Anderson is known for her use of vocal synthesizers, but when she began speaking in a male voice the unexpectedness of the moment was both off-putting and confusing. She began speaking about how 99.9% of all species that have lived are now extinct, but all I could think about was how her voice sounded just like the Ents, the tree people in Lord of the Rings. Anderson’s rhythmic voice soon lost its grasp on language; the words became sounds that became part of the music. Anderson herself ceased to be a woman but instead morphed into a living instrument. Even so, the move toward gender-bending was more jarring than cohesive.
Throughout the piece, her projections shifted from English to bizarre fonts, such as a quasi-Braille looking cipher, some Korean script, and a font where human silhouettes form some of the letters. It might have been cool and symbolic initially but just felt overwrought by the end. Especially in one section where the text just transcribed what Anderson had just said word for word, which was a failed attempt at a joke. Seeing it written felt like somebody trying to explain why what they just said was funny.
The comedic content was not funny enough to merit inclusion in this intense and moving piece. It ended up feeling forced and even more disconnected from the tone of the music than the rest of her largely awkward voice-overs.
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ReplyDeleteAnderson is known for her use of vocal synthesizers, but when she began speaking in a male voice the unexpectedness of the moment was both off-putting and confusing. She began speaking about how 99.9% of all species that have lived are now extinct, but all I could think about was how her voice sounded just like the Ents, the tree people in Lord of the Rings. Anderson’s rhythmic voice soon lost its grasp on language; the words became sounds that became part of the music. Anderson herself ceased to be a woman but instead morphed into a living instrument. Even so, the move toward gender-bending was more jarring than cohesive.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the piece, her projections shifted from English to bizarre fonts, such as a quasi-Braille looking cipher, some Korean script, and a font where human silhouettes form some of the letters. It might have been cool and symbolic initially but just felt overwrought by the end. Especially in one section where the text just transcribed what Anderson had just said word for word, which was a failed attempt at a joke. Seeing it written felt like somebody trying to explain why what they just said was funny.
ReplyDeleteThe comedic content was not funny enough to merit inclusion in this intense and moving piece. It ended up feeling forced and even more disconnected from the tone of the music than the rest of her largely awkward voice-overs.
ReplyDelete