RICHARD
CHARTIER:
AMBIENTRANCE (US)
INTERVIEW
WITH RICHARD CHARTIER
It's
been pleasurable and informative to speak with hyperminimal
soundartist and LINE co-founder, Richard Chartier; having been
immersing myself in his latest, decidely "light" composition
(decisive forms), I appreciated the opportunity to question
him about his out-of-the-norm stylings.
AmbiEntrance: So, are you "obsessed" with near-silence?
And where did this inclination come from? Were you the kid using
the white crayon... on white paper?
Chartier:
i wouldn't say i am obsessed with silence. the concept of silence
and its perception is a fascinating one. i don't think my work
is all that silent actually... much of the more recent work
takes the form of implied silence.
for
example many of the sounds on series seem silent but
if you watch series on a level monitor on your amplifier you
can see that it is actually quite active or "loud"... a lot
of energy in the sounds but they seem quiet.
i
do remember doing a white crayon drawing as a kid now that you
mention it!
AmbiEntrance:
Are my ears that damaged from my pre-ambient days, or are these
deceptively-active sound energies at a level below (or above?)
ordinary perception, or what?
Chartier:
they are very high or very low frequencies quite often. they
are perceivable... they just dont register as loud for example.
AmbiEntrance:
decisive forms stays away from the overt clickiness of much
microscopica; was this intentional?
Chartier:
the work decisive forms is much more of a highly composed
piece... some have compared it to an orchestra piece which i
find very interesting. the title decisive forms is taken
from a term that the german artist jean (hans) arp used to describe,
early in his career, the biomorphic shapes that appeared in
his work. as a counterpoint to series which is more pointalist
in a way, thus more clicky, decisive forms is more of a slowly
shifting and evolving piece. a flowing shape.
i
am still not sure how i became lumped into the clicks and cuts
type genre... my cd post-fabricated is definitely of
that mileau but beyond that ... we have seen a lot made of the
"click" and many people say it is an expended form but there
is still more that can be done with the concept of a "click"
or an error but it needs to places within a new context or form
and removed from its current formula.
AmbiEntrance:
When you say "composed", obviously you're not penning the notes
on a musical scale... how do you approach such a (seemingly
loosely) structured piece?
Chartier:
with the work i am creating a standard musical scale doesnt
come into play. the construction of a piece like decisive forms
is intuitive, it doesn't follow a strict compositional system.
This is one of the things i admire about the work of Morton
Feldman, he created his compositions without a systemic process,
which someone like John Cage would not have, Cage relied on
chance... so Feldman's work is based more on intuition, very
subjective. there is a similar fascination with the slow, the
slowly shifting and repetition. with repetition of sounds the
listener can often become lost in the composition, starting
to hear new patterns, where there perhaps are not.. this type
of work creates a focus, and a need to focus
Morton
Feldman's work has been very influential on my work, i think
it becomes more apparent to some in the more recent works i
have created. i share, but with a different palette and a different
"instrument", some of what i think are the sonorities that he
dealt with (especially in his later works), the attention to
detail and subtlety and his works' requirement of the listener
to pay attention to that detail and subtlety.
AmbiEntrance:
How did decisive forms get released on Bernhard G¸nter's
Trente Oiseaux label?
Chartier:
After Bernhard heard series he asked me to a CD for
Trente Oiseaux, i have been friends with bernhard for several
years as well.
AmbiEntrance:
series has been re-released as well as garnered an Honorable
mention at the Prix Ars Electronica; what do these achievements
mean to you?
Chartier:
They are definitely things that have made me happy. Its always
humbling when some one person gives you positive feedback or
some organization of your peers recognizes you in such positive
way.
AmbiEntrance:
Playing the Devil's Advocate here... why couldn't you record
your sounds at a "normal" level and trust the listener to keep
it turned real low?
Chartier:
As i noted about series much of the work is recorded
at a loud level or at least a level that helps to keep the sounds
from distorting... the last thing i would want is for people
to play my cds loud and have the dynamics of the sounds turn
to squelchings and rattlings as their speakers got fried : )
and
i guess it just reinforces the aesthetic of the pieces as well.
with minimal works, volume can substantially alter the perception
of a piece.
AmbiEntrance:
While reviewers are saying such great things about your
soundworks, do you ever get an "Emperor's New Clothes" reaction
from someone claiming not to hear *anything*?
Chartier:
i haven't gotten that... yet.... but i look forward to it.
i got a hate email that was close to that though... two of the
cds that taylor and i released on LINE have had this effect
to some rather amusing results... no names of publications mentioned
but one reviewer/fact checker called me and said that his copy
of Bernhard Gunter's monochrome white... cd didn't have
any sound on it.. and asked "maybe you could send this recording
to me on audio tape".. it turns out he was listening to it on
a home computer with is internal speakers.
The
Immedia CD 2|1 on LINE is one of my favourites, i remember
the first time hearing it in London while i visited them one
evening and just loving it, but definitely it has confused some
people.
AmbiEntrance:
Your first self-release was 1991's that now hollow chamber
how does that compare to your current discs?
Chartier:
the early work is very droney with reverb. i was very influenced
by zoviet france during the late 80s.
between
89-93 i was working with synthesizers and filters. i stopped
in 93 to focus on my visual work...i felt i had done what i
wanted with that time periods audio work. then there were four
years of silence. i stared making work again in 1997 when i
was pointed out to some sound programs all shareware and started
again... i missed working with sound... but i didnt realize
it until i started again... and the progress in the visual work,
in theory and work methods had an influence on how my audio
work began to take shape again.
i
debated recently on whether or not to release/digitally remaster
the tracks from 1991-2... some of it in hindsight i still like
(usually i cant listen to my past work... i just pick it apart)
but i dont think i will re-release it... maybe one or two tracks
and rework them.
AmbiEntrance:
Do you think you'll have the same reaction in the future to
your recent releases?
Chartier:
of course... the process of creating is a process of learning...
when i listen to my work i can find things that could be changed
no matter how small... but i think that is part of being an
artist. if you dont look/listen to your own work with a critical
eye/ear you stop growing artistically
AmbiEntrance:
How/when did you meet 12k's Taylor Deupree?
Chartier:
i met taylor through my friend nosei sakata who sent me a copy
of the AIFF cd ( it think) sent an email to taylor telling
him how much i had enjoyed the compilation. at that time nosei
and i were working on what became 0/r which was later released
on 12k.
taylor
and i are very similar in our backgrounds, we also are both
designers although he comes from a techno background and i come
from a very experimental electronic background of listening
and creating. we have been best friends ever since. one of those
people you meet and you just click. oh there's that word again...
"click"
AmbiEntrance:
You co-founded the LINE label with Taylor; how was it conceived?
Chartier:
i was working on series and wanted to release it .. taylor
and i had been discussing with the idea of sublabel or me starting
a label in the past ...so one thing led to another and LINE
was born quite fast. i wanted LINE to be a label dedicated to
digital minimalism... we are continuing to focus on artists
who work in various mediums as well and releasing work intended
as installations or as documents of installations. we have gotten
great feedback from listeners. i am glad to be providing a showcase
for these works that taylor and i enjoy.
AmbiEntrance:
Did you design your www.3particles.com website? All that lovely
white space certainly seems to indicate so... (and what does
"3 particles" refer to?)
Chartier:
i design the website. i haaaaaaate designing for the web so
much because there is never a sense of finality. a project is
never finished. i much prefer print design, i guess you could
call me an object fetishist. its still not as minimal as i would
like... its a very simple site... which i think is most effective
for providing information.
3
particles ended up being a reference to the 3 families of particles:
electron, muon and tau. also refers to my track on the "lowercase"
compilation. i have always liked the idea of delineation...
particles, sections, compartmentalization. i think comes from
being a graphic designer.
AmbiEntrance:
Sounds like you've got a bit of a scientific bent, too... If
you weren't doing graphic and sound design... what might you
be doing career-wise?
Chartier:
i cant imagine not doing something creative or arts related.
i was interested in gardening and botany as a child... that
is something i could do... i miss not having a garden of some
kind, creating landscapes with living things that grow and evolve...
i find that fascinating.
AmbiEntrance:
You mentioned Jean Arp, what other visual artists whose work
particularly interests you (and why)?
Chartier:
i have noticed that the things that influence my sound compositions
the most have been visual. i think of sound in visual terms
which stems from my education as a painter/designer. (and vice
versa.. i often describe visual works with sound terms)
harry
bertoia has interested me for a long time... his monoprints,
his sound sculptures, his recordings, his design. i have collected
mid century furniture since 1990 so thats where his work first
entered my life. marcel duchamp... because of the complete interrelationship
between his works and his life, and the different mediums he
explored. other visual artists: gyorgy kepes, william baziotes,
agnes martin, donald judd... off the top of my head
AmbiEntrance:
Tell us about your DJing at the Blue Room... what would a visitor
to your show find?
Chartier:
well, the blue room event called FILLER that i host and curate
focuses on a wide range of electronic music. from tech house
to minimalist beats to electro... it al depends on the mood
of the 4 resident djs it is definitely not a dancing night.
we have a film theme on huge wall projection screen .. basically
a great friendly crowd, a loungy type large space, and a fantastic
sound system.
the
reason my friend william alberque and i created FILLER was a
sense of a hole that was in between the two major scenes in
DC music.... punk/indie/hardcore and then the, what is still
called, "raver" crowd. we have dischord records and fugazi and
we have Nation voted the best techno club in north america but
there is nothing in between really. so william for example plays
quite a bit of seefeel, scala, locust-type work..dreamy droney
crunchy, i guess you could if you wanted to call it indierock
electronica?
i
play anything from minimalist 12k/raster type work to odd bits
of sound and the occasional fad gadget or other vintage track.
two other djs milo and george spin techhouse and electro. so
the evening is really a showcase for a wide variety of what
people would just lump as "electronica" plus guest djs...
AmbiEntrance:
Does being in and around DC worry you in thse days of war
and terrorism?
Chartier:
yes, my home is less than 2 miles from the pentagon, i have
walked home from the subway station there before. it was quite
terrifying when it all happened. i actually didnt hear the explosion
because i was on the phone with friends crying, watching tv
and generally just losing my mind in incomprehension.
there
is a different atmosphere here... tension... confusion... people
are now just starting to venture out into the night.. FILLER
has been substantially quieter... luckily we got a lot of people
to come out last month for a benefit for the red cross at FILLER.
AmbiEntrance:
I see the 12k/LINE site also has a little PSA about supporting
the Red Cross; do you see your (or general) music as an opportunity
for healing, or at least escape during times of crisis?
Chartier:
music is a form of escapism but it is a positive form (in most
cases)... i think art in general has tremendous healing properties.
i used to work for an arts education/therapy organization so
it is something i strongly believe in. music, especially music
that creates a spacial sense, like many minimalist or ambient
works is a viable option from an overly complicated world where
it is hard to stay focused.. the media is filled with diversions..
i dont really watch TV except for the simpsons (my form of escapism)...
so much effluvium out there.
AmbiEntrance:
What projects are in your future?
Chartier:
I am in a show of sound art entitled "Re:synthesis" at the Betty
Rymer Gallery at the Art Institute of Chicago in December and
January. my work will be a headphone piece. Possibly doing a
sound installation with taylor deupree for the Lovebytes festival
in Sheffield UK next year.
i
am currently finishing up my next cd of surfaces for
LINE which will be out in January. To me it sounds like cross
between series and Decisive Forms
Two
collaborations are currently underway. Working with Nosei Sakata
(*0) on the next 0/r cd entitled varied which will be out on
12k in april and with COH on a work called Chess Machine.
plus
much much more which i cannot divulge right now.
