30.11.11

Mark Fell - Interview for 06:00 am


























00:06 am. Could you describe your work for the people that haven't experienced it?
M.F. : I divide what I do into three main categories: music which is in the house techno tradition but slightly more unusual; sound works which explore sound synthesis often with several speakers; art installations using light, sound and movement. Although my works are not about philosophy, I’m an avid ready of philosophy and this—somehow—informs what I make. My works place a priority on technology, I have no real interest in expressing feelings, ideas or emotions in my work. Although those things might be present in the work, this isn’t the point or purpose of the work. I take care of the sound and let the meaning take care of itself. 

00:06 am. What is your favorite insult? 
M.F. : Your music sucks.

00:06 am. The music that you recently released sounds like it skips all the time, something like techno made out of fast forwarded something. Is there a certain kind of 'vision' you work towards? Can you talk about the creative procedure for us, again, in terms of describing the relationship of the process and the end result?
M.F. : I have a kind of goal in terms of what I imagine the final thing might sound like, but along the way this is constantly modified by my explorations of the patterns, sounds and technologies that I’m working with. I tend to informally define a way of working, and then make work within that. 

00:06 am. Is there a period in history that you would like to live in or a period that you would recommend?
M.F. : The 1980’s was a good time. Even though in the north of England it was quite difficult, the music and political activism of that time was very strong. 

00:06 am. Do you remember the first sampling record you ever heard? Which one is it?

M.F. : It was the last section of “Babooshka” by Kate Bush, from her album “Never For Ever” from 1980. 

00:06 am. Are you a jealous guy? What are you most frequently jealous of?
M.F. : No I’m not really jealous of anything. 

00:06 am. What is your favorite sound and why?
M.F. : It’s the Jazz Organ preset from the Yamaha DX100. This sound has featured on many of my favourite records. I think the first I can find is “Arm Around You” by Arthur Russell. It’s as close as you can get to a perfect sound I think. 

00:06 am. What specific parts of things are you interested in revealing through what you do when you do it?
M.F. : I like to think my work constructs rather than reveals. To reveal assumes the thing revealed was there before the work, then there are issues concerning how suited the work is to revealing the thing etc. But to construct means to think of the work as a process of actively dealing with things in a self contained way, rather than passively revealing aspects of some greater reality. 

00: 06 am. You can fill in here the question you always wanted to be asked but were never asked and then, if it makes sense to you, give an answer to it as well. 
M.F. : I don’t have one, sorry!

00:06 am. What are machines to you? What is the way you like to work around the possibilities that they offer?
M.F. : For me technology comes first. I like the example Merleau-Ponty gives when he describes a blind person walking with a cane. The person is ultimately not aware of the cane, but instead is aware of the pavement. The cane becomes a part of the person’s cognitive mechanism. When I work on music or installation or whatever, I’m not aware of an interaction between myself and the machines I am working with. 

00:06 am. Being passive means being receptive and being active means being present? 
M.F. : Being passive is something I don’t understand. I think we are always active. 

00:06 am. What is the best idea you have had so far?
M.F. : The triangle.

06 am. What are you reading these days?
M.F. : “Time and the Hunter” by Italo Calvino. The text that came with Catherine Christer Hennix’s recent cd. 

00:06 am. Describe the characteristics of the work of your favorite artist(s)? 
M.F. : The structures present in Yasunao Tone’s MP3 Deviation piece. 

00:06 am. In which ways is the memory / experiences of your childhood a background of your present way of making art?
M.F. : I remember as a young child my mother took me to visit an exhibition of abstract art at the local museum. I remember being very puzzled by this work – just a series of lines and colours. However this curiosity drew me into the work. My prejudice now is to make work that tries to foster this kind of feeling. At first a kind of not-quite-sureness. Too often art funders want work that is immediately appealing to an audience. But in my opinion, confusion is a much better state to engender. 

00:06 am. Can you describe the most recurrent place that you dream about?
M.F. : My consciousness probably. 

00: 06 am. Noise, silence, color, pattern, repetition, chance. Can you translate these words having in mind the role that they play in your work?
M.F. : Silence: gaps are important in my work. It took me some time to recognise this. Like for the typographer or graphic designer, space is important. So too for me silence is important. To give the sounds I use space to be encountered.
Colour: of sound and of light work in different ways – perceptually, socially, aesthetically etc.  This difference is something I have tried to explore.  
Pattern: most of my work relates to patterns and how they are constructed.
Repetition: the right amount of repetition (as opposed to change) is an important aesthetic concern for me. 
Chance: Non of my works really feature chance. 

00:06 am. Which is your favorite city in the world?
M.F. : Sheffield.

00:06am. Three records you usually listen before you go to sleep.
M.F.: Night Ragas.



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