Signal Chain — Episode 2
Signal Chain — Episode 2
Welcome to the second episode of Signal Chain. This pop-up newsletter is a creative collaboration between generative musician Duncan Geere and photographer Oliver Holms.
We’re taking turns to send new work to each other. Each new piece is inspired by the piece before. We're building a chain of influence together and you're along for the ride. New installments are released on the 1st and 15th of every month, and you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in the footer.
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Hi Duncan,
I loved your first track! You're a hard act to follow...
I didn't want to respond too literally to the nature sounds that open your track, so I steered in another direction. The bass pulses and reverberating chimes put me in a similar state to one I often enter on long motorway drives. The vibration, the engine rumble, and the landscape streaming past the window combine to hypnotise me. The conversation peters out. I feel calm and alert. Expansive.
I love to take pictures when I feel like this. I look out of the window and watch the sky change and the view evolve. I take pictures of dramatic weather, other vehicles, and the landscape beyond the barriers. The speed of the car often blurs the pictures and gives them a painterly feel. There's no pressure to perform or work hard to find the frame. You just sit back, pay attention and let the pictures find you.
This image was taken on the drive back from a book launch at Ludlow Castle. I loved the solitary white cloud framed against the dark wall of the approaching storm front. Dwarfed by the looming cloudbank, it looked light and free, untouched by the drama of the sky beyond it.
Oliver
P.S. I wasn't driving!
P.P.S. The history of photography is full of pictures taken on the move, particularly from within cars. Notable examples include Every Building on Sunset Strip by Ed Ruscha, one of the first artist books, and Lee Friedlander's America by Car. I love Todd Hido's series Roaming and A Road Divided. Hido uses the windshield as a creative tool, putting water or glycerine on the glass to soften and blur the image.