Machines for Living :The Voice

Taking inspiration from my previous idea, I have chosen to look at how the voice is a key machine for living. Based around the early 20th century artistic view that the machine can be interpreted as an intricate natural system or organism such as the human body, I wish to explore how the voice is used, and how we are defined by the way we communicate. What fascinates me is the idea that  the voice can be interpreted simultaneously as both a product of a mechanism within the human body, and additionally as a concept of expression. I have been inspired to pursue this idea through the observation of a machine used to deliver vocal communication, namely through the technology to aid the disabled. While the machine used by those unable to speak embodies the idea of a machine for living, I am also inspired to document the variety of ways in which the voice is used to create impact.

Machines for Living

The Machine For Living project is proving to be most interesting and is encouraging me to explore many different ideas and potential artistic techniques. I was drawn to the conception of the machine as an important concept and metaphor, and so this lead me to begin the project by exploring the role of machinery in war. In doing this, I placed particular focus on how the literature of Kurt Vonnegut, Howard Nemerov and Ernst Hemingway can not only serve to explore the perception that soldiers are mechanisms of war, but can also provide an insight as to why the manner of these particular veterans has been branded as 'cold, rigid and mechanical' like a machine by many. I was inspired by the photographic works of Stephen Sagmeister and his fusion of text and the human form to therefore produce a series of small graphic drawings of Vonnegut, Hemingway and Nemerov each decorated with quotations from their literature taking form around their structure. In terms of the quotations, I chose those upon which reflected the war time experiences of the writers themselves, so as to explore the way in which experiences can shape who we become (in this case, how such war time experience have the power to influence an individual's behaviour to become much like a machine).

Overall, I am fairly pleased with how the outcome of the drawings. I wanted to capture the raw expressions of the subjects and thus I did not add any tonal value to the drawings, and instead stuck to a black graphic line. However, I struggled with the accuracy of the line and keeping the figures in proportion, which has given my drawings a slightly rougher quality which I would like to improve upon. Overall, I think that I want to move on from this idea and explore other ways of interpreting a machine for living.