Sem Título
Synopsis: A composed sound work of approximately 10 minutes duration, rendered as a 4 channel work and also adaptable to a stereo format for CD, radio, online release, etc. The work will focus on the voices of 4 shepherds, recorded in their daily work, guiding animals to and from the fields to graze
Methodology: the artist proposes to work with four shepherds, who will be fitted with portable sound recording equipment. The idea is to record the voices of the shepherds in their typical, routine work, with as little intervention as possible from the artist as a recordist. His presence in recording sessions will be required only for the fitting and testing of equipment.
Conceptual approach: Duncan Whitley proposes this project as a creative investigation in semi-autonomous documentary / ethnographic practice. Whilst he will shape the outcome of the work through the editing process, he is interested in how removing his hand as the documentarist / ethnographer can influence the kind of material gathered in field work.
Duncan Whitley studied BA Hons Fine Art at Kingston University (UK) from 1996 to1999, where he worked almost exclusively with sound installation. In the following years his work continued with a focus on site-specific interventions, producing work in both sanctioned art spaces and ‘non-art spaces’ (from domestic environments, to derelict flats, football stadiums, to Church of England churches). From 2004 his practice shifted towards stereo and multichannel ‘field recording’, developing a significant archive of project-specific phonographic studies. His sound recording work documents the ritual of social events: the highly formalized Semana Santa processions in Seville; football spectatorship across different tiers of the British football league and amateur football in rural Portugal; the controlled demolition of high-riseflats in cities around England and Scotland.
ARTISTIC WORKS