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LITHOpHONIA
LITHOpHONIA
Ambient sonic constructions derived from field recordings
of organic and mechanical sources at the
Highland General Hospital in Oakland, California.
1. The original Highland Hospital now stands silent and forgotten, having cared for nearly a century of patients and survived two major earthquakes.
2. Recently replaced by a safer and more modern structure, the old building contains mostly discarded and obsolete equipment, outdated files, and thousands (if you are so inclined to believe) of ghosts.
3. For six months I haunted its ramparts, underground labyrinths and great halls with a stereo microphone and digital recorder. LITHOpHONIA is my attempt to capture the faded aural residues of human activity that once resonated through the now-abandoned pavilions, walkways and chambers of this grand old structure.
4. All sound sources were 'found'; none were produced or elicited. Reverberations, vibrations, occasional distant human voice intrusions, and the mechanized breaths of strange machines left to their automated chores in empty alcoves and dead-end corridors were collected
5. The digitally-manipulated results comprise the four movements of LITHOpHONIA. No synthesizers or other musical instruments were used at any point.
