • noitca eht detpmet ohw eno eht • nwes llew dees a • nekops sah revol eht • serif desucof fo ecaps lellarap eht • ecaps citylatacotua eht • drohc lacov eht ,edoc fo eugolana eht • dlot si ti seugnot gnihcuot • eugnot a sa evitareneg sa • dlrow a gnidliub sa • enillatsyrc eht ni nekops • efil wen a gnimrof noitalsnart eht • egaugnal fo thgiliwt eht ssorca dewolf stes langis eht • thguoht a fo ecaps detubirtsid eht • seirotirret wen a otni thgilf eht gnilcric sdnah • egaugnal erutseg nwo sti ni ekops ecnelis • yalp ni saw cigol eulav-itlum fo ecnad eht • noitasrevnoc a demrof osla smurd dna skcilc eht • cigol lacitamehtam fo slewej • spam gnus ekilnu ton • epacsdnal eht fo segami eht demrof • sdrow nekops fo ecnesba eht • ecaps noitpircsed lausnes reh emaceb rehto eht fo dnah eht no sregnif fo hcuot eht • • senil gnivom tliub ti sa ekoms esned eht hguorht decnad thgil eht • erif fo epacsdnal eht derorrim noisserpxe laicaf eht fo regnessem eht • llits fi neve nwohs spil reh fo rewolf eht sthguoht rieht derehtag yeht sa • eulb sa niaga nwohs thgil fo roloc eht • noitom wols ni • noisiv detcartsba siht fo ylmraw ekops noitanotni larutseg fo eciov eht • sesnes eht gnihcuot erew skoob eht • sdnah suonimul eht • enacra ylbatciderp • gninoitom egnahc dna ecnahc • serutseg tnecseiuq no deknab dna • gnihtaerb • llits doots niaga • sevaw eht ssorca • ylhgih • yek tnereffid a ni saw revoc eht • nrob erew sdlrow fo tes a • lellarap dna larulp a • secnelis fo secnatsid eht morf dna • swodahs tsac seciov eht • enrobria dna dedocne gnignol eht wonk ot gnimoc • foor eht tsniaga • sehcuot eugnot gnippop dna skcilc htiw ekops yeht • srebmun fo moor a ,smoor fo rebmun a • demrofer yltnasaelp • detcartsba syawla si won eht • won eht ni syawla si thguoht fo niart eht • ylluf derutpac reven saw tub dennep saw niatnuof eht • maets ni nettirw sdrow eht fo yawa gnitlem eht dna • yralubacov dna kcab gnilcyc • sedit eht no gnitfird ekil siht detaert dna • sdnif eht rof gnivird gnihc-i dna sklaw modnar fo noitnetni sih dewollof eh • semarf lacigoloib dna sreffub emit • deyaled ylteiuq saw onaip eht • dnuos eht fo ecafrus eht htaeneb devil senil eht dna • suonimul edam sdrow • txet detniap dna dnuos detniap • edoc gnivlover saw thgil detniap ,ereh • htrof retal saw sdrow fo gnidnuof siht • ria eht ni gnignah tfel ,dniw eht ot nwerts saw txet eht fo ydob eht • sregnif sih ni cisum eht gnidloh • stseug eht rof erutinruf gnimoceb • derutcurtser morf deyarts niart neknurd eht • stiarts eht morf tuo • swolf gnisucof senil eht • deniartne saw dnuos eht • epacsdnal eht htiw gnigrem tey • evitcelfer ylpeed dna derettacs yltnagele saw edoc eht dna edoc sa dlos erew sevaw eht • ecnecseiuq drawot gninoitom a llits dna • suonimul emaceb airdnaxela ta yrarbil eht • yalp lausnes rof smoor dnuof dna • skcart eht • yawrood eht ssorca llef ecnahc • tsacer dna demrofrep srebmun era stnemtrapa eht • dessik somikse eht • secnelavibma eht tuo gnison • nettirwer a saw reviver eht • sevaw sa dlos dna sdrocer fo noitator a • etuor ralucric eht • delcricne saw erutinruf eht sriahc lacisum no gnitteb dna • gnineve eht demrof ecnad eht fo stnemevom suounet eht • xim eht gnidivorp ecnahc eht • dnuof eb ot noos era srevol dna • esolc syawla era sretaw s’yksvokrat • yad dna thgin fo elcyc eht emaceb elcric eht • ria etidure na ni dehtolc saw tnemtsevni eht • sevird deyalp dna decnad saw dnib elbuod eht • si ti yas I tahw t’nsi ti • ycnegru na htiw dehcte noitulover a • delaever drocer eht • thgil dna ,noitome ,taeh fo lluf lla dnuos ni • gniteem fo saw yromem eht • emit ot emit morf depmuj dna • dewollof saw enil ylekil tsael eht • kooh eht ffo gnignir erew srae dna • aes eht fo emulov eht tsniaga • deppiks ti semit ynam os s’nam daed eht • etorw ehs enihcam cisum evitarepo eht htiw deyalpsid erew snoisiv s’ada • deniamer esion ecafrus eht • srehpyc ni srednilyc xaw ekil • ti dellacer rodo eht dna gnorts eludehcs gnitator a gninoitca • devom saw gnihton • raelc emaceb lla • xodarap fo elcyc eht hguorht • rorrim eht no dehcte • ekops llits maets eht dna • enil gnol eht deppots hctiws rehpyc eht • sedoc fo dleif eht • eno emoceb ot fi sa dewolf sloop pool eht • nwonk llew saw dnuos eulb eht • gnitfihs dna gniremmihs • dnuos eht fo ecafrus eht demrof sdrow edoc • eht daerps • spil eht fo elgna eht • eulb peed yb nekatrevo • ylsuoenatlumis erehwyreve llef thgin • spat ni edoc eht etorw sdnah suonimul • eulb suounitnoc ni eno saw lla • nups saw eht • yad eht fo sdrow eht sa • ytniatrecnu ni decalpsid sa • tsol saw ygrene litnu • detcudnoc saw yticirtcele • eulb deraeppa eci eht dna • kool digirf siht koon siht ni • swen krad tfos s’lessuor • yawa llef lla sgniraeb (BARCODE) dna secalp dna stiarts eht • senil eht detubirtsid • thgil fo rodassabma eht • yawa dessap sdrow edoc eht dna • edoc ot detfihs ertaeht yromem eht • deyalpsid dna detubirtsid • srae faed no nellaf sdrow ecnahc • ecitsuj citeop sa draobrevo gnulf • decart eb ton dluoc llod ’setracsed dna • ecalp eht ylniatrec saw mooretats thgiarts eht • yalp dluow tepmurt detum • senot rebmos dna spat htiw • yad eht fo ssendas eht • gnos htiw sesserdda eno • evom yticolev hgih fo sdniw hcihw dnuora eye tnecseiuq nekorb dah llaf eht • yad eht fo efil eht htiw gniltsirb dnib elbuod eht • syalp ti sa snup taht enil a staolf dna • eulb ot erutseg • edamydaer eht hguorht dessap • neknurd deyalp enut ecnelis eht htaerb sti gnidloh • deyalps saw erutinruf eht • gnitfihs sroolf eht • nekops dah spil eht erehw nekorb saw edoc eht • yalp ot spil eht gnivael • nekops saw edoc eht erehw • sah eno tahw seciton eno • eugnot eht fo pit eht no • htuom eht fo dne eht ta • gnos ni nevow saw edoc reh fo cirbaf eht • senil eht dehtuom tnemom a rof spil reh • deremmihs )2102( namaes llib — hcok htennek yb ”stiarts“ meop eht retfa txet ••• thgil eht sa lairucrem • senil eht sevird htaeneb morf edoc eht • nettogrof
s_traits
Bill Seaman
s_traits ••• what I say it is, it is not • what I say I say in the silences • reviver • a bidirectional revolution • a code in the breaks • putting a spin on coded records • the late voice was welcomed in • the boat gently oscillated • a room of numbers in one • roussel never made it to africa • the ocular canal • lined with tiny waves • using misunderstanding • the woman’s pun was spun • a textile of the turntable • turned the tables and was run • run the code at different speeds • time fetched and stretched • this is the temporary housing • of sound I seek • readymade for rrose • setting a coded trap • the point, the pinnacle, self-writing code • capsized through the father of motherhood • the horizon of time • seemingly frozen in drops • crystals of saline, or salient props • crystalline shoes • the deception of destiny • is chance thrown • the spinning of the tall telling • the stillness of the day • the first words to be cast • the soft lips spread • the tongue in touching voice • the trajectory of code words • maneuvering cyphers • in removing the disengagements • detachment rains • the stable shifter oscillated • droning on across the day • probabilities at play • the voice flew • through a window of chance • the home of sonic decay • re-seeding the distance, till nothing fell there • bathing in the low light • licking the soft white ligature • the i-ching was spoken • a stumbling visit to stochastics • a silent shower of words • the liquids delicately fell • acting as they do as substitutions • gentle persuasions, invasions, on less than ocular occasions • the legitimate family resemblance • the thrown sense • palpable, taking on another • the forking cut • the throat of light • the salient flow • action at a distance • the floating sight • the flesh curtain • the sensual tongue • folded and folding • the cycle is over as soon as it begins • the breath of chance • in a change of wind • the still are moving and moving still • windows are spoken, bored and barred • the drunk is plastered and sings a succinct cypher • the legacy hardware is put in motion • breathing life into the old code • the drive is on the blink • the broken voice is crackling across the surface of the direct impression • waxing poetic • waxing pathetic • swimming in the reproduction as a substitution of tongues, one finds a full house • a pool of loops, a loop of pools • a sentence swimming in uncertainty • the rotating branch of indeterminacy • the birdsong is rhythmic, repeated, rare • the atmosphere derived of swells and swallows • thoughts are in the air • the lines of flight glisten from the angles that bare all • the slight slit, the hint of a glimpse • the hands of chance • the symbols are posted • skyward across the horizon • smoke signals and screens • unchallenged • the physical code flew in a straight line, winded but flowing • the wall was penetrated by codes • the single signal code: true • the spinning of this truth • a recording of the lie • the lay of the land • the release of a sigh • the painter’s voice and the singer’s eye • the painting was of wind on water, described by smeared words • on a mirror touched in steam • confused with intention • to expose the mouth • the breadth of the text, the breasts heaving • the memory of a moment • the mouth of chance • flourished and smiled on the day • a word released in sway • across a forest of signs • the exploded sense well taken, rewarded in kind • in flight • the wording, though wandering, went away • the edifice slid, silently • the wall fell astray • the wall of a boat floating • the river of change was swollen • like the throat of chance • but later the line was filled with the salt of tears • the records were circling along with the crew • and energies were channeled • panoramas were encrypted • sent from the shore • deplete or imply • the wind of a voice • swept the sleeping in specific • turned the tongue to the tune of a dream • the love of the moment • the falling of the now • the audience sits still • the machinery of chance, the shunting, the swell • the angle of the timing • the clicking • the shell • the hiding place • encoded with entrance • the grafting of the tones • gave purchase to the shell • I had fallen for the delicacy • the sweetness of her tell • the doubled was doubled over • drunken like a boat • on a sea the horizon reflects upon the shifting lines • banking the poetics of light • the lines were red • coded as they were • a point very fine • in the blue of sadness • the sky was mourning after such a night • after all the love lost and the loss of the light • the painted lips moving • delicately take flight • the cost of the tongue • translations and tempting the code of silence • the river empty • the fate of the straits or the traits of inflection • the words have legs • running askew • the dream has a pearl • the silence was as full as even cage knew • in love as in art we pay for our tongues • the words are sticky • the words are sung • the bearings are clear • the straits well known • the lover has spoken • a seed well sewn • the one who tempted the action • spoken in whispers, in vespers and code • the painter of sound invested in the word • as an actor of being • as building a world • as generative as a tongue • touching tongues it is told • the analog of code, the vocal chord • the autocatalytic space • the parallel space of focused fires • the flight into new territories • the distributed space of a thought • the signal sets flowed across the twilight of language • the translation forming a new life • spoken in the crystalline jewels of mathematical logic • the clicks and drums also formed a conversation • the dance of multi-value logic was in play • silence spoke in its own gesture language • hands circling • the touch of fingers on the hand of the other became her sensual description space • the absence of spoken words • formed the images of the landscape • not unlike sung maps • the flower of her lips shown even if still • the messenger of the facial expression mirrored the landscape of fire • the light danced through the dense smoke as it built moving lines • touching the senses • the voice of gestural intonation spoke warmly of this abstracted vision • in slow motion • the color of light shown again as blue • as they gathered their thoughts • across the waves • again stood still • breathing • and banked on quiescent gestures • chance and change motioning • predictably arcane • the luminous hands • the books were encoded and airborne • the voices cast shadows • and from the distances of silences • a plural and parallel • a set of worlds were born • the cover was in a different key • highly abstracted • pleasantly reformed • a number of rooms, a room of numbers • they spoke with clicks and popping tongue touches • against the roof • coming to know the longing vocabulary • and the melting away of the words written in steam • the fountain was penned but was never captured fully • the train of thought is always in the now • the now is always delayed • time buffers and biological frames • he followed his intention of random walks and i-ching driving for the finds • and treated this like drifting on the tides • cycling back and forth • here painted light was revolving code • painted sound and painted text • words made luminous • and the lines lived beneath the surface of the sound • the piano was quietly restructured • becoming furniture for the guests • holding the music in his fingers • the body of the text was strewn to the wind, left hanging in the air • this founding of words was later elegantly scattered and deeply reflective • yet merging with the landscape • the sound was entrained • the lines focusing flows • out from the straits • the drunken train strayed from the tracks • and found rooms for sensual play • the library at alexandria became luminous • and still a motioning toward quiescence • the waves were sold as code and the code was sold as waves • the reviver was rewritten • nosing out the ambivalences • the eskimos kissed • the apartments are numbers performed and recast • chance fell across the doorway • providing the mix • the tenuous movements of the dance formed the evening • and betting on musical chairs, the furniture was encircled • the circular route • a rotation of records and drives • the investment was clothed in an erudite air • the circle became the cycle of night and day • tarkovsky’s waters are always close • and lovers are soon to be found • the chance of meeting • in sound all full of heat, emotion, and light • the record revealed • a revolution etched with urgency • it isn’t what I say it is • the double bind was danced and played so many times it skipped • against the volume of the sea • and ears were ringing off the hook • the least likely line was followed • and jumped from time to time • the memory was strong and the odor recalled it • like wax cylinders in cyphers • the surface noise remained • ada’s visions were displayed with the operative music machine she wrote • the dead man’s switch stopped the long line • and the steam still spoke • etched on the mirror • through the cycle of paradox • all became clear • nothing was moved • actioning a rotating schedule • code words formed the surface of the sound • shimmering and shifting • the blue sound was well known • the loop pools flowed as if to become one • the field of codes • the cypher was spun • all was one in continuous blue • luminous hands wrote the code in taps • night fell everywhere simultaneously • overtaken by deep blue • the angle of the lips • spread the soft dark news • in this nook this frigid look • and the ice appeared blue • electricity was conducted • until energy was lost • as displaced in uncertainty • as the words of the day • the memory theatre shifted to code • and the code words passed away • the ambassador of light • distributed the lines • the straits and places and bearings all fell away • roussel’s stateroom was certainly the place • and descartes’ doll could not be traced • flung overboard as poetic justice • chance words fallen on deaf ears • distributed and displayed • the quiescent eye around which winds of high velocity move • one addresses with song • the sadness of the day • with taps and somber tones • muted trumpet would play • the straight tune played drunkenly • passed through the readymade • gesture to blue • and floats a line that puns as it plays • the double bind bristling with the life of the day • the fall had broken • where the code was spoken • leaving the lips to play • the code was broken where the lips had spoken • the floors shifting • the furniture was splayed • holding its breath the silence shimmered • her lips for a moment mouthed the lines • the fabric of her code was woven in song • at the end of the mouth • on the tip of the tongue • one notices what one has forgotten • the code from beneath drives the lines • mercurial as the light ••• text after the poem “straits” by kenneth koch — bill seaman (2012)
OUT FROM THE STRAITS Jeffrey Edelstein
1
s_traits
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independently exploring what might be described as the “uploading” of human creativity to the was investigating how creativity could be codified and reanimated through artificially intelligent systems. A narrative history of the collaboration between Seaman and Supko captures how they wrote s_traits. Their work together began when Supko gave Seaman the electronic track from a discarded version of his percussion duo Straits second. These samples became the first entries in what would evolve into a database of source material for s_traits. Over the next two years, they added more than 110 hours of varied but complementary sounds to the database. The new material included field recordings, analog and digital noise, acoustic and electronic instruments, cassette recordings of Supko’s juvenilia, recordings of Seaman and Supko playing the piano (inside and out), and soundtracks from documentaries made in the 1960’s and 70‘s. As the source material began to expand, Seaman and Supko increasingly focused on the technical details of using the computer to compose music. The majority of the samples in the database were created with a series of software tools designed by Supko. This software was also able to generate new hybrid samples from the existing collection. It thus enabled both composers to remix–again and again–the work of the When the sample database reached its current proportions, Supko built a new software system that could navigate the many hours of music in the database, extract and recombine dozens of samples, and compose complete wrote after the poem Straits by Kenneth Koch, which had inspired Supko’s earlier percussion duo. untouched, the composers treated them as first drafts, which they developed into the tracks on the present CD. although Seaman and Supko do not identify who composed what. The two sets of 13 are interwoven so Every track begins with a text fragment, which also serves as a title. Seaman and Supko plan to write a track for each of the more than 300 remaining text fragments.
01 providing the mix
14 I had fallen for the delicacy
02 the clicking
15 flung overboard as poetic justice
03 the memory of a moment
16 the absence of spoken words
04 the doubled was doubled over
17 the legacy hardware was put in motion
05 against the volume of the sea
18 the angle of the lips
06 the drunken train strayed from the tracks
19 out from the straits
07 chance and change motioning
20 readymade for rrose
08 the drive is on the blink
21 the ambassador of light
09 and the ice appeared blue
22 in flight
10 acting as they do as substitutions
23 skyward across the horizon
11 coming to know the longing vocabulary
24 predictably arcane
12 chance fell across the doorway
25 the hiding place
13 a recording of the lie
26 at the end of the mouth
All music © 2014 by Bill Seaman & John Supko Produced by John Supko Mastered by Dan Nichols at Aphorism Studios
Text © 2012 Bill Seaman Liner notes © 2014 Jeffrey Edelstein Album design by John Supko
Jeffrey Edelstein is a critic and Director of New Music at Crane Arts in Philadephia.
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Seaman
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Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. Seaman holds degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute (PhD). For more information please visit www.billseaman.com. Called “spellbindingly beautiful” (Steve Smith, Time Out New York), the work of composer John Supko
Bill Seaman and John Supko wish to thank the following for their contributions to &/or support of this project: Srinivas Aravamudan, Marissa Bergmann, Jeffrey Edelstein, Duke University Department of Music, Duke University Media Arts+Sciences, Andrew McKenna Lee, Hans van Miegroet, Dan Nichols, Laurie Patton, Jane Hawkins Raimi, Craig Tattersall, Kyle Yamakawa
PASTE OFA TAG HERE
cotton goods
cottongoods-ap002
Supko has been developing generative software to navigate his vast archives of field recordings, sampled acoustic and digital instruments, noise, and voice recordings. He uses this software to find unexpected compositional possibilities as well as to create dynamic sonic environments that are integrated into live performance with human musicians. Supko has also been experimenting with new forms of documentation for his music. Works such as A Free Invention for George Pitcher exist solely as software that ‘performs’ a new version of itself each time it is activated. Currently the Hunt Family Assistant Professor of Music at Duke University, Supko holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (BM) and Princeton University (PhD). For more information please visit www.johnsupko.com.
bill seaman & john supko
Seaman
saw eciov etal eht • sdrocer dedoc no nips a gnittup • skaerb eht ni edoc a • noitulover lanoitceridib a • reviver • secnelis eht ni yas I yas I tahw • ton si ti ,si ti yas I tahw ••• stiart_s s’namow eht • gnidnatsrednusim gnisu • sevaw ynit htiw denil • lanac raluco eht • acirfa ot ti edam reven lessuor • eno ni srebmun fo moor a • detallicso yltneg taob eht • ni democlew I dnuos fo • gnisuoh yraropmet eht si siht • dehcterts dna dehctef emit • sdeeps tnereffid ta edoc eht nur • nur saw dna selbat eht denrut • elbatnrut eht fo elitxet a • nups saw nup ni nezorf ylgnimees • emit fo noziroh eht • doohrehtom fo rehtaf eht hguorht dezispac • edoc gnitirw-fles ,elcannip eht ,tniop eht • part dedoc a gnittes • esorr rof edamydaer • kees ot sdrow tsrif eht • yad eht fo ssenllits eht • gnillet llat eht fo gninnips eht • nworht ecnahc si • ynitsed fo noitpeced eht • seohs enillatsyrc • sporp tneilas ro ,enilas fo slatsyrc • spord elbats eht • sniar tnemhcated • stnemegagnesid eht gnivomer ni • srehpyc gnirevuenam • sdrow edoc fo yrotcejart eht • eciov gnihcuot ni eugnot eht • daerps spil tfos eht • tsac eb llef gnihton llit ,ecnatsid eht gnidees-er • yaced cinos fo emoh eht • ecnahc fo wodniw a hguorht • welf eciov eht • yalp ta seitilibaborp • yad eht ssorca no gninord • detallicso retfihs gnitca • llef yletaciled sdiuqil eht • sdrow fo rewohs tnelis a • scitsahcots ot tisiv gnilbmuts a • nekops saw gnihc-i eht • erutagil etihw tfos eht gnikcil • thgil wol eht ni gnihtab • ereht eht • rehtona no gnikat ,elbaplap • esnes nworht eht • ecnalbmeser ylimaf etamitigel eht • snoisacco raluco naht ssel no ,snoisavni ,snoisausrep eltneg • snoitutitsbus sa od yeht sa ti sa noos sa revo si elcyc eht • gnidlof dna dedlof • eugnot lausnes eht • niatruc hself eht • thgis gnitaolf eht • ecnatsid a ta noitca • wolf tneilas eht • thgil fo taorht eht • tuc gnikrof rehpyc tcniccus a sgnis dna deretsalp si knurd eht • derrab dna derob ,nekops era swodniw • llits gnivom dna gnivom era llits eht • dniw fo egnahc a ni • ecnahc fo htaerb eht • snigeb gnixaw • noisserpmi tcerid eht fo ecafrus eht ssorca gnilkcarc si eciov nekorb eht • knilb eht no si evird eht • edoc dlo eht otni efil gnihtaerb • noitom ni tup si erawdrah ycagel eht • • ytniatrecnu ni gnimmiws ecnetnes a • sloop fo pool a ,spool fo loop a • esuoh lluf a sdnif eno ,seugnot fo noitutitsbus a sa noitcudorper eht ni gnimmiws • citehtap gnixaw • citeop morf netsilg thgilf fo senil eht • ria eht ni era sthguoht • swollaws dna sllews fo devired erehpsomta eht • erar ,detaeper ,cimhtyhr si gnosdrib eht • ycanimretedni fo hcnarb gnitator eht degnellahcnu • sneercs dna slangis ekoms • noziroh eht ssorca drawyks • detsop era slobmys eht • ecnahc fo sdnah eht • espmilg a fo tnih eht ,tils thgils eht • lla erab taht selgna eht eht • eil eht fo gnidrocer a • hturt siht fo gninnips eht • eurt :edoc langis elgnis eht • sedoc yb detartenep saw llaw eht • gniwolf tub dedniw ,enil thgiarts a ni welf edoc lacisyhp eht • • maets ni dehcuot rorrim a no • sdrow deraems yb debircsed ,retaw no dniw fo saw gnitniap eht • eye s’regnis eht dna eciov s’retniap eht • hgis a fo esaeler eht • dnal eht fo yal a • yad eht no delims dna dehsiruolf • ecnahc fo htuom eht • tnemom a fo yromem eht • gnivaeh stsaerb eht ,txet eht fo htdaerb eht • htuom eht esopxe ot • noitnetni htiw desufnoc eht • yltnelis ,dils ecifide eht • yawa tnew gnirednaw hguoht ,gnidrow eht • thgilf ni • dnik ni dedrawer ,nekat llew esnes dedolpxe eht • sngis fo tserof a ssorca • yaws ni desaeler drow gnola gnilcric erew sdrocer eht • sraet fo tlas eht htiw dellif saw enil eht retal tub • ecnahc fo taorht eht ekil • nellows saw egnahc fo revir eht • gnitaolf taob a fo llaw eht • yartsa llef llaw eht denrut • cificeps ni gnipeels eht tpews • eciov a fo dniw eht • ylpmi ro etelped • erohs eht morf tnes • detpyrcne erew samaronap • delennahc erew seigrene dna • werc eht htiw • gnimit eht fo elgna eht • llews eht ,gnitnuhs eht ,ecnahc fo yrenihcam eht • llits stis ecneidua eht • won eht fo gnillaf eht • tnemom eht fo evol eht • maerd a fo enut eht ot eugnot eht • llet reh fo ssenteews eht • ycaciled eht rof nellaf dah I • llehs eht ot esahcrup evag • senot eht fo gnitfarg eht • ecnartne htiw dedocne • ecalp gnidih eht • llehs eht • gnikcilc eht tniop a • erew yeht sa dedoc • der erew senil eht • thgil fo sciteop eht gniknab • senil gnitfihs eht nopu stcelfer noziroh eht aes a no • taob a ekil neknurd • revo delbuod saw delbuod fo tsoc eht • thgilf ekat yletaciled • gnivom spil detniap eht • thgil eht fo ssol eht dna tsol evol eht lla retfa • thgin a hcus retfa gninruom saw yks eht • ssendas fo eulb eht ni • enif yrev a sah maerd eht • weksa gninnur • sgel evah sdrow eht • noitcelfni fo stiart eht ro stiarts eht fo etaf eht • ytpme revir eht • ecnelis fo edoc eht gnitpmet dna snoitalsnart • eugnot eht • nwonk llew stiarts eht • raelc era sgniraeb eht • gnus era sdrow eht • ykcits era sdrow eht • seugnot ruo rof yap ew tra ni sa evol ni • wenk egac neve sa lluf sa saw ecnelis eht • lraep gnieb fo rotca na sa • drow eht ni detsevni dnuos fo retniap eht • edoc dna srepsev ni ,srepsihw ni nekops • noitca eht detpmet ohw eno eht • nwes llew dees a • nekops sah revol eht • serif desucof fo ecaps lellarap eht • ecaps citylatacotua eht • drohc lacov eht ,edoc fo eugolana eht • dlot si ti seugnot gnihcuot • eugnot a sa evitareneg sa • dlrow a gnidliub sa • enillatsyrc eht ni nekops • efil wen a gnimrof noitalsnart eht • egaugnal fo thgiliwt eht ssorca dewolf stes langis eht • thguoht a fo ecaps detubirtsid eht • seirotirret wen a otni thgilf eht gnilcric sdnah • egaugnal erutseg nwo sti ni ekops ecnelis • yalp ni saw cigol eulav-itlum fo ecnad eht • noitasrevnoc a demrof osla smurd dna skcilc eht • cigol lacitamehtam fo slewej • spam gnus ekilnu ton • epacsdnal eht fo segami eht demrof • sdrow nekops fo ecnesba eht • ecaps noitpircsed lausnes reh emaceb rehto eht fo dnah eht no sregnif fo hcuot eht • • senil gnivom tliub ti sa ekoms esned eht hguorht decnad thgil eht • erif fo epacsdnal eht derorrim noisserpxe laicaf eht fo regnessem eht • llits fi neve nwohs spil reh fo rewolf eht sthguoht rieht derehtag yeht sa • eulb sa niaga nwohs thgil fo roloc eht • noitom wols ni • noisiv detcartsba siht fo ylmraw ekops noitanotni larutseg fo eciov eht • sesnes eht gnihcuot erew skoob eht • sdnah suonimul eht • enacra ylbatciderp • gninoitom egnahc dna ecnahc • serutseg tnecseiuq no deknab dna • gnihtaerb • llits doots niaga • sevaw eht ssorca • ylhgih • yek tnereffid a ni saw revoc eht • nrob erew sdlrow fo tes a • lellarap dna larulp a • secnelis fo secnatsid eht morf dna • swodahs tsac seciov eht • enrobria dna dedocne gnignol eht wonk ot gnimoc • foor eht tsniaga • sehcuot eugnot gnippop dna skcilc htiw ekops yeht • srebmun fo moor a ,smoor fo rebmun a • demrofer yltnasaelp • detcartsba syawla si won eht • won eht ni syawla si thguoht fo niart eht • ylluf derutpac reven saw tub dennep saw niatnuof eht • maets ni nettirw sdrow eht fo yawa gnitlem eht dna • yralubacov dna kcab gnilcyc • sedit eht no gnitfird ekil siht detaert dna • sdnif eht rof gnivird gnihc-i dna sklaw modnar fo noitnetni sih dewollof eh • semarf lacigoloib dna sreffub emit • deyaled ylteiuq saw onaip eht • dnuos eht fo ecafrus eht htaeneb devil senil eht dna • suonimul edam sdrow • txet detniap dna dnuos detniap • edoc gnivlover saw thgil detniap ,ereh • htrof retal saw sdrow fo gnidnuof siht • ria eht ni gnignah tfel ,dniw eht ot nwerts saw txet eht fo ydob eht • sregnif sih ni cisum eht gnidloh • stseug eht rof erutinruf gnimoceb • derutcurtser morf deyarts niart neknurd eht • stiarts eht morf tuo • swolf gnisucof senil eht • deniartne saw dnuos eht • epacsdnal eht htiw gnigrem tey • evitcelfer ylpeed dna derettacs yltnagele saw edoc eht dna edoc sa dlos erew sevaw eht • ecnecseiuq drawot gninoitom a llits dna • suonimul emaceb airdnaxela ta yrarbil eht • yalp lausnes rof smoor dnuof dna • skcart eht • yawrood eht ssorca llef ecnahc • tsacer dna demrofrep srebmun era stnemtrapa eht • dessik somikse eht • secnelavibma eht tuo gnison • nettirwer a saw reviver eht • sevaw sa dlos dna sdrocer fo noitator a • etuor ralucric eht • delcricne saw erutinruf eht sriahc lacisum no gnitteb dna • gnineve eht demrof ecnad eht fo stnemevom suounet eht • xim eht gnidivorp ecnahc eht • dnuof eb ot noos era srevol dna • esolc syawla era sretaw s’yksvokrat • yad dna thgin fo elcyc eht emaceb elcric eht • ria etidure na ni dehtolc saw tnemtsevni eht • sevird deyalp dna decnad saw dnib elbuod eht • si ti yas I tahw t’nsi ti • ycnegru na htiw dehcte noitulover a • delaever drocer eht • thgil dna ,noitome ,taeh fo lluf lla dnuos ni • gniteem fo saw yromem eht • emit ot emit morf depmuj dna • dewollof saw enil ylekil tsael eht • kooh eht ffo gnignir erew srae dna • aes eht fo emulov eht tsniaga • deppiks ti semit ynam os s’nam daed eht • etorw ehs enihcam cisum evitarepo eht htiw deyalpsid erew snoisiv s’ada • deniamer esion ecafrus eht • srehpyc ni srednilyc xaw ekil • ti dellacer rodo eht dna gnorts eludehcs gnitator a gninoitca • devom saw gnihton • raelc emaceb lla • xodarap fo elcyc eht hguorht • rorrim eht no dehcte • ekops llits maets eht dna • enil gnol eht deppots hctiws rehpyc eht • sedoc fo dleif eht • eno emoceb ot fi sa dewolf sloop pool eht • nwonk llew saw dnuos eulb eht • gnitfihs dna gniremmihs • dnuos eht fo ecafrus eht demrof sdrow edoc • eht daerps • spil eht fo elgna eht • eulb peed yb nekatrevo • ylsuoenatlumis erehwyreve llef thgin • spat ni edoc eht etorw sdnah suonimul • eulb suounitnoc ni eno saw lla • nups saw eht • yad eht fo sdrow eht sa • ytniatrecnu ni decalpsid sa • tsol saw ygrene litnu • detcudnoc saw yticirtcele • eulb deraeppa eci eht dna • kool digirf siht koon siht ni • swen krad tfos s’lessuor • yawa llef lla sgniraeb (BARCODE) dna secalp dna stiarts eht • senil eht detubirtsid • thgil fo rodassabma eht • yawa dessap sdrow edoc eht dna • edoc ot detfihs ertaeht yromem eht • deyalpsid dna detubirtsid • srae faed no nellaf sdrow ecnahc • ecitsuj citeop sa draobrevo gnulf • decart eb ton dluoc llod ’setracsed dna • ecalp eht ylniatrec saw mooretats thgiarts eht • yalp dluow tepmurt detum • senot rebmos dna spat htiw • yad eht fo ssendas eht • gnos htiw sesserdda eno • evom yticolev hgih fo sdniw hcihw dnuora eye tnecseiuq nekorb dah llaf eht • yad eht fo efil eht htiw gniltsirb dnib elbuod eht • syalp ti sa snup taht enil a staolf dna • eulb ot erutseg • edamydaer eht hguorht dessap • neknurd deyalp enut ecnelis eht htaerb sti gnidloh • deyalps saw erutinruf eht • gnitfihs sroolf eht • nekops dah spil eht erehw nekorb saw edoc eht • yalp ot spil eht gnivael • nekops saw edoc eht erehw • sah eno tahw seciton eno • eugnot eht fo pit eht no • htuom eht fo dne eht ta • gnos ni nevow saw edoc reh fo cirbaf eht • senil eht dehtuom tnemom a rof spil reh • deremmihs )2102( namaes llib — hcok htennek yb ”stiarts“ meop eht retfa txet ••• thgil eht sa lairucrem • senil eht sevird htaeneb morf edoc eht • nettogrof
s_traits
Bill Seaman
s_traits ••• what I say it is, it is not • what I say I say in the silences • reviver • a bidirectional revolution • a code in the breaks • putting a spin on coded records • the late voice was welcomed in • the boat gently oscillated • a room of numbers in one • roussel never made it to africa • the ocular canal • lined with tiny waves • using misunderstanding • the woman’s pun was spun • a textile of the turntable • turned the tables and was run • run the code at different speeds • time fetched and stretched • this is the temporary housing • of sound I seek • readymade for rrose • setting a coded trap • the point, the pinnacle, self-writing code • capsized through the father of motherhood • the horizon of time • seemingly frozen in drops • crystals of saline, or salient props • crystalline shoes • the deception of destiny • is chance thrown • the spinning of the tall telling • the stillness of the day • the first words to be cast • the soft lips spread • the tongue in touching voice • the trajectory of code words • maneuvering cyphers • in removing the disengagements • detachment rains • the stable shifter oscillated • droning on across the day • probabilities at play • the voice flew • through a window of chance • the home of sonic decay • re-seeding the distance, till nothing fell there • bathing in the low light • licking the soft white ligature • the i-ching was spoken • a stumbling visit to stochastics • a silent shower of words • the liquids delicately fell • acting as they do as substitutions • gentle persuasions, invasions, on less than ocular occasions • the legitimate family resemblance • the thrown sense • palpable, taking on another • the forking cut • the throat of light • the salient flow • action at a distance • the floating sight • the flesh curtain • the sensual tongue • folded and folding • the cycle is over as soon as it begins • the breath of chance • in a change of wind • the still are moving and moving still • windows are spoken, bored and barred • the drunk is plastered and sings a succinct cypher • the legacy hardware is put in motion • breathing life into the old code • the drive is on the blink • the broken voice is crackling across the surface of the direct impression • waxing poetic • waxing pathetic • swimming in the reproduction as a substitution of tongues, one finds a full house • a pool of loops, a loop of pools • a sentence swimming in uncertainty • the rotating branch of indeterminacy • the birdsong is rhythmic, repeated, rare • the atmosphere derived of swells and swallows • thoughts are in the air • the lines of flight glisten from the angles that bare all • the slight slit, the hint of a glimpse • the hands of chance • the symbols are posted • skyward across the horizon • smoke signals and screens • unchallenged • the physical code flew in a straight line, winded but flowing • the wall was penetrated by codes • the single signal code: true • the spinning of this truth • a recording of the lie • the lay of the land • the release of a sigh • the painter’s voice and the singer’s eye • the painting was of wind on water, described by smeared words • on a mirror touched in steam • confused with intention • to expose the mouth • the breadth of the text, the breasts heaving • the memory of a moment • the mouth of chance • flourished and smiled on the day • a word released in sway • across a forest of signs • the exploded sense well taken, rewarded in kind • in flight • the wording, though wandering, went away • the edifice slid, silently • the wall fell astray • the wall of a boat floating • the river of change was swollen • like the throat of chance • but later the line was filled with the salt of tears • the records were circling along with the crew • and energies were channeled • panoramas were encrypted • sent from the shore • deplete or imply • the wind of a voice • swept the sleeping in specific • turned the tongue to the tune of a dream • the love of the moment • the falling of the now • the audience sits still • the machinery of chance, the shunting, the swell • the angle of the timing • the clicking • the shell • the hiding place • encoded with entrance • the grafting of the tones • gave purchase to the shell • I had fallen for the delicacy • the sweetness of her tell • the doubled was doubled over • drunken like a boat • on a sea the horizon reflects upon the shifting lines • banking the poetics of light • the lines were red • coded as they were • a point very fine • in the blue of sadness • the sky was mourning after such a night • after all the love lost and the loss of the light • the painted lips moving • delicately take flight • the cost of the tongue • translations and tempting the code of silence • the river empty • the fate of the straits or the traits of inflection • the words have legs • running askew • the dream has a pearl • the silence was as full as even cage knew • in love as in art we pay for our tongues • the words are sticky • the words are sung • the bearings are clear • the straits well known • the lover has spoken • a seed well sewn • the one who tempted the action • spoken in whispers, in vespers and code • the painter of sound invested in the word • as an actor of being • as building a world • as generative as a tongue • touching tongues it is told • the analog of code, the vocal chord • the autocatalytic space • the parallel space of focused fires • the flight into new territories • the distributed space of a thought • the signal sets flowed across the twilight of language • the translation forming a new life • spoken in the crystalline jewels of mathematical logic • the clicks and drums also formed a conversation • the dance of multi-value logic was in play • silence spoke in its own gesture language • hands circling • the touch of fingers on the hand of the other became her sensual description space • the absence of spoken words • formed the images of the landscape • not unlike sung maps • the flower of her lips shown even if still • the messenger of the facial expression mirrored the landscape of fire • the light danced through the dense smoke as it built moving lines • touching the senses • the voice of gestural intonation spoke warmly of this abstracted vision • in slow motion • the color of light shown again as blue • as they gathered their thoughts • across the waves • again stood still • breathing • and banked on quiescent gestures • chance and change motioning • predictably arcane • the luminous hands • the books were encoded and airborne • the voices cast shadows • and from the distances of silences • a plural and parallel • a set of worlds were born • the cover was in a different key • highly abstracted • pleasantly reformed • a number of rooms, a room of numbers • they spoke with clicks and popping tongue touches • against the roof • coming to know the longing vocabulary • and the melting away of the words written in steam • the fountain was penned but was never captured fully • the train of thought is always in the now • the now is always delayed • time buffers and biological frames • he followed his intention of random walks and i-ching driving for the finds • and treated this like drifting on the tides • cycling back and forth • here painted light was revolving code • painted sound and painted text • words made luminous • and the lines lived beneath the surface of the sound • the piano was quietly restructured • becoming furniture for the guests • holding the music in his fingers • the body of the text was strewn to the wind, left hanging in the air • this founding of words was later elegantly scattered and deeply reflective • yet merging with the landscape • the sound was entrained • the lines focusing flows • out from the straits • the drunken train strayed from the tracks • and found rooms for sensual play • the library at alexandria became luminous • and still a motioning toward quiescence • the waves were sold as code and the code was sold as waves • the reviver was rewritten • nosing out the ambivalences • the eskimos kissed • the apartments are numbers performed and recast • chance fell across the doorway • providing the mix • the tenuous movements of the dance formed the evening • and betting on musical chairs, the furniture was encircled • the circular route • a rotation of records and drives • the investment was clothed in an erudite air • the circle became the cycle of night and day • tarkovsky’s waters are always close • and lovers are soon to be found • the chance of meeting • in sound all full of heat, emotion, and light • the record revealed • a revolution etched with urgency • it isn’t what I say it is • the double bind was danced and played so many times it skipped • against the volume of the sea • and ears were ringing off the hook • the least likely line was followed • and jumped from time to time • the memory was strong and the odor recalled it • like wax cylinders in cyphers • the surface noise remained • ada’s visions were displayed with the operative music machine she wrote • the dead man’s switch stopped the long line • and the steam still spoke • etched on the mirror • through the cycle of paradox • all became clear • nothing was moved • actioning a rotating schedule • code words formed the surface of the sound • shimmering and shifting • the blue sound was well known • the loop pools flowed as if to become one • the field of codes • the cypher was spun • all was one in continuous blue • luminous hands wrote the code in taps • night fell everywhere simultaneously • overtaken by deep blue • the angle of the lips • spread the soft dark news • in this nook this frigid look • and the ice appeared blue • electricity was conducted • until energy was lost • as displaced in uncertainty • as the words of the day • the memory theatre shifted to code • and the code words passed away • the ambassador of light • distributed the lines • the straits and places and bearings all fell away • roussel’s stateroom was certainly the place • and descartes’ doll could not be traced • flung overboard as poetic justice • chance words fallen on deaf ears • distributed and displayed • the quiescent eye around which winds of high velocity move • one addresses with song • the sadness of the day • with taps and somber tones • muted trumpet would play • the straight tune played drunkenly • passed through the readymade • gesture to blue • and floats a line that puns as it plays • the double bind bristling with the life of the day • the fall had broken • where the code was spoken • leaving the lips to play • the code was broken where the lips had spoken • the floors shifting • the furniture was splayed • holding its breath the silence shimmered • her lips for a moment mouthed the lines • the fabric of her code was woven in song • at the end of the mouth • on the tip of the tongue • one notices what one has forgotten • the code from beneath drives the lines • mercurial as the light ••• text after the poem “straits” by kenneth koch — bill seaman (2012)
OUT FROM THE STRAITS Jeffrey Edelstein
1
s_traits
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independently exploring what might be described as the “uploading” of human creativity to the was investigating how creativity could be codified and reanimated through artificially intelligent systems. A narrative history of the collaboration between Seaman and Supko captures how they wrote s_traits. Their work together began when Supko gave Seaman the electronic track from a discarded version of his percussion duo Straits second. These samples became the first entries in what would evolve into a database of source material for s_traits. Over the next two years, they added more than 110 hours of varied but complementary sounds to the database. The new material included field recordings, analog and digital noise, acoustic and electronic instruments, cassette recordings of Supko’s juvenilia, recordings of Seaman and Supko playing the piano (inside and out), and soundtracks from documentaries made in the 1960’s and 70‘s. As the source material began to expand, Seaman and Supko increasingly focused on the technical details of using the computer to compose music. The majority of the samples in the database were created with a series of software tools designed by Supko. This software was also able to generate new hybrid samples from the existing collection. It thus enabled both composers to remix–again and again–the work of the When the sample database reached its current proportions, Supko built a new software system that could navigate the many hours of music in the database, extract and recombine dozens of samples, and compose complete wrote after the poem Straits by Kenneth Koch, which had inspired Supko’s earlier percussion duo. untouched, the composers treated them as first drafts, which they developed into the tracks on the present CD. although Seaman and Supko do not identify who composed what. The two sets of 13 are interwoven so Every track begins with a text fragment, which also serves as a title. Seaman and Supko plan to write a track for each of the more than 300 remaining text fragments.
01 providing the mix
14 I had fallen for the delicacy
02 the clicking
15 flung overboard as poetic justice
03 the memory of a moment
16 the absence of spoken words
04 the doubled was doubled over
17 the legacy hardware was put in motion
05 against the volume of the sea
18 the angle of the lips
06 the drunken train strayed from the tracks
19 out from the straits
07 chance and change motioning
20 readymade for rrose
08 the drive is on the blink
21 the ambassador of light
09 and the ice appeared blue
22 in flight
10 acting as they do as substitutions
23 skyward across the horizon
11 coming to know the longing vocabulary
24 predictably arcane
12 chance fell across the doorway
25 the hiding place
13 a recording of the lie
26 at the end of the mouth
All music © 2014 by Bill Seaman & John Supko Produced by John Supko Mastered by Dan Nichols at Aphorism Studios
Text © 2012 Bill Seaman Liner notes © 2014 Jeffrey Edelstein Album design by John Supko
Jeffrey Edelstein is a critic and Director of New Music at Crane Arts in Philadephia.
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Seaman
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Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. Seaman holds degrees from the San Francisco Art Institute (PhD). For more information please visit www.billseaman.com. Called “spellbindingly beautiful” (Steve Smith, Time Out New York), the work of composer John Supko
Bill Seaman and John Supko wish to thank the following for their contributions to &/or support of this project: Srinivas Aravamudan, Marissa Bergmann, Jeffrey Edelstein, Duke University Department of Music, Duke University Media Arts+Sciences, Andrew McKenna Lee, Hans van Miegroet, Dan Nichols, Laurie Patton, Jane Hawkins Raimi, Craig Tattersall, Kyle Yamakawa
PASTE OFA TAG HERE
cotton goods
cottongoods-ap002
Supko has been developing generative software to navigate his vast archives of field recordings, sampled acoustic and digital instruments, noise, and voice recordings. He uses this software to find unexpected compositional possibilities as well as to create dynamic sonic environments that are integrated into live performance with human musicians. Supko has also been experimenting with new forms of documentation for his music. Works such as A Free Invention for George Pitcher exist solely as software that ‘performs’ a new version of itself each time it is activated. Currently the Hunt Family Assistant Professor of Music at Duke University, Supko holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (BM) and Princeton University (PhD). For more information please visit www.johnsupko.com.
bill seaman & john supko
Seaman
saw eciov etal eht • sdrocer dedoc no nips a gnittup • skaerb eht ni edoc a • noitulover lanoitceridib a • reviver • secnelis eht ni yas I yas I tahw • ton si ti ,si ti yas I tahw ••• stiart_s s’namow eht • gnidnatsrednusim gnisu • sevaw ynit htiw denil • lanac raluco eht • acirfa ot ti edam reven lessuor • eno ni srebmun fo moor a • detallicso yltneg taob eht • ni democlew I dnuos fo • gnisuoh yraropmet eht si siht • dehcterts dna dehctef emit • sdeeps tnereffid ta edoc eht nur • nur saw dna selbat eht denrut • elbatnrut eht fo elitxet a • nups saw nup ni nezorf ylgnimees • emit fo noziroh eht • doohrehtom fo rehtaf eht hguorht dezispac • edoc gnitirw-fles ,elcannip eht ,tniop eht • part dedoc a gnittes • esorr rof edamydaer • kees ot sdrow tsrif eht • yad eht fo ssenllits eht • gnillet llat eht fo gninnips eht • nworht ecnahc si • ynitsed fo noitpeced eht • seohs enillatsyrc • sporp tneilas ro ,enilas fo slatsyrc • spord elbats eht • sniar tnemhcated • stnemegagnesid eht gnivomer ni • srehpyc gnirevuenam • sdrow edoc fo yrotcejart eht • eciov gnihcuot ni eugnot eht • daerps spil tfos eht • tsac eb llef gnihton llit ,ecnatsid eht gnidees-er • yaced cinos fo emoh eht • ecnahc fo wodniw a hguorht • welf eciov eht • yalp ta seitilibaborp • yad eht ssorca no gninord • detallicso retfihs gnitca • llef yletaciled sdiuqil eht • sdrow fo rewohs tnelis a • scitsahcots ot tisiv gnilbmuts a • nekops saw gnihc-i eht • erutagil etihw tfos eht gnikcil • thgil wol eht ni gnihtab • ereht eht • rehtona no gnikat ,elbaplap • esnes nworht eht • ecnalbmeser ylimaf etamitigel eht • snoisacco raluco naht ssel no ,snoisavni ,snoisausrep eltneg • snoitutitsbus sa od yeht sa ti sa noos sa revo si elcyc eht • gnidlof dna dedlof • eugnot lausnes eht • niatruc hself eht • thgis gnitaolf eht • ecnatsid a ta noitca • wolf tneilas eht • thgil fo taorht eht • tuc gnikrof rehpyc tcniccus a sgnis dna deretsalp si knurd eht • derrab dna derob ,nekops era swodniw • llits gnivom dna gnivom era llits eht • dniw fo egnahc a ni • ecnahc fo htaerb eht • snigeb gnixaw • noisserpmi tcerid eht fo ecafrus eht ssorca gnilkcarc si eciov nekorb eht • knilb eht no si evird eht • edoc dlo eht otni efil gnihtaerb • noitom ni tup si erawdrah ycagel eht • • ytniatrecnu ni gnimmiws ecnetnes a • sloop fo pool a ,spool fo loop a • esuoh lluf a sdnif eno ,seugnot fo noitutitsbus a sa noitcudorper eht ni gnimmiws • citehtap gnixaw • citeop morf netsilg thgilf fo senil eht • ria eht ni era sthguoht • swollaws dna sllews fo devired erehpsomta eht • erar ,detaeper ,cimhtyhr si gnosdrib eht • ycanimretedni fo hcnarb gnitator eht degnellahcnu • sneercs dna slangis ekoms • noziroh eht ssorca drawyks • detsop era slobmys eht • ecnahc fo sdnah eht • espmilg a fo tnih eht ,tils thgils eht • lla erab taht selgna eht eht • eil eht fo gnidrocer a • hturt siht fo gninnips eht • eurt :edoc langis elgnis eht • sedoc yb detartenep saw llaw eht • gniwolf tub dedniw ,enil thgiarts a ni welf edoc lacisyhp eht • • maets ni dehcuot rorrim a no • sdrow deraems yb debircsed ,retaw no dniw fo saw gnitniap eht • eye s’regnis eht dna eciov s’retniap eht • hgis a fo esaeler eht • dnal eht fo yal a • yad eht no delims dna dehsiruolf • ecnahc fo htuom eht • tnemom a fo yromem eht • gnivaeh stsaerb eht ,txet eht fo htdaerb eht • htuom eht esopxe ot • noitnetni htiw desufnoc eht • yltnelis ,dils ecifide eht • yawa tnew gnirednaw hguoht ,gnidrow eht • thgilf ni • dnik ni dedrawer ,nekat llew esnes dedolpxe eht • sngis fo tserof a ssorca • yaws ni desaeler drow gnola gnilcric erew sdrocer eht • sraet fo tlas eht htiw dellif saw enil eht retal tub • ecnahc fo taorht eht ekil • nellows saw egnahc fo revir eht • gnitaolf taob a fo llaw eht • yartsa llef llaw eht denrut • cificeps ni gnipeels eht tpews • eciov a fo dniw eht • ylpmi ro etelped • erohs eht morf tnes • detpyrcne erew samaronap • delennahc erew seigrene dna • werc eht htiw • gnimit eht fo elgna eht • llews eht ,gnitnuhs eht ,ecnahc fo yrenihcam eht • llits stis ecneidua eht • won eht fo gnillaf eht • tnemom eht fo evol eht • maerd a fo enut eht ot eugnot eht • llet reh fo ssenteews eht • ycaciled eht rof nellaf dah I • llehs eht ot esahcrup evag • senot eht fo gnitfarg eht • ecnartne htiw dedocne • ecalp gnidih eht • llehs eht • gnikcilc eht tniop a • erew yeht sa dedoc • der erew senil eht • thgil fo sciteop eht gniknab • senil gnitfihs eht nopu stcelfer noziroh eht aes a no • taob a ekil neknurd • revo delbuod saw delbuod fo tsoc eht • thgilf ekat yletaciled • gnivom spil detniap eht • thgil eht fo ssol eht dna tsol evol eht lla retfa • thgin a hcus retfa gninruom saw yks eht • ssendas fo eulb eht ni • enif yrev a sah maerd eht • weksa gninnur • sgel evah sdrow eht • noitcelfni fo stiart eht ro stiarts eht fo etaf eht • ytpme revir eht • ecnelis fo edoc eht gnitpmet dna snoitalsnart • eugnot eht • nwonk llew stiarts eht • raelc era sgniraeb eht • gnus era sdrow eht • ykcits era sdrow eht • seugnot ruo rof yap ew tra ni sa evol ni • wenk egac neve sa lluf sa saw ecnelis eht • lraep gnieb fo rotca na sa • drow eht ni detsevni dnuos fo retniap eht • edoc dna srepsev ni ,srepsihw ni nekops • noitca eht detpmet ohw eno eht • nwes llew dees a • nekops sah revol eht • serif desucof fo ecaps lellarap eht • ecaps citylatacotua eht • drohc lacov eht ,edoc fo eugolana eht • dlot si ti seugnot gnihcuot • eugnot a sa evitareneg sa • dlrow a gnidliub sa • enillatsyrc eht ni nekops • efil wen a gnimrof noitalsnart eht • egaugnal fo thgiliwt eht ssorca dewolf stes langis eht • thguoht a fo ecaps detubirtsid eht • seirotirret wen a otni thgilf eht gnilcric sdnah • egaugnal erutseg nwo sti ni ekops ecnelis • yalp ni saw cigol eulav-itlum fo ecnad eht • noitasrevnoc a demrof osla smurd dna skcilc eht • cigol lacitamehtam fo slewej • spam gnus ekilnu ton • epacsdnal eht fo segami eht demrof • sdrow nekops fo ecnesba eht • ecaps noitpircsed lausnes reh emaceb rehto eht fo dnah eht no sregnif fo hcuot eht • • senil gnivom tliub ti sa ekoms esned eht hguorht decnad thgil eht • erif fo epacsdnal eht derorrim noisserpxe laicaf eht fo regnessem eht • llits fi neve nwohs spil reh fo rewolf eht sthguoht rieht derehtag yeht sa • eulb sa niaga nwohs thgil fo roloc eht • noitom wols ni • noisiv detcartsba siht fo ylmraw ekops noitanotni larutseg fo eciov eht • sesnes eht gnihcuot erew skoob eht • sdnah suonimul eht • enacra ylbatciderp • gninoitom egnahc dna ecnahc • serutseg tnecseiuq no deknab dna • gnihtaerb • llits doots niaga • sevaw eht ssorca • ylhgih • yek tnereffid a ni saw revoc eht • nrob erew sdlrow fo tes a • lellarap dna larulp a • secnelis fo secnatsid eht morf dna • swodahs tsac seciov eht • enrobria dna dedocne gnignol eht wonk ot gnimoc • foor eht tsniaga • sehcuot eugnot gnippop dna skcilc htiw ekops yeht • srebmun fo moor a ,smoor fo rebmun a • demrofer yltnasaelp • detcartsba syawla si won eht • won eht ni syawla si thguoht fo niart eht • ylluf derutpac reven saw tub dennep saw niatnuof eht • maets ni nettirw sdrow eht fo yawa gnitlem eht dna • yralubacov dna kcab gnilcyc • sedit eht no gnitfird ekil siht detaert dna • sdnif eht rof gnivird gnihc-i dna sklaw modnar fo noitnetni sih dewollof eh • semarf lacigoloib dna sreffub emit • deyaled ylteiuq saw onaip eht • dnuos eht fo ecafrus eht htaeneb devil senil eht dna • suonimul edam sdrow • txet detniap dna dnuos detniap • edoc gnivlover saw thgil detniap ,ereh • htrof retal saw sdrow fo gnidnuof siht • ria eht ni gnignah tfel ,dniw eht ot nwerts saw txet eht fo ydob eht • sregnif sih ni cisum eht gnidloh • stseug eht rof erutinruf gnimoceb • derutcurtser morf deyarts niart neknurd eht • stiarts eht morf tuo • swolf gnisucof senil eht • deniartne saw dnuos eht • epacsdnal eht htiw gnigrem tey • evitcelfer ylpeed dna derettacs yltnagele saw edoc eht dna edoc sa dlos erew sevaw eht • ecnecseiuq drawot gninoitom a llits dna • suonimul emaceb airdnaxela ta yrarbil eht • yalp lausnes rof smoor dnuof dna • skcart eht • yawrood eht ssorca llef ecnahc • tsacer dna demrofrep srebmun era stnemtrapa eht • dessik somikse eht • secnelavibma eht tuo gnison • nettirwer a saw reviver eht • sevaw sa dlos dna sdrocer fo noitator a • etuor ralucric eht • delcricne saw erutinruf eht sriahc lacisum no gnitteb dna • gnineve eht demrof ecnad eht fo stnemevom suounet eht • xim eht gnidivorp ecnahc eht • dnuof eb ot noos era srevol dna • esolc syawla era sretaw s’yksvokrat • yad dna thgin fo elcyc eht emaceb elcric eht • ria etidure na ni dehtolc saw tnemtsevni eht • sevird deyalp dna decnad saw dnib elbuod eht • si ti yas I tahw t’nsi ti • ycnegru na htiw dehcte noitulover a • delaever drocer eht • thgil dna ,noitome ,taeh fo lluf lla dnuos ni • gniteem fo saw yromem eht • emit ot emit morf depmuj dna • dewollof saw enil ylekil tsael eht • kooh eht ffo gnignir erew srae dna • aes eht fo emulov eht tsniaga • deppiks ti semit ynam os s’nam daed eht • etorw ehs enihcam cisum evitarepo eht htiw deyalpsid erew snoisiv s’ada • deniamer esion ecafrus eht • srehpyc ni srednilyc xaw ekil • ti dellacer rodo eht dna gnorts eludehcs gnitator a gninoitca • devom saw gnihton • raelc emaceb lla • xodarap fo elcyc eht hguorht • rorrim eht no dehcte • ekops llits maets eht dna • enil gnol eht deppots hctiws rehpyc eht • sedoc fo dleif eht • eno emoceb ot fi sa dewolf sloop pool eht • nwonk llew saw dnuos eulb eht • gnitfihs dna gniremmihs • dnuos eht fo ecafrus eht demrof sdrow edoc • eht daerps • spil eht fo elgna eht • eulb peed yb nekatrevo • ylsuoenatlumis erehwyreve llef thgin • spat ni edoc eht etorw sdnah suonimul • eulb suounitnoc ni eno saw lla • nups saw eht • yad eht fo sdrow eht sa • ytniatrecnu ni decalpsid sa • tsol saw ygrene litnu • detcudnoc saw yticirtcele • eulb deraeppa eci eht dna • kool digirf siht koon siht ni • swen krad tfos s’lessuor • yawa llef lla sgniraeb (BARCODE) dna secalp dna stiarts eht • senil eht detubirtsid • thgil fo rodassabma eht • yawa dessap sdrow edoc eht dna • edoc ot detfihs ertaeht yromem eht • deyalpsid dna detubirtsid • srae faed no nellaf sdrow ecnahc • ecitsuj citeop sa draobrevo gnulf • decart eb ton dluoc llod ’setracsed dna • ecalp eht ylniatrec saw mooretats thgiarts eht • yalp dluow tepmurt detum • senot rebmos dna spat htiw • yad eht fo ssendas eht • gnos htiw sesserdda eno • evom yticolev hgih fo sdniw hcihw dnuora eye tnecseiuq nekorb dah llaf eht • yad eht fo efil eht htiw gniltsirb dnib elbuod eht • syalp ti sa snup taht enil a staolf dna • eulb ot erutseg • edamydaer eht hguorht dessap • neknurd deyalp enut ecnelis eht htaerb sti gnidloh • deyalps saw erutinruf eht • gnitfihs sroolf eht • nekops dah spil eht erehw nekorb saw edoc eht • yalp ot spil eht gnivael • nekops saw edoc eht erehw • sah eno tahw seciton eno • eugnot eht fo pit eht no • htuom eht fo dne eht ta • gnos ni nevow saw edoc reh fo cirbaf eht • senil eht dehtuom tnemom a rof spil reh • deremmihs )2102( namaes llib — hcok htennek yb ”stiarts“ meop eht retfa txet ••• thgil eht sa lairucrem • senil eht sevird htaeneb morf edoc eht • nettogrof
s_traits
Bill Seaman
s_traits ••• what I say it is, it is not • what I say I say in the silences • reviver • a bidirectional revolution • a code in the breaks • putting a spin on coded records • the late voice was welcomed in • the boat gently oscillated • a room of numbers in one • roussel never made it to africa • the ocular canal • lined with tiny waves • using misunderstanding • the woman’s pun was spun • a textile of the turntable • turned the tables and was run • run the code at different speeds • time fetched and stretched • this is the temporary housing • of sound I seek • readymade for rrose • setting a coded trap • the point, the pinnacle, self-writing code • capsized through the father of motherhood • the horizon of time • seemingly frozen in drops • crystals of saline, or salient props • crystalline shoes • the deception of destiny • is chance thrown • the spinning of the tall telling • the stillness of the day • the first words to be cast • the soft lips spread • the tongue in touching voice • the trajectory of code words • maneuvering cyphers • in removing the disengagements • detachment rains • the stable shifter oscillated • droning on across the day • probabilities at play • the voice flew • through a window of chance • the home of sonic decay • re-seeding the distance, till nothing fell there • bathing in the low light • licking the soft white ligature • the i-ching was spoken • a stumbling visit to stochastics • a silent shower of words • the liquids delicately fell • acting as they do as substitutions • gentle persuasions, invasions, on less than ocular occasions • the legitimate family resemblance • the thrown sense • palpable, taking on another • the forking cut • the throat of light • the salient flow • action at a distance • the floating sight • the flesh curtain • the sensual tongue • folded and folding • the cycle is over as soon as it begins • the breath of chance • in a change of wind • the still are moving and moving still • windows are spoken, bored and barred • the drunk is plastered and sings a succinct cypher • the legacy hardware is put in motion • breathing life into the old code • the drive is on the blink • the broken voice is crackling across the surface of the direct impression • waxing poetic • waxing pathetic • swimming in the reproduction as a substitution of tongues, one finds a full house • a pool of loops, a loop of pools • a sentence swimming in uncertainty • the rotating branch of indeterminacy • the birdsong is rhythmic, repeated, rare • the atmosphere derived of swells and swallows • thoughts are in the air • the lines of flight glisten from the angles that bare all • the slight slit, the hint of a glimpse • the hands of chance • the symbols are posted • skyward across the horizon • smoke signals and screens • unchallenged • the physical code flew in a straight line, winded but flowing • the wall was penetrated by codes • the single signal code: true • the spinning of this truth • a recording of the lie • the lay of the land • the release of a sigh • the painter’s voice and the singer’s eye • the painting was of wind on water, described by smeared words • on a mirror touched in steam • confused with intention • to expose the mouth • the breadth of the text, the breasts heaving • the memory of a moment • the mouth of chance • flourished and smiled on the day • a word released in sway • across a forest of signs • the exploded sense well taken, rewarded in kind • in flight • the wording, though wandering, went away • the edifice slid, silently • the wall fell astray • the wall of a boat floating • the river of change was swollen • like the throat of chance • but later the line was filled with the salt of tears • the records were circling along with the crew • and energies were channeled • panoramas were encrypted • sent from the shore • deplete or imply • the wind of a voice • swept the sleeping in specific • turned the tongue to the tune of a dream • the love of the moment • the falling of the now • the audience sits still • the machinery of chance, the shunting, the swell • the angle of the timing • the clicking • the shell • the hiding place • encoded with entrance • the grafting of the tones • gave purchase to the shell • I had fallen for the delicacy • the sweetness of her tell • the doubled was doubled over • drunken like a boat • on a sea the horizon reflects upon the shifting lines • banking the poetics of light • the lines were red • coded as they were • a point very fine • in the blue of sadness • the sky was mourning after such a night • after all the love lost and the loss of the light • the painted lips moving • delicately take flight • the cost of the tongue • translations and tempting the code of silence • the river empty • the fate of the straits or the traits of inflection • the words have legs • running askew • the dream has a pearl • the silence was as full as even cage knew • in love as in art we pay for our tongues • the words are sticky • the words are sung • the bearings are clear • the straits well known • the lover has spoken • a seed well sewn • the one who tempted the action • spoken in whispers, in vespers and code • the painter of sound invested in the word • as an actor of being • as building a world • as generative as a tongue • touching tongues it is told • the analog of code, the vocal chord • the autocatalytic space • the parallel space of focused fires • the flight into new territories • the distributed space of a thought • the signal sets flowed across the twilight of language • the translation forming a new life • spoken in the crystalline jewels of mathematical logic • the clicks and drums also formed a conversation • the dance of multi-value logic was in play • silence spoke in its own gesture language • hands circling • the touch of fingers on the hand of the other became her sensual description space • the absence of spoken words • formed the images of the landscape • not unlike sung maps • the flower of her lips shown even if still • the messenger of the facial expression mirrored the landscape of fire • the light danced through the dense smoke as it built moving lines • touching the senses • the voice of gestural intonation spoke warmly of this abstracted vision • in slow motion • the color of light shown again as blue • as they gathered their thoughts • across the waves • again stood still • breathing • and banked on quiescent gestures • chance and change motioning • predictably arcane • the luminous hands • the books were encoded and airborne • the voices cast shadows • and from the distances of silences • a plural and parallel • a set of worlds were born • the cover was in a different key • highly abstracted • pleasantly reformed • a number of rooms, a room of numbers • they spoke with clicks and popping tongue touches • against the roof • coming to know the longing vocabulary • and the melting away of the words written in steam • the fountain was penned but was never captured fully • the train of thought is always in the now • the now is always delayed • time buffers and biological frames • he followed his intention of random walks and i-ching driving for the finds • and treated this like drifting on the tides • cycling back and forth • here painted light was revolving code • painted sound and painted text • words made luminous • and the lines lived beneath the surface of the sound • the piano was quietly restructured • becoming furniture for the guests • holding the music in his fingers • the body of the text was strewn to the wind, left hanging in the air • this founding of words was later elegantly scattered and deeply reflective • yet merging with the landscape • the sound was entrained • the lines focusing flows • out from the straits • the drunken train strayed from the tracks • and found rooms for sensual play • the library at alexandria became luminous • and still a motioning toward quiescence • the waves were sold as code and the code was sold as waves • the reviver was rewritten • nosing out the ambivalences • the eskimos kissed • the apartments are numbers performed and recast • chance fell across the doorway • providing the mix • the tenuous movements of the dance formed the evening • and betting on musical chairs, the furniture was encircled • the circular route • a rotation of records and drives • the investment was clothed in an erudite air • the circle became the cycle of night and day • tarkovsky’s waters are always close • and lovers are soon to be found • the chance of meeting • in sound all full of heat, emotion, and light • the record revealed • a revolution etched with urgency • it isn’t what I say it is • the double bind was danced and played so many times it skipped • against the volume of the sea • and ears were ringing off the hook • the least likely line was followed • and jumped from time to time • the memory was strong and the odor recalled it • like wax cylinders in cyphers • the surface noise remained • ada’s visions were displayed with the operative music machine she wrote • the dead man’s switch stopped the long line • and the steam still spoke • etched on the mirror • through the cycle of paradox • all became clear • nothing was moved • actioning a rotating schedule • code words formed the surface of the sound • shimmering and shifting • the blue sound was well known • the loop pools flowed as if to become one • the field of codes • the cypher was spun • all was one in continuous blue • luminous hands wrote the code in taps • night fell everywhere simultaneously • overtaken by deep blue • the angle of the lips • spread the soft dark news • in this nook this frigid look • and the ice appeared blue • electricity was conducted • until energy was lost • as displaced in uncertainty • as the words of the day • the memory theatre shifted to code • and the code words passed away • the ambassador of light • distributed the lines • the straits and places and bearings all fell away • roussel’s stateroom was certainly the place • and descartes’ doll could not be traced • flung overboard as poetic justice • chance words fallen on deaf ears • distributed and displayed • the quiescent eye around which winds of high velocity move • one addresses with song • the sadness of the day • with taps and somber tones • muted trumpet would play • the straight tune played drunkenly • passed through the readymade • gesture to blue • and floats a line that puns as it plays • the double bind bristling with the life of the day • the fall had broken • where the code was spoken • leaving the lips to play • the code was broken where the lips had spoken • the floors shifting • the furniture was splayed • holding its breath the silence shimmered • her lips for a moment mouthed the lines • the fabric of her code was woven in song • at the end of the mouth • on the tip of the tongue • one notices what one has forgotten • the code from beneath drives the lines • mercurial as the light ••• text after the poem “straits” by kenneth koch — bill seaman (2012)